The-Get-Down-Season1-Ep1-REview

Seth Svi Rosenfeld: [00:00:00] Life. You and my life. You and

TrevFM: Hello Neighbors. Welcome to another episode of Spread Love fm. Good neighbors, good conversations, and good vibes. I'm your host, Trevor. In this episode, we dive into episode one, season one of the Netflix series. The Get Down with Writer, Producer, Seth Rosenfeld 

Seth Svi Rosenfeld: I is that a lot of the, the particularly the up rocking and, and the early breaking came from the battle dances that the gangs used to do.

So it came out of that spirit of, of Battle of Warrior, but. It, you know, the, the B boys took it and they were like, Well, maybe we don't have to kill each other. You know, maybe we could just [00:01:00] dance. You know 

TrevFM: what I mean? Join us as we pay tribute to this cult classic series and the culture it celebrates. Uh, so Seth, um, how you doing?

I'm good. How about you, Trevor? I'm good. I'm good. Thank you so much for coming on. I'm a huge fan of this series. I've watched it more than a dozen times entire series. Right? It's almost on, on, on, on constant replay on my Netflix account. They must say, What's wrong with this one guy, ? 

Seth Svi Rosenfeld: No. There are people like that, like, you know, people who love it, really love it, you know, And uh, so that's good.

It's good, you know, I'm. I'm glad it affected you in that way. Yeah. 

TrevFM: So gimme a little bit about your background. How, uh, where you, how you got into producing writing, first of all, and how you got involved with this project. 

Seth Svi Rosenfeld: Well, I was, I'm born and raised, uh, in New York City and hear it and, uh, originally from the Bronx actually.

And I'm exact, and I'm the same [00:02:00] age that those characters would've been in 1970. Um, so I, I didn't take the normal route to get to writing. I just started sort of on my own and, uh, I, I started writing plays first and then, um, when my first play, uh, was produced, it was also the play had to, my first play had to do with the elements of hip hop because as a kid I wrote graffiti and I wrote a, a play about those experiences called the writing on the wall.

And it was during the time that the producers of New Jack City were making New Jack City in New York, and they actually came to see my play, and then they hired me to do some screenwriting for them. And that's how my, that's how my career actually began, was, uh, with, uh, shout out to, uh, Doug McHenry.

George Jackson, Rest in peace, Andre Harrell, Rest in peace. Uh, those are all the guys that, um, Stan [00:03:00] Lathan. Uh, gave me my first break, actually. Yeah. 

TrevFM: So originally from the Bronx, the Boogie Down. You were a writer yourself. Uh, what did you write? I'm curious. Um, 

Seth Svi Rosenfeld: I, I wrote s e t 94 and, um, so when I was, uh, when I was in my, I don't know, about eight, seven or eight years old, I moved to the west side of Manhattan from the Bronx.

And, um, so everybody was, was, was in those days riding their block. So I was on 94th Street at that time. And so, uh, I think I started writing when I was like 11 years old. Uh, set 94. We all, you know, it was something, it was almost like playing basketball, something that all kids in the city did at that, at that particular time.

Um, and, uh, yeah, the, 

TrevFM: um, so yeah, yeah, you can see the authenticities, one of the, uh, points that I really, uh, recognize in the film j the tags, the. But Roger of tags everywhere, [00:04:00] not just on the trains where you would expect them. 

Seth Svi Rosenfeld: Well, we felt that that was an important element of that time. Uh, Ba Lerman, who's our director, did an incredible, he doesn't, you know, come from that world, but he did an incredible amount of, of research.

And then we had people like Lady Pink and Saint and, um, crash and, uh, day, uh, crash and days, and. I don't wanna leave anybody out, but if I did, I'm sorry. But we had a bunch of, um, graffiti artists there. My and myself included teaching some of the cast members particularly, um, uh, uh, Jay Jayden, um, how to, uh, how to write, you know, it was almost like we had graffiti class for them, you know?

Um, and then, um, So, you know, that was an essential part of what we felt we wanted to tell. And, and, and a lot of that stuff I was tasked with writing cuz I, I came from a little bit of, [00:05:00] I wasn't, you know, I wasn't no major graffiti artist, but I, I knew enough about it to, to, to write it in a way that was authentic.

TrevFM: And you, That's one thing about the series that people may not realize and the fact that it's a musical may throw some people off. It threw me off initially. I, I saw the trailer, I was blown away and I said I had to see it. Yeah. But that first episode, it, the musical element may be a little bit, uh, um, something different for the, the old school heads to digest.

