Episode 247 | Kwesi Hopkinson

Kwesi “Hoppy” Hopkinson has been a driving force in Trinidad & Tobago’s entertainment and media landscape for decades. From his teenage years building Radioactive and Players Inc, to shaping the party culture with iconic events like Soca Picnic, to creating platforms such as Scorch Magazine, Scorch Radio, Island E-Tickets, and now Scorch TV — Hoppy’s story is one of vision, branding, and resilience.

In this episode, we talk about:

• The early days of sound clashes, dubplates, and rivalries with Jugglers and others
• How branding and identity (yellow crates, yellow cars, iconic logos) made Radioactive unforgettable
• The entrepreneurial leap from radio personality to media owner
• The birth of Scorch and why ownership mattered more than titles
• His role in providing space for young DJs, artists, and creatives to grow
• The evolution from magazine to radio to TV and the future of Caribbean entertainment

Transcript

Introduction and Golf Course Tales

Corie 0:00

We're coming into the camera to converse. You say we need producers right, but this is your shoot producer.

Hoppy 0:10

Producers are supposed to help you. They're supposed to make it more difficult.

Corie 0:15

But my producer, david Ware, said I have to introduce myself. My name is Corey Shepard. I know what to call you Champagne, papi, champagne, hoppy, hoppy, hyper, hyper hopper.

Hoppy 0:28

Which one are they using? You have all kinds. It all depends on who you're talking to, about me, or which era, which era, what situation? If I'm in the office, if I'm in a party, if I'm on the golf course?

Corie 0:44

You don't start on the golf course.

Hoppy 0:45

On the golf course. My nickname is CB. Right, yeah, what is that boy? What is CB for boy? A word a, c word. Four letters Sounds like um Runt Runt yeah.

Corie 1:02

Boy, this is your partner's game. You didn't say his name, it's Gomez Actually.

Hoppy 1:08

I gave myself the name why, boy? Because I was always doing shit. Let me tell you something.

Corie 1:13

Every time I see you on the golf course, right, if I play number five, I go, but you're playing 17. Your ball comes over. Last time I see you I was in Mocha we playing that par 3. Which one is the par 3? First, second, the third, fourth, fifth, never shot par 3, the first one, you see, and I see you the next degree. I say, but what?

Hoppy 1:32

I'm taking my ball now. I say who are you, what are you doing?

Corie 1:36

when you tell me the hole you play, I say alright, well, I'll come, I play, being number two.

Hoppy 1:42

But you see the game of golf and I remember you talking that. Dr Raul, when he see me he say long and crooked.

Corie 1:54

Long and crooked, so he know too.

Hoppy 1:58

Yeah, he know, and I never see it today. We going down turn and I hit my ball and of course, going down. We going down turn and I hit my ball and of course long and crooked going right. Yeah, when I come over now you watching me, so that way you get me in him. You know, I nearly bust the man in, I nearly kill him it's awesome.

Corie 2:21

People might be glad to hear you say that the ball, the ball, the ball, the man on the nearly kill EPM. It's awesome. People might be glad to hear you say that and they'll say you missed, nah, boy the ball, the ball on the man, the man back the man on the on his golf cart oof this is gonna be a different kind of interview.

Corie 2:33

This is gonna be a different kind of interview, but I'm sure the name Kweisi Hopkins will go work right. Kweisi Hopkins for those who don't, I wonder. Like you say, people might know you from several different eras.

Hoppy 2:43

Eras yeah.

Corie 2:44

But I feel like I had a front row seat to plenty. I think, right, I see a good bit of it over the years, yeah, yeah.

Hoppy 2:49

So, Scorch.

Corie 2:50

I was looking at Scorch. If you start with today, the things you're looking on now, like Scorch is out, how long now Radio? That is oh radio.

Hoppy 3:06

Mm-hmm. Interesting thing about scotch radio we actually started scotch radio before the pandemic, right? So we just started scotch radio as an online radio outlet. Um, in 20 I want to say 16 or somewhere around there um, it was online. Actually, a lot of the youths now you're seeing djing, um, a lot of them would have passed through scotch radio on the internet. This, you know, play anything now, and so a lot of them are all bonks up now and they'll be like well, you know, we used to be on scotch radio and on the and I was like serious, yeah, you could have missed that yeah, so they.

Hoppy 3:37

They started, I mean, down to brooklyn the other day telling me um the first, the first studio he ever went into do recording and stuff was at Scorch. Scorch was always, you know, that platform for the young and upcoming to find a space With the magazine. As a writer, a photographer, a model, you know, with the Scorch music producers, little artists, all Jimmyimmy october, um, I remember you know nz, all these youth men used to be around the studio, um, super youth and all them I had them there from, from, from, from a long time ago, um all 2016, I think, so that's like 10 years, wow, wow right.

Corie 4:22

Yeah, it listed online as two and a half years, but it it's a long time.

Hoppy 4:25

So the FM. So when we became an FM band that we could have done it. It's two years so, but just before COVID we shut down the studio, like I had Smelly Rat Boy Mm-hmm.

Corie 4:39

Yeah, you get what.

Hoppy 4:40

I'm saying Let me tell you, in 2020, in 2020, carnival 2019. I have a cousin in Miami and he is a risk management specialist, right. So he called me one day. See cause you ever thought about risk management in the entertainment space. I was like what are we talking about risk management? He said, but suppose there's a pandemic, and right. And I was like what are we talking about Risk management?

Hoppy 5:06

He said, but suppose there's a pandemic, and yes, Right, and I'm like I was like he said how we could get out in the space. I said, but no promoter paying for no risk management. That is hard right, but I hear you. So this would have been late 2019, all September, all them times and me and him had a meeting and we and I'm trying to figure out, you know, for me I, I bring ideas into making how we can make a business out of it right September, december comes. I had to hear about this.

Corie 5:40

Right, it's in.

Hoppy 5:41

China right by January. I call him back. I say, partner, we've seen this thing, you see something coming. I see, at the same time, Dean from Tribe was talking to me about Melee. But it's supposed to be a cruise ship, a cruise, and so Carnival come, and you're hearing all this COVID-19 business going on. And I said to this one more time.

Corie 6:11

I wake up and I'm like this thing's serious man.

Hoppy 6:12

Yeah, god, you know, we were about to move offices. I started renovating a spot and thing an exporting wood bro, and I called my cousin and I was like yo tell that man, keep the dumping, man, bring come on. Yeah, stop, halt right. And I tell Dean at the same time. I say Dean, cause we supposed to send some money, like you know, a couple hundred thousand US or something, to for the ship deposit.

Hoppy 6:41

I said, dean, I ain't feel, I ain't feel I ain't doing that. You know, I think you should, I ain't think you should, you should hold up and that's what you think. But, um, and about three, four days after, they come and shut down the country, yeah, imagine that right, but I think they already had sent some kind of money over to the ship. So I think they might have.

Corie 7:00

They would have lost that yeah, yeah, I didn't realize melee was so early. That was a long time yeah, yeah, yeah before the pandemic, there wasn't any planning.

Hoppy 7:06

There wasn't any planning stages to happen the next, the next, I think, the next carnival or the next year or something like that gotcha. So yeah, so we've been, so I pulled back right so we had shut down the studio, shut down everything, and I was just saying, like we just talk here, like set it back, like Chanda Paul, you know.

Corie 7:31

You know, give me no bigots.

Hoppy 7:31

That's what.

Corie 7:32

I say as long as you stay. You know, Chanda Paul is a good example.

Hoppy 7:35

I'm telling you, I tell people all the time. Sometimes you're saying this yeah.

Corie 7:38

We take it with care. Of course, let Aaron make, but that idea of providing space for youth seemed to be something that you like doing. That's something important to you in your mission.

Hoppy 7:52

Yeah, I mean, I remember myself as a youth and there wasn't much opportunities or even people that look like me that I could go to, wasn't much opportunities or even people people that look like me, you know um, that I could go to um for for advice. Um, I remember when I was in 30 and I um, when I started to want to be into music or DJing and the entertainment space, um, one of the first people I met was the goose. Serious, yeah, yeah, right, um, and it's amazing how life is, because I grew up listening to the. You remember that. Yeah, so the Big Slice was my favourite show after on radio after school, in the Big Slice I'm trying to play along with the Big Slice, right. And then I got the opportunity to meet the Goose, um, and I remember one of the things you know that was really performed at that time to me.

The Origins of Scorch Radio

Hoppy 9:03

He's like you, sure you wanna be in this thing. You want to be in the radio, you ought to be, yes, radio. Being a radio man is like you ought to be a madman. You see what I mean? It's two personalities You're a radio personality and off here, it could be two different people. And at that point it's only when I got into it I started to realize like hyper, hopper and crazy. You know it's two different things, they have two different and you can have many different well, you have you have many right.

Hoppy 9:35

So from an early age, you know I I remember these little lessons, but my lessons came with plenty less looking on having little conversations, but nobody was really this man come on, let me show you this, of course, I never had that, you know.

