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Bronx 1st NY DJ Academy Awards with Jimmy "Super Rhymes" Spicer, Grand Wizard Theodore, Kool DJ AJ, Busy Bee, T-Connection, and Fantastic 5, Bronx, New York, Saturday, October 4, 1986
Bronx 1st NY DJ Academy Awards with Jimmy "Super Rhymes" Spicer, Grand Wizard Theodore, Kool DJ AJ, Busy Bee, T-Connection, and Fantastic 5, Bronx, New York, Saturday, October 4, 1986

Bronx 1st NY DJ Academy Awards with Jimmy "Super Rhymes" Spicer, Grand Wizard Theodore, Kool DJ AJ, Busy Bee, T-Connection, and Fantastic 5, Bronx, New York, Saturday, October 4, 1986

Emcee Busy Bee
DJ Kool DJ A.J.
Performing artist Grand Wizard Theodore & the Fantastic Five
Performing artist Jimmy Spicer
Venue T-Connection
Date1986
Mediumink; paper (fiber product)
DimensionsOverall (HW): 11 × 8 1/2 in. (27.94 × 21.59 cm)
Credit LineMoPOP permanent collection, courtesy of Luis Cedeno
Object number2002.396.67
Text Entries

Party flyers were a staple in the early years of Hip-Hop and hard-copy invitations were the main medium for communicating information and promoting an event. The flyers symbolized many key appearances, acts, conventions, DJ performances, and contests in the Hip-Hop scene. Many flyers were created by local graffiti artists such as Buddy Esquire and Phase 2. The flyers were often presented by Hip-Hop promoters, DJs, and MCs who hosted the parties. Money was given to the artist to draw creative art and graphics for about $40-$60 for around 1,000 party flyers. The parks’ open public spaces have provided the perfect venues for park jams, impromptu dance-offs, and rap battles that established the sound, fashion, art, and message of Hip-Hop. Most of the Hip-Hop parties were a space for positivity where many of the Hip-Hop community could escape the realities of racism that included police brutality, drug abuse, and gang violence in their surrounding communities.

Owned Ritchie Tee, the T- Connection was a popular mainstream uptown club located on Gun Hill Road. T-Connection was more known as a B-Boy party with the best local breaks where the Funky Four often performed.

Often referred to as the Fantastic Freaks or Fantastic Romantic 5. The Fantastic Five consisted of Grand Wizard Theodore (Theodore Livingston), Dot-A-Rock (Darryl Mason), Ruby Dee (Rubin Garcia), Master Rob (Robin Strong) and the Original Kevie Kev (Kevin Strong). Known for their single, "Can I Get A Soul Clap" (1980) The group also appeared in the film Wild Style (1982) and recorded a song in 1994 with the Cold Crush Brothers and Terminator X which appeared on Terminator X's album, Super Bad.

James Bromley Spicer (1958-2019) was a rapper from Brooklyn, New York. Signed to Dazz, Spring, and Def Jam, James released many Rap singles during the late 70s and early 80s.

Known for his comedic rhymes, old school MC, Busy Bee/Chief Rocker Busy Bee/Busy Bee Starski (David Parker, b. 1962) gained a large following from MC rap battles in the Bronx, Staten Island, Brooklyn, and New Jersey. Busy Bee who was known for his fashion sense was a member of the Cassanova Gang who were also admired for their dress style. When he became a famous local DJ, his fashion sense also added to his popularity. He was called “Busy Bee Starski” because he was known to switch from one rap group to the next and his peers said his rhyming style was like Love Bug Starski. Busy Bee worked with several New York’s best Hip-Hop DJs, including Afrika Bambaataa and Grandmaster Flash in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Busy Bee’s legacy as an expert jive-rapper known made an impact on the early years of HipHop for his humorous and crowd-motivating rhymes.

Party flyer in black ink listing performers, location and details of event.
CopyrightThis work is issued under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) License. For more information, go to https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/
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Theodore, Fantastic Romantic 5ive, Mr. T-Ski Valley, Busy Bee, at T-Connection, Bronx, NY, October 3, 1981
Busy Bee
Date: October 3, 1981
Medium: ink; paper (fiber product)
Object number: 2000.665.20
Mr. Jimmy "Super Rhymes" Splicer at Upskate NY, July 3, 1982
Jimmy Spicer
Date: 1982
Medium: ink; paper (fiber product)
Object number: 1999.733.29
New Music Seminar First Place MC: Award Presented to Chief Rocker Busy Bee
Busy Bee
Date: 1985
Medium: metal;wood
Object number: 1999.64.1
The New Zodiac II Presents Busy Bee, Mikey-D & The L.A. Posse and Sparky D, Bronx, NY, November 20, 1987
Busy Bee
Date: 1987
Medium: ink; paper (fiber product)
Object number: 1999.733.25
The Big Mac Crew featuring the Grand Wizard Theodore at AL Smith Center, April 24, 1979
Busy Bee
Date: 1979
Medium: ink; paper (fiber product)
Object number: 2002.396.50
Jacket Worn by Chief Rocker Busy Bee
Busy Bee
Date: c. 1986
Medium: leather; velours
Object number: 1998.804.1
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