Seth Svi Rosenfeld: Absolutely. I think Baz had this idea of disco versus hip hop. and like, so he had this idea that in the first episode you would pre be presenting the world of disco, which was the, you know, when we were growing up, I, I'm, I'm in my era, we were all grew up doing the hustle and, and you know, disco music seemed to go on forever.

And then out of the concrete came this other [00:06:00] music, which I never even thought would make it to records because it was, You heard it in. You know, the Park jams and in basement parties and in little, little clubs, but it wasn't anything that was ever I ever imagined would become like music. And then rappers, the light came out and other songs followed, and I think, uh, you know, when Grandma asked to flash and um, and those guys made the message, it was a turning point for hip hop in a way, in that it was, now it was a.

that was a music to be sort of reckon with, with, you know, now it could be, it wasn't just party music, but it could speak about a lot of things that were going on that were affecting people's lives, you know? And um, so it became an important, obviously, it became probably the most important cultural movement, you know, uh, certainly in the LA since rock and roll or maybe mm-hmm.

More, more, or maybe [00:07:00] more, you know, maybe more. Influential than that, you know, because it's a worldwide and it's affected fashion, it's affected the, it sort of has become youth culture in a way, you know? And, um, so yeah, so ba and so, so there was a lot of research being done. We had, you know, Flash involved, Curtis Blow involved, cool mod involved.

a lot of people came through, you know, a lot of people came through and, and, and, um, and, you know, wanted to be a part of it, you know, And that 

TrevFM: was the, I was the year that, that was, um, that first year, 1977, that's when I was just, I from East Flatbush, Brooklyn, and I was seven years old at that time, but I was young.

Right. But I remember the disco and 

Seth Svi Rosenfeld: yeah, no, there were a couple of times when I got chills. I'll tell you, um, watching the scenes [00:08:00] being recreated, and I'll tell you in that first episode when they were, when I first saw the set of the disco tech, um, that is kind of the disco disco tech where you meet, you know, Fat Annie and, and, and Cadillac and that whole crew.

It really reminded me of a club. The first club I ever went to, I was maybe 14 or 15 years old, and it was. 42nd Street, it was called Starship Discovery and it looked, it was almost like, I don't know how they got the production design, so Right. But it was, the second was later in the episode when they went to Flash's party.

Mm mm And he was DJing the energy of the extras. Like I think one of bas things that's brilliant about bas is that he's not only direct. The actors, but he's directing every extra, so only extra has his own story, I know, in that scene. And so you could just feel [00:09:00] the energy. I would, and it really reminded me of those old park jams, uh, from when I was a kid, you know?

TrevFM: That's what I re and I, cuz I remember block parties, you know, we were Brooklyn and, and, um, my brother was a little bit older than me, so he probably knew a little bit more about it, but that energy of the street of the park, of the block party, Yeah. That was captured. Yeah. Um, but let me rewind a bit because I, I, I do wanna go through the series.

So I, I wanna talk about the, it opens up on a tape cassette with, um, Marlene. and it says, uh, church music only, or something to that effect. Talk a little bit about incorporating that element and writing around that element. 

Seth Svi Rosenfeld: Well, you know, it, it, it, one of the big plot points in Marlene's life was this.

It's very real for people of a certain generation. I think that Dom, it's sort of Donna Summer story, you know? Mm-hmm. [00:10:00] is that, um, you know, her, her family was so deep into church that any music that was not church music was, you know, secular music I guess it would be called, was not allowed. And um, so there, you know, but then you have this woman who has this voice and who has.

Need to express herself in all her facets. Not only the part that is buttoned down, but the part that wants to open up her sexuality. All of everything that makes her who she is, she wants to be able to express in her music. And she's feeling really, um, hamstrung by, by particularly her father's, um, controlling nature and, and the strict, uh, Christian background that she comes from.

Um, So that's, so the idea of the tape was, um, was introduced and I'm trying to think whose idea [00:11:00] that was. I wanna say it was probably BA's idea as like, um, a visual symbol, you know, of, uh, of, of her struggle in a way you. 

TrevFM: Yeah, that was, uh, that, that's something that I just took note of because it appears so often in, um, the upcoming series I wanna jump across to, to Rumi, uh, to dizzy his character.

Right, right. And, um, when they were saying he's, he was talking about putting his tag up and defining what graffiti is and what writing is and the fact that you wanna say, I was. Yes. And that's going back to the day of cornbread in Philly. I was here. Mm-hmm. and tagging. And I even think about when I was, I was in school and you write on your desk.

I was here. Sure. And that whole, tying these stories together, talk a little bit about that. 

Seth Svi Rosenfeld: If you think about artists in general, right. From painters to [00:12:00] singers to um, actors. You know, a, a lot of people are driven by this idea that they want to be seen. They want people to know that they were here, right?

So graffiti was the secret society back in the day. We didn't have any way of knowing. Who was who? There was no internet. There was no there, there was no catalog of, you know, somebody wrote their name up. You just go like, Oh wow. That was so that man, I love his style, but you have no idea what he might look like.

And um, but we all grew up in New York City, right? So in New York City you have Broadway, you have famous people, you had Studio 54, you had celebrities, and it was like right downtown. But here we were living in these neighborhoods anonymous, right? And graffiti was our way of going. Like, No, we exist too.

We're here too. [00:13:00] We matter too. You know? And in terms of, uh, so that was sort of d Dizzy's character, right? In terms of my lean and bringing and her going to lay infernos and wanting to meet with the dj. . That was the strategy back then? Mm. The strategy back then, because we didn't have any, All you had was like a cassette tape.

Mm-hmm. that you could make off a boombox and you would hand that tape and say like, Look, you know, look what I can do. Right. And you would do it to the person in your neighborhood who you felt could move you along. And in this case, it. It, it, it, it was this dj Right? Uh, who was played by the brilliant, uh, Billy Porter.

Um, 

yeah, 

TrevFM: the, um, the, the character Also you have DJ Ma Malibu, you have, uh, the, the Get Down brothers. But I want to just touch [00:14:00] on, um, Jimmy Smits, Franco Francisco Cruise. That's right. And who was that based on? 

Seth Svi Rosenfeld: Well, there was a guy in the Bronx back in the day, he was what we used to call a poverty pimp.

And, uh, I forget his, I forget his name, but he's quite famous. If you just, if you were to actually Google Poverty Pimp in the Bronx, his name would come up. A Puerto Rican dude who held a lot of power in, in the, in the, in the, uh, particularly in the South Bronx. and, uh, did good things, but also was a gangster.

You know, he had both, he did some good things. He, he provided, you know, um, medical care and jobs and that sort of thing, but he also, you know, filled his pockets and hired his friends and he was, you know, a power broker in, um, in the South Bronx. And, and that's who? His character was, was 

TrevFM: based on it. [00:15:00] And that's a common theme, the fact that the ends justify the means, which we will hear also in an upcoming episode.

Um, then moving on to, so we have the introduction of, uh, the Get Down Brothers, Marlene, uh, Francisco Cruz. Um, there's a scene that really kind of captured me when I said this is gonna be a special. Series is when Zeke was in the class and he was asked to, he won the award for the best poem, right? And. I was moved every time I see that scene.

Yeah, I get chills. Tell me about that and how it's set up the 

Seth Svi Rosenfeld: rest of day. So one of the writers on the show was, uh, a brilliant writer named Steve Adley. Steven Aley Geras. He's a Pulitzer Prize winning playwright and also from New York. And he wrote that, um, he wrote that poem. In fact, he wrote most of, um, [00:16:00] The interior monologue of book's character, when you would ha hear him sort of go off into his thoughts or into flights of fancy verbal verbally, that was usually Steven who wrote that stuff.

Um, and um, and I think, you know, it was, the idea was you have this, this young guy who is obviously really. And like so many, uh, kids, he comes from, he, his family, he has a lot of family struggles, right? His mom's, his mom's not around. He's being raised by his aunt and his uncle. And, um, there's conflict at home.

You know, he has, you know, he has this girl he's in love with, you know, the, the. Have their own allure, and they're, they're a lot of fun, but they're also dangerous. And so there's a, you know, for kids growing up in the city, it's, it's a familiar [00:17:00] story, but it's a true story about the temptation that's out there and how to walk this path, uh, you know, to, to kind of, for lack of a better make it out, you know?

Mm-hmm. . and, um, but he, you know, the, the teachers, he's the one that sort of, the teachers see that potential in. So, uh, Yolanda Ross, who plays his teacher, Mrs. Green is also terrific actress. Um, Uh, you know, sees, sees what's special about him and in, and is nurturing and encouraging towards her. 

TrevFM: The writing that's, See, I assumed, and this is really the, the type of information that I, I'm.

So appreciative of, I assume because NAS was involved, that he was writing everything. No. And to to hear that, um, [00:18:00] to know who wrote that piece. Yeah. That's something that, you know, that, to know that is, to know That was an amazing piece. And it, and the fact, the way it ended, there's a couple of lines in there, uh, when he says, um, yeah, I am the one.

