DX: So we clarified who The Rapperteers were, but who was Silver Fox?
KGR: Silver Fox was a rapper from a group called Fantasy 3 back in the day. They was out and making records before G Rap ever came out. And he was one of the dudes that influenced how G Rap sounded when I actually did come out. He was like so far ahead of his time when he was out there doing it. His flows and everything was just unorthodox and futuristic.

DX: He was a cat from Queens too?
KGR: Nah, Silver Fox was from Uptown. He was from Manhattan. My man’s father had a club called Joe Grant’s, and we used to go to his after hours club Uptown. That’s where I first met Doug E. Fresh. He used to be up in there. And Silver Fox used to be up in there. So that’s how I met Doug when I was a young dude. I had to be like 13-years-old meeting Doug E. Fresh and Silver Fox. I seen Doug come out and do his thing, and I was hearing records that Silver Fox was making, and that was a key part of my inspiration for G Rap to come out and do what I do. But Silver Fox was especially [an inspiration] because he influenced how I flowed. He inspired me to wanna be different and stand out amongst the rest lyrically.

DX: What happened to dude?
KGR: The last I heard from him he was a chef or something like that. I haven’t heard from him in years. But that’s my dude right there. A lot of dudes ain’t know about him because the more [known] names [of that era] is like Melle Mel and Kool Moe Dee, and those dudes had a lot to do with influencing G Rap too, but when I heard this dude Silver Fox this dude was phenomenal to me. I thought Moe Dee was crazy. I thought Melle Mel was crazy. But when I heard Silver Fox I was like, “Yo, I think he got ‘em all beat.”

DX: Well let’s get to the story of how you ended up going from The Rapperteers to a solo career. Break this story down for me ‘cause I’m a little confused, it was supposed to be Eric B & Kool G. Rap and not Eric B & Rakim?
KGR: Nah, nah, nah, it was never supposed to be that. I didn’t even know Eric B at the time. I used to be around his brother, and then [Eric B & Rakim] came out with they first single [“Eric B Is President”] and I found out that was my man’s brother. And Eric B just started coming around more often. Because when I was hanging out with his brother, I don’t think Eric B lived under the same roof his brother did, but when he popped off with “Eric B Is President” and “My Melody” he started coming around and that’s how I met Eric and we became mad cool. We became cool to the point where I used to tell him like, “Yo E, hook a nigga up.” He got wind that I was a rapper, and not only that I was a rapper but I was one of the dudes in the hood people knew for that shit. And he liked what he heard coming out of me, so he wanted to help me. So what he did was he linked me up with [DJ] Polo. Polo’s a dude from my hood too. I knew of Polo’s name because they used to jam in the parks. Like, when people first started playing music in the parks Polo was in one of the groups out of Queens that would come out and set up the stuff in the parks and be rocking all night. So I knew of Polo, but I never met him. So Eric B was responsible for introducing us. And once he introduced us, me and Polo just clicked right away. Then Polo took me to Marley Marl’s house [in 1986] and I laid down the “It’s A Demo” track and “I’m Fly.”

DX: So when you met Eric B you were already solo; he wasn’t looking at The Rapperteers? You had already made the decision to split from the group at that point?
KGR: It kinda just started to just disapate, the whole Rapperteers thing. After awhile of trying to get it popped off as a group it wasn’t really moving. And Prince was still in LeFrak City, so he wouldn’t really be around me and Dog that much when I moved back to Corona. I was around Dog most of the time, and then me and Dog just started doing separate things.

DX: Going back here, you brought up Polo, what’s up with your former deejay these days? Last I heard from him was like 10 years ago when he did that like porn rap song.
KGR: Polo good. I was with Polo like last week. We was in Southside shooting some documentary, some video footage.

DX: So that split between you guys, that wasn’t like beef?
KGR: Nah, it wasn’t because of no personal beef or nothing like that. It wasn’t even ‘cause of [creative] differences. It was basically two grown men can’t eat off the same plate forever, ya know? Polo brought me in the game and I did seven years with him and three albums, so at the time of the split I felt like I repaid him back enough. Like, Polo was a worldwide name. Me and him being in a group together took his name from neighborhood to worldwide. Continued on page 3 »