Hoppy 9:53

And so for me, giving it, giving information, giving experience, knowledge, I do it for free, I just, you know, I uh, especially the young, the youths, right right, um, they just come around and they ask questions. My sons and his friends, you know they, they always they want to know, they want to know.

Corie 10:15

That's good and I like that, you know, of course.

Hoppy 10:25

Um, always that platform. You're right, you know, and I try to keep it that platform. Even in the office you have a lot of yeah, you know you use some younger.

Corie 10:29

You know young adults there, yeah, you know um, and as the others getting older, you know um, you know it's a, it's a balance, striking that balance, yeah, you figure out how we have to do that, strike that balance over the years, because long time when he was in school we used to say, boy, this man different, right, he's the local Diddy. But we can't say that again. Right, we had to.

Hoppy 10:48

We go shift it to JC, right, at least for now, but I mean, but now, but I mean, you never know for the, I mean the whole Diddy, thing, I mean. I put up my KFC drive-thru. The old girl said hey, puffy the rich, rich again. That's what it was yeah.

Hoppy 11:11

Now I will tell you something. I didn't necessarily like Puffy as a person. You know. His personality was a little too much for me. Yeah, abrasive, even though even though people you know, see the two I personally was like, nah, he's a little too, but I just like his drive now to get shit done. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And when you have an idea or a dream or so, I didn't have a problem when they called me that. You know what I'm saying Because yeah, okay, I didn't have a problem when they called me that.

Hoppy 11:44

You know what I'm saying, because yeah, I think that was the parallel, yeah yeah, yeah, and I, he was one of the guys I would, from a distance, be able to kind of look at his and be inspired by right, not the baby, yeah, no, no, I don't know, I was going alright, you're cleaning up the freaky part of it. Man, I never um, I never tried to emulate the freaky part.

Corie 12:08

You know I'm a some freaking man, the thing about that is other people say that to me, so when you have other interviews you might ask that and maybe you know you never know where you'll go. But going back to them Trinity days, right, because one of the questions I'll ask before I get to that you ever had a walk like a 9-to-5?, like you walk in Massey and them kind of thing, Mario's, you never do none of them things Nah, I didn't think so.

Hoppy 12:29

So I remember when I was in like form 4 or 5, could be probably 3 or 4, my neighbor, an ex-neighbor, he was like the CEO of a company that Trico had back in the day called um, um M M Medical Services, okay, ims, so something like that, insurance Medical Services, something like that.

Corie 12:56

Yeah, I remember they had gone into the medical world. They was in, they was that was on um carlos street, not carlos rock, rock cross street.

Hoppy 13:08

Yeah, no way it's over, mother, yeah, right anyway. So he, a summer actually was right after cxc I started, I went to do and I was like the office boy there, right, right, um, like I saw my job that probably extended into while I was going to school, like you know, the first part of the team, like september, october to december, um, and you know I was going up on dog chopping off meal and being a office boy, so, um, that probably was that. And then, after, after after that, um, I went into a program called um with mic, right, you know that, uh, electrical I forget even name it now mechanical engineering all the trade right so, but I was tricked right because, um, because you know, after in Trinity, he just wanted to leave school.

Hoppy 14:09

So I barely leave school with passes, because he had about three passes when I leave. Right, we had to repeat and did the maths and English because you had to do this, of course. So I had to repeat that we had to download something.

Corie 14:23

Oh, you did that in download, not Trinity.

Hoppy 14:24

Yeah, I had to do that. We went to Downers and things. Oh, you do that in Downers, not Trinity. Yeah, I had to do over maths, english, and then you pick up some other subjects trying to do that. Anyway, long story short, I pick up this thing called a DJ and I was like in form three or four, right, and we started DJing and I put up my group, yeah, right, and that's all I wanted to do at that point. Yeah, like I never had aspirations of going to college like the rest of the guys, or my peers at the point at that time, right, until I realized, well, everybody's looking to go to college. So I, no leap, no setting. What were you going to do? I had a schedule to go to college or something too. I didn't know what I was't see. But, um, I remember, and in those days this is, this is mid 90s you can't tell your mother and father that you're going to be a DJ. The only professional DJ at the time was a laundry hide, you know what I'm saying.

Hoppy 15:31

They were years up ahead, they established. So you can't really tell them that it's like, what are you going to do about it? You're living your life. So they say. I remember my aunt um came. It was like a in retrospect was like an intervention, right I? Remember sunday callaloo cocaine and I see my aunt and I'm rich and they sit me down to talk about this thing about your career path?

Corie 16:02

what? What are you doing? What I do in life right.

Hoppy 16:06

And she said so they have this. She said Kwee, see, you know, you ever thought of like you know, a welder, a diving welder, is make Money, is make 250,000 dollars a year and it's only work for like two, three months. Yeah, a day, yeah. She said what? Not as a year, and he's only worked for like two, three months a year. So you're checking me what. That's how it goes. You know what dope it, I can buy it. That's what you said. I know, you know what dope it, I can buy it, that money. And I only had to work for two months. Sign me up Right, sign me, sign me up right, sign me up. So they. So they sign me up for this thing, this program with MIC, and I go in there and I have no clue about trade, welding, electronics, yeah, you know mechanical engineering, late, I don't care that, I go in there, you know what I'm saying you know was that late was that late, so I went to do this program boy.

Hoppy 17:07

You know what I'm saying? It wasn't late, so I went to do this program boy. It's a whole new world for me, right. And so they tricked me into that. So, but at that point I just knew, um, I never wanted to do that, right, and I wanted to to be a DJ. Well, we was DJs at the time.

Corie 17:31

Yeah, because if I inform, the first time we come across all the fellas we could have been formed two, three, so it's had to be wrong that time.

Hoppy 17:37

Yeah, so this this is 96, yeah, 97 something like that, right yeah um, yeah, 97.

Hoppy 17:42

Right, yeah, yeah, yeah. So we I DJing, we DJing, you know, hustling, doing whatever. But now I go into school and it's like university, I think community, I trade, and think, hey, me know, this whole book, yeah, horse to be a to do. Well then, yeah, it's a real theory. I said the science is all kind of iron and this, and, and I said, but what the hell, chad, I thought I'd go and do a trade. You know what I'm saying?

Corie 18:12

Thought you'd go and weld. I thought I'd go and weld One time, right.

Hoppy 18:17

It just happened to be um, I was a crack shot, I cracked shit. Well, I didn't. Yeah, the man, the, the, the, the first time I said, you see, I said well, the, the, the instructor was like you do this before.

Corie 18:30

I was like no.

Early DJing and Radioactive Beginnings

Hoppy 18:33

So he didn't tell me nothing. I went down, I go on to I to golf city a day Right, and then I've seen MIC on display.

Hoppy 18:42

I said hey, let me see what this is when I started watching you work. I said, man, this is looking familiar, I see my name, my look, my initials, everything. I said what do you like going to school? You're an intern man, I graduated. So you were saying, man, here's a crack shot. You know? I was like what he said, yeah, so I ended up going to work on the job, training Right Like in year after year two of it, and we went to the Pema in Wausau.

Corie 19:07

Yeah, right, you live at Wausau, right, right, didn't I?

Hoppy 19:11

The Pema has a training in Wausau from testing station in St Joseph.

Corie 19:15

Right, right right.

Hoppy 19:16

You know a whole different world Right Now. Right Now, you're seeing the real man, them. You know what I'm saying, of course, of course, and let me tell you that journey in Rasa. I was there for like nearly a year and I DJ in the night, at the night, in the night, cutting which I work for like seven o'clock in the morning, right Traveling from you know those days you had to travel right. Traveling from the Ville up to St Joseph. I never did that in my life before.

Corie 19:46

Me. The first time I was there, I went to UE. The time you had to travel I was like what, yeah, right.

Hoppy 19:50

To travel to the East. Yeah, I don't know about that. You didn't have to do this from Independence Square to Diggle right. Yeah from Tongan home.

Corie 19:59

Yeah.

Hoppy 20:00

So I go on, had to be there when I reach most nights, like you said, after coconuts, and we eat coconuts Wednesday, tuesday, friday, so most of the time on Sunday night. So Monday I reach in. What sir? I sleep in until about nine o'clock. I did that to a man named Rodney.

Hoppy 20:19

He was a union man. He didn't like me at all. He's like serious, yes, boy, I'm sleeping, think, think, think, right, stressing out Rodney. What was Rodney? He didn't like me at all. These two supervisors, francis and Huggins, were real grown men. These men. Every month, then the next week they're broken. Still Right, that's the kind of man we're talking about. How much man in them days. When they tell me the kind of money that man's making, they say them fellas making $30,000, that's 90 something. Yeah boy, that's money, money. Half of that is overtime, right. So them men making real money, but they drinking out of course.

Hoppy 21:01

I was a crack shot. They had me welding big. Big was a pipe, serious man, yeah, I breaking down well, pump station and all kind of me.

Corie 21:10

I know you guys are trading unknown. Yeah, they're just leaving you to work and I'm getting free money.

Hoppy 21:15

I like that, so he's trying to come remember.

Corie 21:18

Yeah, but even, even, and it's your dj in the united states dj, not trying to buy the plate, but even, even. And you're DJing in the night, then still I'm DJing, I'm trying to buy the plate, all right, you're working for your money to support that.

Hoppy 21:28

Yeah, the plates I buy, I try and earn. You know what I'm saying. So I mean, but I just knew this wasn't for me.

Corie 21:35

You know what I'm saying? It can't be for you if you're studying the money from little pussos.

Hoppy 21:40

No, but I'll tell you. I'll tell you something A man named Roy Peake is who changed my life. Yeah, so after Wassa, now I'm in the culture of Wassa. So, to be quite honest, if they didn't leave me, I'd probably just settle in Wassa right now, because I just become a part of the culture in Wassa right.

Corie 21:57

Of course, yeah, of course.

Hoppy 21:58

It's a gangster working in Wassa, it's all kind of people working at Wasa, right, yeah, and I deal with them my time at Wasa and they send me to our next company, which is Peaks. Right, and I go and he said Peaks is a whole different thing and it's like Peaks was like, it was almost like robots Because you're doing the same. Okay.

Corie 22:22

You're an assembly line guy.

Hoppy 22:28

You're an assembly line, assembly line work, right, and my um, what I specialize in is is mechanical engineering and welding, and the only welding really they had was like a brazen job that they smell the copper on the coils that's going on to the condenser. So after the first day I was was like what's this do?

Hoppy 22:46

So the whole week I was like but Oli can get a robot and do this. What is this? This doesn't make sense. I ain't learning nothing here. I learn everything I had to learn in one day, but I think I was always a kind of rebel or seeing certain things. But anyway, this is where where it changed. Like the second week I was frustrated already and it's now Wausau, because in Wausau it's vibes, it's vibes, and every day you suppose it's work three o'clock, two, three, three. They come and say Pack the truck boy.

Hoppy 23:20

It seems as though Much has changed.

Corie 23:21

You know what I mean. Pack the truck.

Hoppy 23:23

Pack the truck them. It seems as though much has changed. You know what I mean Panty truck, panty truck.

Corie 23:25

Them now looking about, but they're now looking to go. I told you I mean they come back.

Hoppy 23:30

So they're over time, it's over time, money Right, and them taking me all over the country. I going what I all over the country, boy yeah yeah, yeah, so Pixar's bordering on to you. So Pigs is bothering out of you. So for me now I picture like what?

Corie 23:44

is this.

Hoppy 23:46

Right, but they call a meeting Now. Back in those days by Pigs they used to have fellas outside the gates and apparently they said it was like day workers.

Corie 24:00

Right.

Hoppy 24:00

So they come and say you come and you can work today and the rest of can get go. Yeah, so I mean there's a whole new world to me, eh, and you know, I grew up in a middle-class home. Basically, diamond Vale is, you know, the quintessential middle-class. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Corie 24:20

That's Vale when it was Vale Vale right In the 90s.

Hoppy 24:22

That was you know. So I saw the both sides, I could see you know. Yeah, you see the change, because you have Blue Range on one side and you have, and you know, vale is a full education, right.

Corie 24:34

Yeah, you know what Trinidad is when you live in.

Hoppy 24:35

Vale Correct. So for me I kind of could be with the man there, and you know. So I ain't, I ain't pick, saying no, and they call a meeting and this man here, roy Pick, he's the boss walking Um and he is what he used to call. He used to call he's a white man, he used to call him a old nigger.

Corie 25:02

Right, yeah, right. This is called. He's a white man. This is called.

Hoppy 25:04

Him a old nigger. Right, yeah, right. I never. I never see the man In my life.

Corie 25:07

Just no button Right.

Hoppy 25:09

Through the factory and then Right, the man walking Is the meeting partner, and it's me and my peers that look like me when they're walking. This is the man who goes there.

Corie 25:20

Let me tell you Something.

Hoppy 25:22

See all the niggas when you want to see what's all the outside. So and I was like that's angel, what man. I shocked. You know this man talking, because I watching her I like nobody else. Yeah, boy, yeah. And I'm saying but this morning something all right here, like, all right here, but like, and tears started to come to my eyes and I was like this is not me, this is not for me. I reach home that day, I tell my mother I'm going back there. And you know, in the period of the 90s right.

Corie 25:59

Tell your father yeah, right, yeah.

Hoppy 26:04

Kind of luckily for me, my father was in New York at the time. Okay, so you had no cell phone and you're calling night to see what's going on?

Corie 26:13

It's home phone days. Home phone days.

Hoppy 26:17

You see my boy, look at his son, he's a little daddy. I tell him what's me ain't going, me ain't going back there. My father's a kind of man too. He's like my boy. You's a big man, yes, you do what you gotta do, right? You's a big man. And it was almost like to me it was a a sense of me know what to do to you again, because you know what I'm saying like dead daddy and my mother was here at that point was like but that that day changed my life, as in I knew I couldn't ask my parents for nothing. I see, right, not that, not that it wasn't like they said, don't ask me for nothing, but for me it was like it's a door to die right now.

Corie 27:05

Yeah, they forget about it and make it happen. Thing must start, then.

Hoppy 27:08

Right. So I had to be like. So from that day I haven't asked my parents what I said, I didn't know and I probably was like about 17, 18. And I just knew I had to. Whatever I do, I had to do it on my own. I was thankful I had a house and a house and food to eat, but money and them kind of thing I had to deal with that myself. They never said that, they never said that to me, but I just knew for me yeah, you interpreted to be that it was just no, it was just like I had to do that for me, because I I ain't doing what they want me to do, of course, right, I doing my own thing. So if I doing my own thing, this is what I had to do, right, right. And I think I was looking back and that was the turning point.

Corie 27:55

That was a moment Right. So at that point DJing is your only venture you have at that point Is at first yeah, so Radioactive was so.

Hoppy 28:05

Radioactive started off as MOC. Masters of Creativity serious, yeah so Masters of Creativity was me and my best friend at the time um rap group. Yeah, yeah, so he's a. He was more the rapper. He's a rapper and chanter real bad and I was the DJ.

Corie 28:24

You was a DJ DJ 20 years. Yeah, I never see you dj. I always see you talk. Yeah, that's where you start off yeah, I started as a dj.

Hoppy 28:31

I was a dj, um, and this was young, like 15, 16. You know that that time because, yeah, I don't know. Next, brejian, whose neighbor was, was a, used to have song systems and rent it out and he was a DJ back in them days and kind of popular around the area and things. So we used to go by him and try to spin. And then my father had turntables at home.

Hoppy 28:53

Father was a music too, yeah he had, but he just had them things. I don't know how he had, but he had records and collecting records and things and he had. He just happened to have two turntables, no mixer or nothing. I don't even remember how I get a mixer now. I try to remember back like how I used to get a mixer and records.

Hoppy 29:14

It's amazing one thing you used to do when you had no money money in running, but you used to just figure out and I'm like I ain't got no money, I ain't asking them for money, and I try to figure out what is I used to do, I mean, and then I just remember I used to be a barber.

Corie 29:28

Serious, David. You know about this. I feel like if I had not prepared what year is this? You talking about barbers?

Hoppy 29:35

I was a barber from like 12.

Corie 29:37

Serious From young.

Players Inc and Party Promotions

Hoppy 29:38

Yeah, so I used to trim all the little boys in the area. They used to bring them by me. So I used to be making money on a Saturday morning Right Trimming fellas Cousins you know Fellas from around the Vale. Back in the Vale, the Vale had plenty of youths yeah, you know.

Corie 29:54

It's a good thing you don't clash, because men will say Baba boy, don't remember are you guys news to me?

Hoppy 30:10

yeah, so my first my, my early teens, well, most of my teenage years um, I was trimming, I was trimming for and that's how I was, I guess, buying record.

Corie 30:16

Yeah, I guess you know um, but emosian starts over buying records, only rapping.

Hoppy 30:20

But I guess so yeah, so we was rapping, I, we had all kind of beats and I taken all like back in the day music, um, in these times you know, temptations and all that thing, and we trying to rap over the instrumental was then too, because that middle 90s was big, yeah, this this, this was yeah of course.

Hoppy 30:45

But we as a DJ, and we just trying to figure it out, and then one day I go in by him. He's living in the street behind, so literally his house is the house behind, right? So I then I jump by wall and he in his house, so I go in by him and he playing this thing and his song and his dance, or playing his song like the song that you know, but it's the song in the front right, I was like and a lot of talking, like and the talking talking on the mic and I'm like dog, what shit are you listening to us?

Hoppy 31:21

Right Him. Shit. He was saying to us right him here.

Corie 31:29

This, this jarrow jarrow versus um metro, media or inner city or whatever songs right, yeah, it's like jarrow where's that right?

Hoppy 31:35

yeah, yeah, he started telling me that story. You know how supercats be on this on jarrow, and he's been in the the and I'm like so I, I lost, I watch my. My whole world is like what the fuck is this what? And you hear in the songs, you hear in the dancehall songs, you know, but they're not on the rhythm.

Hoppy 31:58

You know it and they sing you start to explain to me what's that. They'll play what I'm saying. He started explaining to me what was at the plate and I'm like I lost, I totally lost and I tried to understand and I said, yo, this is shit.

Corie 32:08

Yeah, it must not be song.

Hoppy 32:10

Yeah, it must not be song and and and dancehall. I only now started to get into dancehall. Okay, I was more into hip hop, and so I'm like nah, this is not the song. This is annoying us. I don't want to hear this.

Corie 32:25

Right and the quality used to be poor.

Hoppy 32:27

Poor. We were in Cassidy, right, and he telling me, no boy, let's take it on. He started schooling me into it and I said, all right, and then I listened to Stone Love, but Stone Love was more polished right and I started getting into them. It's true, love, um. So I started understanding now. So what happening is? Um, you know the rap thing and the dj, and we're going around and and and rapping right and I don't remember the rapping.

Corie 32:59

No, he was not. No, this is before.

Hoppy 33:01

Okay, you know what we did after right, yeah, so, yeah. So what happened now is Masters of Creativity. I was like I started getting more into the dance, so them days, laundry used to be on a Saturday morning you remember them days. At 96. And I'm like yo, we still want to call into the station and say, hey, big up, yeah, the Diamond Veil crew. And I said, but I need a, I need a cool DJ name that could come in, because I say my son's a creativity too, it's going to work.

Corie 33:33

It's not too long.

Hoppy 33:35

I said and I need a song. I need a name for a song, a DJ group that actually do that song class thing that you know and kill songs. But I want to be on the radio at the same time. So I remember I was sitting down at the in the kitchen table the same Saturday morning and I want to go to laundry to bring us up. Now I was saying I need a name, boy, what's your name? And I said I'll write down names. Radioactive, come up. Radioactive, come up, right.

Hoppy 34:01

So it just come up in your mind, just like that, because I wanted to be on the radio.

Corie 34:05

Ah, I see, it makes sense.

Hoppy 34:07

Right. It makes sense, but I wanted to have a song, a name that could be deadly.

Corie 34:12

It's deadly too Deadly. Right, and look how deadly that is.

Hoppy 34:17

I run out and I say I run to my aim and say what do you think about this name? Radioactive? See way here, boy, that bad. I see how I think I go on back home. Call the station hey, make a radioactive One time, that's a radioactive launch. That's what we do.

Corie 34:34

We're ready to say a trademark one time, one time Make a radioactive one time a day.

Hoppy 34:38

So every Saturday I call the laundry. Make a radioactive one time a day Every I call in laundry. We got radioactive group on diamond mill every.

Corie 34:46

Saturday, without you know what I'm saying, and we like give you stuff. You used to hear them days laundry on 98 or one of them 96 in launch.

Hoppy 34:50

Yet I can't remember which one it was, but yeah. So now I started getting more and more into the song system thing on the cassette and I did dance all that stuff, and one into the song system thing on the game cassettes and I did dance all that stuff, and so we started DJing. But what happened? Is he left?

Corie 35:08

and went away. He migrated.

Hoppy 35:10

This would have been four and five, four and five days, right. So after school he went and I was being radioactive as a single Right, you were alone. And then you remember Arlan the Atman yeah, you remember Ireland. Yacht man yeah, so he's living in the yacht the side of the hill. But I remember leaving that year after CXC and going to the States. I think my father-in-law was hoping I would have wanted to live there. Yeah, keep it. I hated New York.

Hoppy 35:38

Seriously, yeah, I hated Brooklyn as a hip-hop man, yeah, but I mean you've seen hip-hop, yeah, but I mean you see, in hip-hop the dance was big, started to get big, so people see that on them. So I in the park but I just didn't like that it was. You know, I see a man went to Trinity with me telling me to come and join some gang with him.

Hoppy 35:56

And I'm like gang. I said what you doing. He said what you doing, I just beat you up. I said beat me up. I said boy, you mad, all them beat me up. He said nah, boy up, boy take a man like you in the gang thing Back home, Two weeks, Two weeks after the man dead.