Yeah. And, um, It's recognition. It's recognition that, no, I do have that talent. And it repeats itself in the final amazing scene. That's 

Seth Svi Rosenfeld: right. Well, um, Justice Smith, who was, um, who played that part, I, I, I really feel like that was his coming out party in terms of, you know, . He was a terrific actor. First of all.

He's from California. Yeah. He, he's not a, and he and I saw him work his way towards a Bronx accent, and I didn't, I didn't know if he would get there. And he, by the end, I'm like, This kid was, he was amazing. Um, and then he brought that kind of, that inner confidence to that part. Yes. But also vulnerability to it as [00:19:00] well.

He was very, he, he brought a real complexity for a young actor to do that. He was, he, it was very, Um, you know, in terms of Naz, Nas Naz came on very late in the, in the game and, and, um, you know, he, he contributed, but he contributed mostly to the raps that the grownup books. Oh, okay. Yeah. That was mostly some, a lot of that was NAZA's contribution.

There was some of it that were other people's contribu. But a lot of that was NAZA's 

TrevFM: contribution. It's amazing cuz the raps, the mces of Zeke, amazing. I mean they were so powerful. Um, Right. 

Seth Svi Rosenfeld: So yeah, so, so, so that stuff all of us wrote, I mean the stuff, the stuff that, um, the stuff that you hear them doing as young people, the.

That, that was US 

TrevFM: writers. Oh, man. Love it. Yeah. Yeah. That's amazing. It [00:20:00] was. And, and you're right about, uh, justice, uh, uh, Justice Smith and his confidence. Yeah. That's the thing that I don't know if people understand. Yeah. Like you, I've seen, you know, every rapper that, you know, from 1980 to, and there's very few people who could just exude that.

Mm-hmm. . And, um, he had it, his look, you know, his look. , 

Seth Svi Rosenfeld: He brought that with him. You know, he just said that, you know, and, um, uh, but I thought all of them were terrific. I, I thought that, um, um, the kid who played RARA was, is an amazing actor. Uh, Skylar, uh, Skylar Brooks, um, uh, um, Charlotte. Fantastic. Oh, 

TrevFM: we gotta get into him in a, 

Seth Svi Rosenfeld: Yeah.

So, yeah, we can talk, we can talk. You can talk about my man, uh, Shalin. 

TrevFM: Yeah, so you're right. Everybody was amazing. Um, from Ra ra, Boo Boo. Yeah. Shalin. Now , [00:21:00] the introduction to Shing, the Red Boomers just streaking across rooftops, right? The Marshall Arts element. People may not know in the seventies. Bruce Lee was the show, the movie.

We were in 

Seth Svi Rosenfeld: the streets. Yeah. So I can take credit for this one because. So when I, I was working on the pilot with Bass. One of the games I would play with him was a game called, What Does Bass like? Right? Because I was trying to get inside his head and figure it out. Like what was he, what did he want in this series?

What did he want, you know? And at some point I started to talk to him about our obsession with martial arts and. And Bruce Lee movies and Kung Fu movies and going to 42nd Street. Yes. in the Doubles and Five Fingers of Death and all of these movies that we watched as kids. And then we would come out of the movie theater swearing that we knew Kung fu, you know, , we'd be practicing like we actually knew it, you know?

And um, [00:22:00] so, um, he loved that when I told him those stories. And um, and I knew that he like, These kind of, he liked a mythical element. Mm-hmm. like that was as what bass brought to it. He, he looked at it as like the three kingdoms, right? The kingdom of Bamba. Yes. The kingdom of Flash. The kingdom. Kingdom of cool hurt.

So cool. Her was in the West Bronx. Baba's in the East, and um, uh, Flash was in the South Bronx and. So that's how we were, we were, we were thinking mythically. That's why when Flash teaches them, he's always Yes, Hopper. You know, It's 

TrevFM: like, I love this stuff. 

Seth Svi Rosenfeld: So, um, I came up with the name. I said, Well, we should call the dude.

Um, we should call him Shalin. Fantastic. and, um, and of, you know, and bass and every, you know, people like that, you know, it was, uh Oh, perfect. . 

TrevFM: Yeah. [00:23:00] Yeah. So that was an amazing element. Um, the mythical, uh, is good to know that and good to learn that and know that this is something that was, it was authentic, but there was an added mythical element with, uh, which, which really worked in 

Seth Svi Rosenfeld: that.

Yeah. And that was, and that was, you know, cause I think left to our own devices, a lot of us would've. More with more realism. Mm. But BZ was like, We need the realism, but we need it also to be fantastic. And so he, you know, he, he added all those elements. 

