If you're a fan of Hip Hop music & Culture then you should definitely know who the Cold Crush Brothers are. Even one of the biggest Hip Hop artist of all time, Jay Z knows the deal. In his 2001 hit, Izzo (H.O.V.A.) he rapped "Label owners hate us, I'm raising the status qoe up, I'm overcharging %@#$% for what they did to the Cold Crush, Pay us like you owe us, for all the years that you hoed us..."
So lets go back a few years, say the mid 2000's. I was driving down Kennedy Blvd heading into downtown and my phone rang. It was an unknown number so I choose not to answer (I know... my bad). The same number called back about 1 minute later. I figured it was important so this time I picked up. On the my line was none other than the Koolest legend of them all, Kool DJ Red Alert! Red was calling to let me know that a good friend of his, DJ Charlie Chase had just recently moved to Tampa and was new on the scene here. Red asked me if I had ever heard of him, to which I said 'of course'. I was familiar with the Cold Crush Brothers and their importance in Hip Hop. I also remember hearing DMC (of RUN DMC) always talking about how the CCB is who influenced them and who they wanted to be like. Red Alert asked if he could pass Charlie my number and vise versa. I was excited! After the call, I hung up and called my good friend Mark Haney aka DJ Kramtronix who I knew would appreciate Charlie Chase moving to the city has well. I called Charlie Chase the following day and offered to take him to dinner. Kramtronix, Brother Idris, and myself ended up meeting him at the Chili's out in Brandon. We sat in there for a few hours getting to know each other and telling Hip Hop stories. Since that night we have remained good friends and have even worked together on a few occasions... Never would I have though that we would have one of Hip Hop's pioneers living here in Tampa nor that we would be friends. Charlie Chase is such a great person, both in and outside of "Hip Hop" ...
I'm telling you all this just to say how excited I was when I saw that DJ Charlie Chase will forever be in the History books, has his legendary group "The Cold Crush Brothers" are on display at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History in D.C.
I hope to make the trip up to D.C. one day to see the display.
This past week, DJ Charlie Chase himself visited the museum and this is what he shared with friends and fans on his Facebook page:
So today I finally arrived in D.C. and went to the the African History Museum at the Smithsonian Institute and saw "The Bronx" Display. I gotta admit seeing it almost put a lump in my throat. To see how my legacy and my groups legacy will be represented long After I'm gone is a feeling that all the money in the world can't replace. We changed a lot of lives with our body of work. My children understand how important my work is to me and now with this display, when they see this, they'll understand why... -DJ Charlie Chase
Watch this classic Cold Crush Brothers routine that was featured in the movie Wild Style: