Love, Peace And Beatbox Page #4

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had special military training.

Either in the West or East German army.

Whatever, one stab and he killed him.

Thank you all for coming...

...and being here

to support his mom.

We only just found out she comes

here every year to honor Maxim,

at the site where he died.

And as we already said,

he not only died on that

day, it was his birthday, too.

I mean, on the same

day, that's just...

How could something

like that happen?

We still can't grasp it, the wound

still sits deep in his brothers' hearts.

We can't forget

him, because Maxim...

Let me just say a few

words about Maxim...

Maxim was the one who

launched Hip-Hop in Berlin.

He was the one who

introduced it to people here.

No one had even heard

of Hip-Hop in '82.

He was the one who first brought

all the American stuff over here.

He passed it on to the

kids and got them interested

so they wouldn't devote their energy

to criminal pursuits or whatever,

but to dancing instead.

'Cause Hip-Hop is an entire culture,

a culture Maxim tried to foster

and worked to preserve.

And...

As I said, it's hard for

me to find the right words,

'cause this is the

place where he died.

Where he was killed in

cold blood, if you ask me.

But the authorities

didn't see it that way,

and we just can't

understand that.

We still can't

quite believe it.

And don't forget the

ideals Maxim upheld:

No violence and no intolerance...

toward people of other races.

Maxim didn't care if you were

German, Turkish, Arab or whatever.

He invited groups from

the West to come to Berlin.

When bitter turf battles

were being waged here

over tags or streets

or names or whatever...

Maxim made people see

that wasn't the way to go,

that wasn't the message

of Hip-Hop culture.

Maxim tried to unite

us, make us one.

Maxim lives on in all

of us, in our hearts.

Thank you, everybody.

So there I was, on my own.

At first, I was ready to quit.

I mean, you work hard and

practice for ten or twelve years,

only to be told

you can forget it,

it's all over 'cause

your partner died...

You wouldn't believe the

stuff I had to listen to.

Anyway, I tried to...

I wouldn't say escape,

but get my mind on other

things, by working like a fiend.

Mostly with young people,

holding workshops and so on,

to carry on what we'd started.

If we couldn't

work as a group,

at least I could pass the legacy

on to the kids we'd been coaching.

And somehow, the

spark really ignited...

Eventually, we had a

group of about ten students

who were totally keen to learn

and work together as a group.

So one of them said, "Maxim's gone.

You two were Oralic Sound Machines. "

"You taught us. Now we'll

be Oralic Sound Machines. "

I thought that

was a great idea.

The cool thing about Maxim,

what fascinates me, is...

Yeah, initially it was with

Mesia, but also on his own...

He'd go to the kids on the

streets and encourage them

to do something:
Breakdance,

scratching, DJ-ing, whatever.

He inspired them,

showed them they could do more than

just dis each other and get in fights.

He made them see that's not cool.

Beatboxing, Breakdancing, turntabling...

Winning people over with

skill... that's cool.

I really respect him for that.

There are a lot of kids out

there with nowhere to go.

Their parents have their own

problems and they're on the streets,

harassing cigarette vendors

for fun. That's just the pits.

That's where Maxim tried

to make a difference,

and I wish a lot more people

would follow his example.

That's what we're trying to do,

anyway:
Love, peace and Beatbox.

I saw how Maxim and the

Old School legend Sugar Box

incorporated Beatbox in their

shows and the audiences loved it.

That really inspired

me when I was a kid.

And I hung out

with Maxim a lot.

He was like a

big brother to me.

He introduced me to graffiti

and Beatbox and all that.

Most important, he was a good

friend. That went beyond Hip-Hop.

And sadly, with

his tragic death,

when he was murdered

on his 33rd birthday,

our dream died along with him.

Maxim had the potential

to go really far

and make a true

difference in this world.

But we're going to keep nurturing

the roots we put down with him

and build on them

along with DJ Mesia.

And we'll hold them in respect

and make sure others do, too.

We know Maxim is watching from up there

and trusts us to do the right thing:

Not to sell out the Beatbox

community but to be there for them.

Women in the Beatbox scene...

There aren't very many.

I think partly it's

because a lot of them think

they could never

learn to do that.

It is often pretty heavy

on the bass, after all.

But besides that,

I think maybe...

I guess a lot of them,

how should I say...

...are kind of inhibited.

They're scared to try it...

...and to venture

into that world.

And you do have to prove

yourself, after all.

The cool thing about Beatboxing

is you don't need any equipment.

Just yourself, and stamina.

You can realize

your ideas right away

and turn them into music.

You can do it

anywhere, anytime.

You can have fun

and entertain others.

Time to take off winter attire

The down jacket's got to go

Get rid of that spare tire Now

it's fun in the sun, let's go

Let's play hooky and have a

lark Let's go party in the park

A few 'shrooms and some weed

What fun, that's all we need

Now it's light till ten p. m.

We can hang in the park and jam

We can barbecue and party all

night Hey, it's 90 degrees outside

Time for block parties, open-air

Feel that tropical flair, oh yeah

Girls strut their stuff, lookin'

pretty It's summer in the city

Head for the park or a pool that's

near Hey, this is our time of year

Berlin seems far away And

who needs money, anyway?

The love, the heat, what you

feel That's it, the real deal

Just get out, go for it, man!

Yeah, Hip-Hop...

Hip-Hop is cool,

definitely. And...

I think the whole Hip-Hop

lifestyle is pretty cool.

But it can be kind of

tiring and infantile, too.

Some things really get on my nerves,

like those MCs on "Rap City Berlin. "

They're not all like that, but a lot.

- Pretty much everyone but me.

Hip-Hop is just a word.

They needed a name they could use

to introduce it to the wider public.

I only heard the

term Hip-Hop later.

In '83 I was into Breakdance,

as a dance form and as music.

Which was basically

breakbeats...

...that the MC

would rap along to.

It wasn't like today's Rap,

where guys like 50 Cent

combine R&B with rap passages.

Back then the DJ was the main

element. The DJ was the king on stage.

The MC was the sidekick who

presented him:
"This is my DJ!"

"Yo, you wanna hear what my DJ

can do? Then listen up, folks!"

I was being crap on purpose

just now, to make a point.

Back then MCs

didn't really do Rap.

Sure, Grandmaster Flash on The Message,

the Furious Five... they rapped.

It was a stylistic element. And

a style in its own right, sure...

But we never referred to it as Hip-Hop.

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