TrevFM: And even the, the choreography, which with the Kungfu and for example, every time Shalin Shaik would move through the city, you know, pray in Mantis.

Yeah. It was his body, his movements. He was so good with expressing the feel of that time with his movements when he, the first time he saw, um, Flash. Yeah. The way he was standing. 

Seth Svi Rosenfeld: Yeah, he studied the way we [00:24:00] used to do it. First of all, he studied the, we had all these pictures, right? We had pictures of back in the day, how people used to, how we used to stand, bboy stances, all of that kind of stuff.

And then, um, uh, uh, Shaik, Shaik Moore. Shout out to Shaik Moore. He's a terrific, terrific person and a great. Um, and also a great physical actor. Mm-hmm. , he's like a young Asie, Snipes, like . He has that physicality about Aaron so that he, you know, he has a dance background, so, but he learned how to break dance seventies style.

Like I, he trained that way. He trained in the martial arts piece, like, and he took it very seriously. And, um, so now he, you can catch him in the wutang. He plays Reon in the Wutang series. 

TrevFM: Uh, yes, I saw that too. I saw that as well. It was really good. Um, one more thing about that. Um, the choreography and the dance and, [00:25:00] um, the one thing that people say about break dance and about, um, a b Boys today versus the other day, like they may have more tricks and gymnastics now, but it's all about the attitude and 

Seth Svi Rosenfeld: I think it was about attitude and also back in the day.

It was also about catching the beat right back. Like back in that day, they were concerned with what music was playing. Right now, uh, with all the gymnastics and stuff, it, it, they almost don't even need music, , you know what I mean? Like, um, so it's, and I mean, to me, I mean, it's, it's in, they're incredible.

You know what I mean? But, um, 

TrevFM: it's not the same. It's not the same. And I mean, even the style that goes with it, the. Um, I, 

Seth Svi Rosenfeld: uh, you, I think, you know, sooner or later, hopefully you'll get written tone on here. Uh, the Talladega brothers and, um, they were the choreographers for the get down. Um, and they, they're incredible and, uh, they, they, they're incredible [00:26:00] in also in enlisting some of the best people to, from those times taking those move.

And then making them even more, you know, theatrical in some ways. Um, so, uh, I, you know, they did a great 

TrevFM: job. That was beautiful. One, one thing I would love to ask them is the scene after Less Lays Inferno after the shootout and, um, Shaik, um, fantastic. Shalene fantastic. Meets them at the rock in the park.

Right. That scene where he slides down the, like, Tell me, do you know anything about who thought about 

Seth Svi Rosenfeld: that? I really don't because I wasn't, uh, I wasn't on set when they shot that, that bit. Um, but I was super impressed, you know, and I'm sure that, uh, I'm, I'm sure it was an idea. That they came up with from seeing the rock, and then [00:27:00] they probably, what I imagine they did was that they treated the rock in such a way that you could slide on it, you know?

TrevFM: Um, Yeah. And, and then to write on it, like he stood two slides, he slid to introduce himself. Yeah. Which was a great introduction of, you know, who is this guy? You know, Is that karate, that kung fu? You know, we wanna keep it clean here. But then when he said, You probably know who I am. Mm-hmm. . Brilliant piece of choreography.

Yeah. Let's talk about Ladies Infernal and a couple of things that were introduced there. Okay. When Zeke was trying to get in and he finally got in with the help of Fantastic and they, they confront Mali. Um, about playing this record, and I think it's the first time we were introduced to this idea that instead of using fist, or instead of fighting to negotiate you Yeah.

Rhyme. Yes. Tell me a little bit about [00:28:00] that. 

Seth Svi Rosenfeld: Well, that, I, I actually wrote that scene. Um, so that was, um, , the idea was that this character's not tough , you know what I mean? So he is like, he's from the neighborhood, but he is not a fighter. So, but he is smart and he is wily and he's not afraid. Yes, he may not be tough, but he's a risk taker, right?

So he's willing to go ahead and lie to try to get in. He'll do an go to all these extremes to try to get this girl. He'll do just about anything. So when he's confronted with this guy, he uses. You know, he, you know, he pretends that he's like, comes from this family of, of major gangsters and , you know what I mean?

And he plays his character and, and the, and, and Billy Porter was so incredible in the way he just came right back at him, you know? Um, so it was, that was actually one of my favorite [00:29:00] scenes, uh, at, at Lays Inferno. Yeah. 

TrevFM: Yeah. And then we move a little bit further, a couple of. Scenes, uh, forward when we have the first battle dance battle.

