01-TITANIUM - Finally we get to speak to you?

VAN SILK - Same here, I guess I'm in for the third degree now since I committed to this interview, you know I really don't do interviews anymore. Since some folks have the tendency to change things. I'm one of the most misunderstood niggas around.

02-TITANIUM  -  No we are different, we keep it real here?

VAN SILK - Great, about time someone is trying to be real. I have a real problem with some of these nuts in the music industry. Always asking the same old shit. They get things confused with me asking me about the old school, we can talk about the new school also. The old school is part of my life, and when you dwell on old times you never progress in life, so I'm the type of person who is always looking to progress in life.

03-TITANIUM-For those who will read this interview, many do not know you are considered a HIP HOP PIONEER?

VAN SILK-Yeah that cool and all, but my role is something I cherish, some peeps got it twisted about me. I did my bid for Hip Hop and I'm very happy with life. Life can be better, but I have no reason to complain. Just don't confuse me as some old played out old head. If that is the case, then some got it all wrong. We came at a time in the 70's of creating a new way of living for all coming from the ghetto, and the pioneers ran with it. When I say pioneers, I'm talking 1st generation of HIP HOPPERS. Today the term old skool is used wrong. I was watching 106 & Park one day, and they decided to play an old skool video and came with a MASE video. I was laughing my head off. They need better writers or understanding of music history or even better, hip hop history for these shows. As our people keep downgrading everything we do, we need to come with a better term than old skool. Afrika Bambaatta calls it true skool…to me old skool is an insult to everyone.

04-TITANIUM-How long have you been down with HIP HOP?

VAN SILK-Too damn long, for real it will be almost 30 years as being down, not as fan or someone who was at the jams back in the dayz.  If I had to go back and remember things, then you talking DJ HOLLYWOOD at Smalls Paradise (1971), or even the late Grandmaster Flowers from Brooklyn (1969). Then you had Pete DJ Jones (1967), and other before Kool Herc, Afrika Bambaataa, &Grandmaster Flash, but It wasn't Hip Hop, it was Disco, and there are a lot of people who dedicated their lives and soul into this, which a lot of you   don't even know about. The formula was there, and the New School (1973), which turned out to be us, added some flava to it.  It's a damn shame how MTV can't give props to the real Hip Hop pioneers. And I'm not talking Russell Simmons he came late into the game around 1979, we was doing this around 1973. Russell Simmons did a lot for rap music, but as far as real Hip Hop he did nothing for it. People confuse HIPHOP and RAP MUSIC. Meaning that HIPHOP is a culture and Rap music is part of that culture. But rappers are all we see today. HIPHOP has 5 elements; how can a radio station be the best in HIPHOP, when you only can display 2 of the elements. So a lot of people should represent the term as RAP music.

05-TITANIUM-So you were born and raised where?

VAN SILK-Oh you really want to know everything. Born and raised in the South Bronx. I came from Patterson Projects on 143rd Street & Brook Ave It was 281 East 143rd Street. My family and I moved from there when I was 7 years old. NBA great, Nate Archibald, & Boxer Iran Barkley, came from Patterson Projects. 18 Park, now a famous park for jams, right behind was my building. I think rappers Showbiz & A.G are from there also, the "Diggin in the Crate crew". Then my parents, God bless my mother soul who passed in March 2000, moved us to John Adams projects, 156 Street & Westchester Ave. in 1965.

06-TITANIUM-Now you know we did our research and found out some things about you, so we would like to clear the air about the rumors and other things?

VAN SILK-What things are you talking about, if I think you are going where you are, then we can cut this interview now. But I will clear the air on certain matters. I just feel that it's not for everyone to know certain r\things. Some people today feel like they have to expose themselves to make a point in life. You knew me for a long time, and I have nothing to prove to anyone about my past life. Some want to live it, but that was my life at one time.

07-TITANIUM-Well, if you feel we are getting to noisy let us know.

VAN SILK-On the real son, you were getting there, but like I said, I'm willing to clear the air for this once, and then we can move on. So hit me with it.

