By Odeisel
In the aftermath of the melee at Pete Rock & Smif N Wessun’s album release party last week, Planet Ill caught up with Smif N Wessun’s General Steele to get his take on what happened. Steele discussed what went on from the stage and what happened as events took a turn for the worst. Were the Hip-Hop cops involved? Were riot police called to the scene by venue security? Read and find out. (Audio after the break)
Planet Ill: In the blink of an eye, what could have been a really proud moment turned into a whole lot of other stuff. What exactly happened?
General Steele: Pandemonium. The day of the album release, June 28th. It was a big “monumentous” occasion for myself, my partner Tek as well as Pete Rock who produced the whole album. These guys came out to show love, the Beatminerz were spinning on the tables. There were quite a few celebrities that were in there. There were some people who were visiting from out of the country. So a lot fo folks came out to participate in this event.
We was packed to capacity, so security weren’t basically letting anyone else in. My personal account, from the performance perspective, I can tell you people were enjoying themselves and then as I notice our performance was being cut short, I wasn’t aware of any reason why.
I was totally not clear on anything that was happening inside or outside the club. I didn’t see anything going on inside the club but Hip-Hop and people taking pictures, stuff like that. When they started to turn the lights on in the club you know that’s a sign that it’s time to go. So the people began exiting the club. Before the people began to fully exit, I notice two officers begin to come in to the club and then exit the club. At that point, I was still wondering what was going on, but at that [point} you know, it’s time to go.
As we’re leaving, I see my friend, also my artist, Louie Pena who goes by the name Louie Skaggs, I seen him on the floor being beat to shit by police officers.
Planet Ill: Is it the same two police officers that entered before or is this a new set?
General Steele: When the first two police entered, I didn’t fully pay them any mind; I didn’t look to say, “Alright, who are these guys, what’s their badge numbers? Their names?” Cause we had just literally stepped off the stage. I’m in the process of getting my belongings; looking for my jacket, my glasses. Getting my belongings as these things are going on. I’m talking about the blink of an eye, exactly the blink of an eye. You opened the door, the front door of the club and it was like hell going on out there.
So when I opened the door and I saw my friend on the floor, I immediately went, “What the hell was going on?” Why are the cops beating up Louie Skaggs? My Friend, T. White, was standing close to me and as I was saying that, he knew I was going to go and see what was going on with Louie. So they maced him, [Louie] and they maced the club. As I was walking through it, we all could smell it. So he grabbed me and we were pushed back into the club.
So the police officers were making him and fighting and pushing people this way and that way. I got pulled back into the club, me and a few other people. I probably would have stayed in there for a little while because it was so chaotic and it was like stepping into fucking hellfire. Then someone mentioned that my mom was outside. Now I brought my mother to this thing, that’s the kind of mature crowd that was there.
People were enjoying themselves, dancing smiling, laughing. That’s [violence] the last thing anyone would expect. I’ve been to concerts years ago where something might have broke out by somebody knocking a drink over, but this is more so what happens in clubs where you have a whole bunch people that’s looking for that stuff. So this was not that. This was not the case.
We had people who were traveling; people that took planes…
Planet Ill: There was a woman from the UK that got a ton of video footage…
General Steele: Yeah Jay Diamond. Bless her heart because that just shows you the concern of the people. She could have tucked that under the rug; she could have tried to sell it to one of these other websites for press. She felt compelled RIGHT AFTER THE EVENT there and firsthand account, she went right back home or wherever she went. She went and edited that footage immediately and that was the first footage that was up. As soon as that went up, for some reason, it went global.
I had people calling me from Germany. I had people calling me from Canada. I had people texting me from Africa; emailing me from Africa, like we seen this thing and we’re talking mere hours after it happened. They were furious and they wasn’t even there, so…this really touched a lot of folks. A lot of folks can identify with the brutality and they want to know what they can do about it.
Planet Ill: Your attorney was on the scene, wasn’t he?
General Steele: He was there, I think he might have left early, I’m not even sure. Like I said, for me, it was crazy. When I got there, I immediately spoke to Dru Ha and DJ Logic and we started going over the show. It’s three levels to the club. I was a little upset because I didn’t get a chance to meet and greet all of my friends that was there. From on the stage, I seen so many people that I recognized and just friends just from seeing them over the years and doing business in Hip-Hop. I didn’t get a chance to say hi to them and say thank you.