That's right. And the same thing happens instead of fighting it out. That's so it is, this shows the, the transition from we talking about the sixties and seventies with the gangs and the savages savage logs and how they went from fisticuffs and knives and guns to bee. 

Seth Svi Rosenfeld: My favorite, uh, book from that time that really describes that era is a book called Yes.

Yes. Y Um, yes. And um, and one of the things that they talk about, which is I, in my, in my estimation, very accurate, is that a lot of the, the early great dancing and the up rocking came from the battle dances that the gangs used to do. So it came out of that spirit of, of Battle of Warrior. But [00:30:00] then it, you know, the, the B boys took it and they were like, Well, maybe we don't have to kill each other.

you know, maybe we could just dance. You know what I mean? . Yeah. Yeah. And, um, so there's a real violence to the dance, but it rarely ever moves past just dancing, you know? Um, it's aggression, but without the, without the physical violence, you know? Yeah. 

TrevFM: Yeah, it was amazing that I, I mean, that's actually one of the scenes that I really kind of caught onto after watching over and over and over.

This scene kept growing in significance to me, both of those scenes. Mm-hmm. . Um, let me move on to, I I, I do wanna talk about, and we have to, well, 

Seth Svi Rosenfeld: before we leave that, um, that scene, you have to understand the character of Cat Cadillac and Fat Annie, the mother, and. Who have kind of an incestuous relationship and they [00:31:00] bring Shalin into that incestuous relationship, and it's one of the more risk gay parts of the series.

Mm-hmm. and, uh, and Yaya, who is now on Broadway, um, in, uh, Top Dog Underdog, um, uh, is just. I don't know. He's one of these actors who's just fearless. He's, he just won't walk away with that character, you know? Yeah. And, um, and he's gone on to have, you know, uh, quite a career. We're all super proud of him. And then, uh, Fat A who I think is also on Broadway right now in Haitis Town, also just brought, like, she was based on a real gangster from the Bronx at that time, who was a female.

Um, You know, female kingpin in our Right. 

TrevFM: My favorite character, which may surprise some people, but, uh, we get to the social club and we meet Jackie Marino. 

Seth Svi Rosenfeld: Okay, [00:32:00] Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, 

TrevFM: yeah, yeah. It's strange. But for me, he, the words that he expressed, we have to, I don't wanna jump ahead, but he is the spiritual kind of, Of, of this entire series for me.

Seth Svi Rosenfeld: So I'll tell you a little bit about the, just i, the evolution of his name. Right. Okay. So my father Rest in Peace. Uh, Herb, um, it was also, you know, from the Bronx and two best friends. Was, uh, one, one's guy's name was Jackie, and the other guy's name was Donnie Moreno. Okay. Right. So as Aha, those guys, I named these, this character Jackie Moreno, you know?

Wow. . Um, so Kevin Car again, who's also from the Bronx, by the way. Okay. And a brilliant, [00:33:00] uh, actor. I was very excited when we got him to, uh, to play that part because he brings a, a natural kind of soulfulness, um, to everything that he does. And that character really called for that. Right? Because that character was, was in a way an artist, you know?

Yes. But a, but a artist. Yes. Yeah. Like very flawed, you know? Yeah. So he, and he was also the one who kind of, later on he sort of brings us down. So we get know the Chelsea Hotel. We get to know sort of the down scene through 

TrevFM: him, you know, and that was important for hip hop. We know how, you know, it was about, uh, Fab Five bringing, you know, New York downtown.

And that's always a part of hip hop that I really identify with and it's what made hip hop kind of the crossover. And that was Jackie Marino, uh, doing that as well as, as well as, um, as, um, uh, Rumi when he went downtown as. . 

Seth Svi Rosenfeld: [00:34:00] Yeah. And that was Rumi's journey was the journey of a graffiti artist and I, And what I mean by that is, is.

Uh, by nature of, of, of writing graffiti, it brings you, because the train yards are everywhere, right? Mm-hmm. train yards are out in New lots in Brooklyn. They're in, um, 242nd Street in the Bronx. You know, you, you, you can go out to, to Queens. So as a graffiti artist, you're exploring the five boroughs in a way.

A lot of people don't get out of their neighborhoods. Yeah. But, and then you start meeting people from all over the place who are also part of that. Thing. You know what I mean? And um, so it was natural for him to find his way downtown. You know, 

TrevFM: I'm gonna jump ahead a bit. This, uh, two other things that I really wanna touch on.

