Was Spoonie the Old Schools greatest storyteller? Yes. While most rappers of his generation invited you to either rock a party or step up to the mic and compete, Spoonie told you the stories of the street - from the corner to inside the car to inside the bedroom - that the rappers left behind in the clubs. Was he one of the architects of the new rap language? Yes. His way with words, his expressions, his rhyme style, his "yes-yes, yalls" and subject matter whether solo or trading freestyle with the Treacherous Three, more than any other rapper, laid down the law that the Runs, the DMCs and the rest of their generation would emulate in their search for rhyme mastery. Was he Old Schools greatest long-distance runner of rhymes? Yes. During raps earliest days, before radio was a remote consideration and rap records were designed to fill up a 12" single, Spoonie, whether reciting from prepared text or winging it with pure spontaneity, whether flowing with linearity or permitting his subconscious to pour through, Spoonie was unsurpassed for filling the time on a 12" slice of vinyl.

But, after all is said and done, Spoonies greatest contribution was that he was hip-hops first man-child, the first rapper whose content, style and character was R and X -rated while those of his peers were G and PG. He rapped about lovemaking while his peers were rapping about party-making. Spoonies sly, sexually come-hither innuendo, though low-keyed, spoke decibels louder than his peers most declamatory, room-shaking orations. Had it not been for Spoonie, two of the mid -80s most towering figures Rakim & L.L. Cool J could not have possibly been who they were. To meet Spoonie back then in 82 was to get an immediate sense of how different he was. While rappers seemed to be extracting their images from the leather, chains and feathered finery of disco, Spoonie still not yet grown stood like a little Humphery Bogart, with a porkpie hat and topcoat. He was already a veteran of the street business, of which rap existed side-by-side with dealing & hustling, years before the orthodox music business had taken notice.

At age 16, he made the legendary "Spoonin Rap," a track limited to bass, drums and disco percussion that perfectly split the difference between the deep pockets of "funk" and the repetitive insistency of rap. At the same time, "Spoonin Rap" competed mightily with pre-radio records like Jimmy Spicers "Super Rhymes" and Flashs "Superrappin" which measured a rappers ingenuity by their ability to fill up a ten-minute record. But it was with his follow-up, the two-sided classic "Love Rap" b/w "New Rap Language" on the Enjoy label, that Spoonie made one of his strongest bids for immortality. Backed up only by the drummer Pumpkin and Spoonies brother, Poochie Costello, on congas, "Love Rap" set in stone the arrangement that exemplified "beats and rhymes." "Love Rap" was the perfect recorded link to the parks and streets where d.j.s were rocking break beats with two turntables. The flip-side, "New Rap Language," a partnership with L.A. Sunshine, Special K and Kool Moe Dee - the Treacherous Three - laid down the law for freestyle rap. Touching every base on the hip-hop diamond, he moved on to Sugar Hill. With "Spoonies Back" and "Monster Jam," he transcended the retro-funk arrangements of Sugar Hills house band and labels creaky notions of turning him and Cheryl "The Pearl" of Sequence into a modern-day Mickey and Sylvia by exploding with the most pure stream of consciousness that was ever laid down; switching gears - with extreme sharpness from tales of lovemaking to mourning the childhood loss of his mother. To understand Spoonies stature and uniqueness in the Old School scene at that time was to understand the difference between Harlem whose depths Spoonie sprung from and the South Bronx. While rap originated from the South Bronx, from whose burnt-rubble the genre rose like a phoenix, Harlem was a community of tradition and continuity. It was in fact beneath the shadow of the Apollo Theatre, the crown jewel of Black entertainments Chitlin Circuit, that Spoonie was raised by his uncle, the extraordinarily sharp-eared record man Bobby Robinson, whose panoply of productions ranged from the blues of Elmore James to the soul of Gladys Knight and the Pips. In fact, Spoonie thought of himself as being in the tradition of the great love men of rhythm and blues like Sam Cooke and Jackie Wilson, albeit one who couldnt sing. To his performing peers, who were still trying to emerge from the almost androgynous costumery of disco, Spoonie was, by contrast, the first man among boys. When we crossed paths in 82, his star was shining brightly both on the stage and in the street. Spoonie did not come alive with a rappers persona behind the mic he was the persona. His recordings aside, he was revered for being the first artist to gain his release from Sugar Hill while still in his prime. This just wasnt done then, insofar as the label had the character of a youth home to which label president Joe Robinson acted as gatekeeper. Spoonies tenure with Tuff City was made easier by his heroic reputation and the thrall in which his most successful peers had held him. His ability to bring out the fan in these producers and have them pay fealty was a Godsend to this then-struggling indie. We clicked immediately with "The Big Beat" produced by Davy DMX (nee David Reeves). While Davy is known for possibly the best scratch d.j. instrumental of all time, "One For The Treble," he was also a fine producer. "The Big Beat" reflected both Davys admiration for Spoonies love-man persona and his ability to create a distinctive track that combined his firm but soft-edged DMX beats with his bass and guitar playing. ("The Big Beat" served as inspiration for Sean "Puffy" Combs "Do You Like It, Do You Want It" from his current album "Forever"). Spoonie also laid down some top-notch tracks with the dean of old school beat masters, Pumpkin . Even though the tracks we did "Spoon Spoon Spoonie" and "Get Off My Tip" werent hits, they were stark examples of a striking phase in this beat master/producers history, defined by the pristine minimalism of the Linn drum, the DX7 keyboard and emulator that comprised Pumpkins home studio. Then with Marley Marl we made the recordings that are in league with his classics. First with "Take It Off" (to be released shortly with little lyrical improvisation by Bad Boys Black Robb) and then particularly with "The Godfather", Spoonie made clear that the five years that had passed between his earliest recordings did little to close the gap between Spoonies adult concerns and the more adolescent leanings of his peers. These are also first class examples of the pastiche of samples that defined and were on par with Marleys better ­ known Juice Crew recordings.