08-TITANIUM-Well the rumors circulating in the music industry, some years ago that you were associated with the Mafia?

VAN SILK- That depends on what you are talking about. I know a lot of Italians and that does not mean anything.

09-TITANIUM-Ok, so let's keep it funky right now.

VAN SILK-You know this is about to get cut short but go ahead and ask me?

10-TITANIUM-Is is true you use to work for the porn people who owned Show World & the Gambino porn boss Richard Basciano as one of his managers around 1977?

VAN SILK-First of all, who is telling you all this information? And why is it important to anyone? I know that the other magazines out there are having peeps talking about their lives, but come on man this has nothing to do with Hip Hop. Everyone wants to have some claim to fame as mobsters, but the real life of La Cosa Nostra is nothing to play with. But to be honest with you we have more rats in this business, then what's running around the hoods and ghettos. All I have to say is, if you have no clue about that life then shut up to all the want to be gangsters. If you so real, we all know that you never open your mouth. You can get whacked for speaking on shit you never experienced. You can get whacked for not doing what you suppose to do, you can get whacked for killing a made member of a family. It's funny how rappers want to be mobsters, as much these niggas talk. A lot of these fools should have been dead already because they really don't understand the life of a real Goodfella. Niggas bickering and bitching on who did what for real with all these rap battles. No one has step up to the plate and battle for some real paper. Sometimes time I wonder if these niggas are for real or acting like a half fag. I respect everyone in the game. I have no beefs with no one. And on the other hand I still run with 2 crews, who have my back at any given moment.

11-TITANIUM-We just wanted to ask you that, because some peeps in the industry have mentioned your name some years back about this?

VAN SILK-Personally it's no ones fuckin business at all, it always some playin hatin asshole trying to stop some one from getting any paper. Where did you get this information from first of all, and to say names of people you don't know at all is not cool. Just because a nigga is not in the forefront doesn't mean shit.  I have been around for 3 decades, building a new family to do things with. The clock is turning around on these corny frauds, it may sound like hatin, but who gives a flying fuck what the next person thinks. We as a people don't control shit. I could care less of what kind of car you are driving or how your crib looks at the end of the day, what equity do you have? When the game is over it's over son. We are not building communities, or even buying property for our kids or setting up our next generations of family to live right.  When I see how some are spending papers on bullshit like the worst graded diamonds or Sprewells rims then I know we have fallen back. If you got the paper these days you can buy a Grammy, you can buy radio, you can buy anything when it comes to the music industry, you can buy airplay on radio to play your song. That been going on for the longest, and we wonder why some BLACKS acts are not even worth there weigh as an artists. We have no control or the power ink to make real deal happen. Then we wonder why we look like a bunch of jigga boos ass niggas wondering what went wrong. Get into real estate and fix up your community. Then maybe this generation can really call it a HIPHOP community. Stop making the other people rich buying their shit. I bet Jacob the Jeweler is laughing his ass off. Go to Chris Aire let him get the paper. I bet no one of another race is buying our shit directly. Our people have been exploited again, this time with materialistic shit at a high ass price.

12-TITANIUM-Well to be honest, it was from someone you know, and they felt that you are living a life of mad skeletons in the closets.

VAN SILK-Well that someone needs to get a fuckin life. That shit was so long ago why niggas keep bringing that old shit up. That shit is like trying to get rid of a bad habit. First I heard that he mob put up the 1.5 million for my Hip Hop pay per view special RAPMANIA in 1991. Then some rapper told my girl then who is now my ex when we got together, don't fuck with Van silk because he down with the mob. And he know who is bitch ass is too. To me all this shit is corny, live life for today and lets forget what happen years ago. I don't see anyone asking Don king some dumb shit like that. And he keeps it gangsta all the time.

VAN SILK hangs up the phone on us and for the last 2 days we were trying to contact him. Finally we got back in contact with him, and he decided to talk to be open about what he feels is a misconception about him. Personally he told Titanium it really makes no matter to him what people think. After we contacted him again we continue to make this interview happen once again.

End Of Part 1
 Continued in August's Issue For Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4