Um, so they were in the Rock and chaing tell 'em, I need this record for the get down. And they say, What's the get down? You don't know what's the [00:35:00] get down , You know? And, um, they follow him. And for. I've never seen a scene in any film that ex really captures the underground nature, the out of the way. And then you walk into this place, it looks like, What the hell?

Where? What the hell am I going? And it was just explosion of energy. Tell me about that scene. Well, 

Seth Svi Rosenfeld: first of all, So the word, the get down, we were trying forever to figure out what the name of this, what we should call this series. It was a very difficult series to name and then bas one day, I think that it was Flash, who told Bas that before it was called hip hop or before we, you know, before it was rap music or whatever, that they used to just say, Oh, we're, we're gonna have a get down or something like that.

[00:36:00] Um, which was terminology that I, I knew I, the word we called get down when we were kids getting down meant having sex or getting down meant, um, you know, like at a party dancing or something like that. There were lots of ways to use the phrase, you know, get down. Sometimes people use it for fighting. You know, we got down like, um, but I hadn't heard it used the way we used it in the series.

So when he says, So this is what bad brings, it's that mythical element of like, there's a mystery to it, right? There's, it's like the Wizard of Oz, right? . There's some, we've never thought about it like that to something you've never seen before. You know what I mean? Like that, it's that kind of feeling in a way, you know?

And so, um, so then you have to deliver on that as to, as a, you know, you set it up, but now you have to. And that energy [00:37:00] of the staging of having grandmaster flash up of having people on the fire escape. Mm-hmm. , you know, like it was, you know, it was just so live, you know what I mean? Um, 

TrevFM: I, I can't imagine being there.

Um, yeah. But man, yeah. I mean, every time I see it, I still, Yeah. You know, I'm, I'm like, Man, this is in this, this is it thing that I want to point out about that scene as well. That, that really kind. Shifted my view, which I knew, but now I've seen it and I understood it for the first time, was a relationship between the DJ and mc and how back then the DJ was the conductor, as they say.

And how, um, the, the mc, which in this case was it Hollywood. Yeah. Mc was, uh, it was Cowboy, Cowboy, Cowboy. I always got a mix of cowboy. Yeah. Who was a actual de uh, uh, dj, um, mc, how he was there just to kind of make the announcements, kind of move [00:38:00] the crowd, keep, you know, come open mic. Tell me about that relationship and how that you, uh, and 

Seth Svi Rosenfeld: back in, back in the day.

I think it, it may have been cool, her who was first doing this, um, is. You know, it was almost like their hype man. They would have this guy who would hype up the crowd before or before Cool. Her would even come on, you know? And so it, you know, because that was the star Cool. Her was the star. It it, you know, that's why they called the group Grand Master Flash and The Furious Fight , right.

Grand Master Flash was the star. He was, He was the Michael Jackson. You know what I mean? The rest of them were the Jackson five, you know. And um, uh, So, you know, because it was so much about dancing back then. Mm-hmm. , E, everybody went to a party to dance. There was no standing on the sides . Like you were at the party, you went there to, and you look forward to it.

Like it was [00:39:00] more than, I mean, Yeah, people used to get high. Yeah. People used to do other things, but the main focus was the dancing. And so the DJ was the. Who was like the puppet masters and all the, all of us were the puppets, you know, . Um, and then this mc came along just to sweeten it up, but then eventually people started going to see the MCs.

They would say, Wow, this guy. And then you had DJs like DJ Hollywood, who could do both. Mm-hmm. , because I and dj, right? So, You know what I mean? And, and, and so this rhyming thing really started to take off, you know? Um, and, uh, you know, eventually, I wanna say the first, the first solo star was Curtis Blow. Mm mm-hmm.

He was the first mc who had his name. [00:40:00] Right? Because before that you had the Sugar Hill. Grandma Master Flash If Furious five, a funky four plus one, then all of a sudden it was Curtis Blow, right? And then it, you know, and then you, uh, uh, you had LL and Run dmc and, and you know, before you knew it, the DJ was in the backseat and um, and the mc was, had taken over.

TrevFM: But one thing I wanna kind of point out, the last scene when they went to Shelling's Lair, I don't know what you called it, his apartment, right? And. The transi, not the transition when they went up to the roof. Um, first of all, that scene was amazing. Discovering, uh, you know, hooking up the electricity and that, you know, That's right.

Authentic. 

Seth Svi Rosenfeld: Well, that came from when I was a kid. My, um, you had all these abandoned buildings in New York. Mm-hmm. , I mean, people now would not believe. , the amount of abandoned brownstones, like beautiful brown, like [00:41:00] just abandoned, , everything. So when I was a kid, we had a clubhouse in an abandoned building, 

TrevFM: really?