So at one point I was on the stage giving shout outs. I seen Milk D, “Hey Milk D! Hey Zulu Jeff, I love you; Sadat X, I love you!” That was the spirit. And as I hear later on, I keep hearing this person was there, DJ Whoo Kid was there, this person was there, this newsperson was there. And I’m like wow, ok. It was more people there than I could see. Our visual was just focused on the stage.
Planet Ill: As an artist with a socially conscious solo catalog, why was this the wrong show for the police to show out at?
General Steele: Oh yeah. Well they didn’t know that; they didn’t do their homework. And what I found out was after this event, after the melee they caused, they started going to clubs. I forget what the particular names of the clubs were, uh… UG Lounge, in L.E.S. Why they would go there is beyond me, maybe they’re the hub for criminals or something, but they went there asking about us. Inquiring about “what is these guys, who are they connected with? What is their real thing, what can we dig up on these guys?”
And to think about that is crazy to me.
This is our fifth album. This is our career. We just came from Norway. Before that we was in Czechoslovakia, before that we was in Poland. We do this for a living. Rap is not the side gig.
Some of our friends have other jobs. They’re not rappers but they make money other kinds of ways. There’s a lot of different ways in the naked city where a person can make money. I have a friend who’s a lawyer, I have another friend who’s a producer. I have a friend who works for BET, he does graphics. There’s a wide array of people that come to a Smif N Wessun and a Pete Rock concert. One of my friends was in there from Paris and he’s like, “Yo, I’m going home tomorrow.”
So for me, it felt really electric to have people… it was just an overwhelming amount of love inside that place. They came to the right place because when you think about what actually happened, because of the light that’s it’s getting and the fact that you did come into a party and you did offend people or cause harm to people who are not normally into this type of thing. We don’t pop up in World Star or in no riots and melees and all that. Even though people protest, it’s a clean cut thing when you look at it. These officers were definitely coming in to do damage.
Planet Ill: They used to have a division called the Hip-Hop cops…
General Steele: It still is! We were definitely interviewed. They interviewed all five defendants that were locked up. The Hip-Hop cops walked them through it and definitely were on the set…
Planet Ill: These guys [at the venue] weren’t the Hip-Hop cops or else they would have known…
General Steele: I’ve heard so much after the fact, man! So much more information is developing after. Like these guys were the riot police, I heard. I heard there was another section of cops that were there that’s from the community that were told to leave because this is a job for the riot cops. I’ve seen people make statements like they seen these cops outside lining up 15 to 20 deep putting their gloves on, stretching, getting ready to come into the event. They were going to come in to the event and to something.
I also heard from a couple people that were outside working the venue that the police were speaking with the security guards. So there’s a possibility that the security called the officers. Why would they call the officers, was there something going on inside that needed to be controlled? Because if that’s the case, then it’s totally understandable. We see that all the time. We see police come in and even shut an event down and tell everybody to go. It’s too much this going on, it’s overcrowded, FDNY would come in, but they’d tell the club to shut it down. They’re not saying the patrons are showing their ass so let’s get these crazy people out of here.
So when you look at the police report and they say well these people were part of a crowd of a hundred who were rioting out there. And then there’s another report that said there were 30 people rioting outside. A couple of folks said there was a fight that broke out outside like 40 minutes prior to when the police showed up on set. [Planet Ill has received separate reports of an altercation between a bouncer and someone who was refused entry. A garbage can was thrown at the bouncer but no injuries resulted from the altercation. The incident was quelled before the police arrived.-Ed]
So many different things are unfolding now, so what we’re trying to do is get accounts of everyone that’s willing to speak; people that were inside the club, enjoying the party, people that were outside getting air or having a smoke and witnessed whatever went on before.
Planet Ill: Is there a number where people can call in and give testimony or submit video?
General Steele: The email you can use, if you would like to submit video, etc. is bucktownusa@gmail.com . My Attorney Kenneth Montgomery’s number, if you would like to submit yourself as a witness, is (917) 770-5590
LISTEN
General Steele Talks Police Brutality2
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