Wow. And 

Seth Svi Rosenfeld: we used to steal electricity from, from the, from the buildings next door we run fires. And so we had this little like clubhouse , and. And BZ liked that idea for, for, you know, for Sha Lynn's character. Right. And, but also Bz wanted to describe the kingdoms. Mm-hmm. like he wanted to end on, on, you know, the different kingdoms and the mythic nature of what we were there to tell.

Now you have to remember, Most pilot episodes for shows are an hour long. Mm-hmm. , if it's a hour long show or if it's a a half hour long show, the pilot's a half hour long. [00:42:00] Our pilot is over an hour and a half long. Yes. That's never done. Really? Okay. Wow. Like a movie . 

TrevFM: Um, I, um, it flew by every time. Still flies by.

Seth Svi Rosenfeld: Yeah. But it was, um, so it was a very extraordinary, you know, it was a very extraordinary, um, experience, you know. 

TrevFM: And that's amazing. I did not know that was based on your experience, the clubhouse. Yeah. To know that that was actually is is makes I'm gonna watch it. Get in with the different eyes. Uh, um, the one thing is when they went to the roof and Rumi says, Let's go see the train.

Yeah. And the title of the episodes where there is ruin, Where there's ruin, there is hope. Right. And seeing that train. And one of the things I. Later on is how that train carries that message from the roof to my lean, right? That's right. And that's the [00:43:00] essence of hiphop. Yeah. I was here, I'm gonna talk to you.

I'm gonna figure out a way if you're gonna suppress my voice. Yeah. Guess what? You've got a train that we could utilize. Tell me about that scene. Well, 

Seth Svi Rosenfeld: so first of all, you know everybody. I think to, to a certain extent is enamored with, um, Jean Michelle Basquiat. And um, and I went to high school with him.

Whoa. Really? Wow. And so that character was meant to have a little bit, uh, Dizzy's character was meant to have a little bit of Basco in him. And so Basco wasn't really a, a graffiti artist, but people who. Know his history and have seen his work. They know he used to write samo on the wall and then he would write next to it sayings things that he thought about Samo as an alternative to bourgeoisie, blah, blah, blah.

Or you know, he, uh, different comments [00:44:00] because he was a very, very smart, thoughtful guy and he had a lot to say. And so that's, that was his version of graffiti. Mm. So we wanted to make roomy sort of a combination. Of, you know, graffiti artists as they existed in the Bronx back in the day, and, and Jean Michelle.

Um, and so, and we all love the, the Persian poet Rumi. So, um, so that line is actually a translation of, of, of one of Rumi's poems. Mm. And then the idea. like you, I, I think you said it really well. Um, the idea of tying this all together in that way and that message coming through, which is really the message of the Bronx at that time, the South Bronx, which was arguably one of the most dangerous places on Earth.

And that at that moment, and then out of that concrete comes this beautiful thing called hip hop, [00:45:00] you know, out of ruin. 

TrevFM: Hope. Wow. Yeah, it was amazing. Um, and I don't wanna give any spoilers, but I, I'm sure that most of the people who hear this will probably know, but that idea of using the trains to carry a message mm-hmm.

Um, and I want, I will talk about my favorite, um, one of my favorite scenes in the movie comes in the last episode, uh, when. Zeke has to give that speech and he pays homage and, uh, Moved. I was so moved. By that 

Seth Svi Rosenfeld: you mean the last episode of of of, of season one? Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Well, thank you. I, That was, that was me.

I take, I could take . Oh, 

TrevFM: I gotta give, give it up that 

Seth Svi Rosenfeld: I feel funny saying 

TrevFM: that, but it's true. Oh, man. Tell you, I, I li I mean, [00:46:00] yeah. I'm not you. Moved as much as I could be moved. I was, Seth, thank you so much for spending your time. Yeah, 

Seth Svi Rosenfeld: no, Trevor, I could feel your, your passion for the show and it's wonderful to talk to you about it.

TrevFM: Thanks for joining us. Please follow us and leave a rating and or a review. I would like to thank our show partners, locals I know.com, helping artists make money, find opportunities, get discovered and develop sustainable business models. That is locals I know.com, Mike Bikes NYC on Instagram, amplifying the voices of activists since the summer of 2020.

Head over to Mike Bike's NYC on Instagram. That's Mike with m i c. And the Freedom market.shop, a marketplace led by people of color united in the principles of social and economic justice. That's the Freedom [00:47:00] market.shop until the next show. See you next time

Seth Svi Rosenfeld: You.