Corie 36:09

You know this shit didn't come. Yeah, man him shining. He dodged a bullet, he was miserable Mm-hmm.

Hoppy 36:15

Five years ago he was in form three. Yeah, yeah, they ended up killing him and I'm like, yeah, so that's enough for me but I came back home one time after. That's why I like Aguilas, I get into bankers.

Corie 36:30

Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's why we get into some of these stories, see how easy it is. The truth is come out eventually, so I went back home.

Hoppy 36:38

I spent a month in New York and I was like back home back home. That has always been the case. But also we started a DJ and getting little small DJ gigs and everything right.

Corie 36:48

So when it turned from when you decide you're going on, cut your Fools to Blade Lake this would have been oh so we so we had.

Hoppy 36:59

What happened also is we were still, we were kind of popular boys back in them days right, and my crew that was with, so Jules Sobian.

Hoppy 37:09

I remember Suiza Zami, right of course it was me, jules, a bunch of Abedjian, lee and Mark. We had a big crew and and we used to be, you know, partying. You know like you throw a party and and we used to be, you know, party. You know, when we started to throw a party and we started to actually before that, we tried to throw a party when I was in form, like form three or four, with some of my boys from the Vale For summer, like a last day of school thing and the party bus. Yeah Right, it was just me and my boys and three girls from down the street.

Corie 37:53

There's no one you come back home for, though she wasn't there, she wasn't there.

Hoppy 37:57

Of course, let her ride out there. You had to come back home. That was that party. I was like, wait, nobody in the party. Yeah, yeah, yeah, party must be taken. But we're trying to DJ, you know, mm-hmm. And then the December that year, the turn that year. We say, you know, we try a small party again. Right, but this time we ain't trying to be no, we ain't trying to make it too big. It's not man. So we just buy one case of beer, one case of shandy, yes, and thinking it'll go end up being maybe 10 more people?

Hoppy 38:37

Yes, but it's the same crowd, Right Thinking you know, that party all last night Shut down the whole of Diamondville. Watch man, the party, the house, watch man. I mean like where was my virgin? Where the party was, cousin was because the father wasn't there. So that's the way I treat everybody, she's like yo where's all of this?

Hoppy 39:00

wait a minute. Think, think Project X. Right, that was like Project X, because, listen, chaos Before midnight. This party. I talk about like 500 kids In a velo In a velo, people coming from all over the place. We know what's going on. I'm like whoa. So then the next year it's like, yeah, we train as players, so players will not. I'm like, wow, so then the next year it's like, yeah, we train as Players Inc, so Players would have been born.

Hoppy 39:26

After that. Players came after that, right, I see, yeah, so that's when I put in Jules and all of us to say we're going to do Players Inc. And then what happened with Players Inc? The first party we was going to do was the summer after. And you know, and you know, I get, I learn, as I said before, just doing stuff and then having that experience and learning from it, right, yeah, that's at university too. Right, so we train. This party called 747, right, and it's a whole plain thing. However, so you know the, they have a house on the corner by the stadium, yeah, and it's a whole plain thing, however.

Corie 40:09

So you know they have a house on the corner by the stadium. Yeah, and it gets in on them, it gets in on them.

Hoppy 40:12

Yeah, yeah, yeah Over the house, yeah, yeah yeah, so the mother said we could use the house.

Hoppy 40:15

My partner from there, my partner living around the area crazy Say yeah, we could get this house thing. So the mother said we can use it up to this party. Right, we're going to the party, big party. Watch me everybody hype about the party. So the week of the party she asked Chrissy if where the bar license? Oh, I didn't even know about that. So he called me and said hey, she wants to know if you want to have the bar license. You know what the what this is like. This is how you Wait for the party.

Corie 40:52

So you ain't gonna Court none of that, you know what.

Hoppy 40:55

So I call Jules. So at that time Jules' father. Is in the AG Right.

Corie 41:00

Yeah.

Hoppy 41:01

I go on about Jules. It's a crisis now, jules, where's? You know what I say? I go on and ask Anthony Judy, anthony Judy, nice Anthony Judy, what you say, boy holy mat what is tomorrow? One day we like what the hell is up my life? Instant, instant fever for me. What man? I'm sick. What man? Look at this. I money outside watch me. And Instant fever for me.

Corie 41:25

What man I'm sick what man Let me tell you something I, you have money outside.

Hoppy 41:28

Watch me and when I tell you this party is round, yeah, this party is round. Everybody come in the party and we're trying to figure out how we could do this. And the woman in the same room no more license, no cash for the party, she's has problems. We had a cancerless party, listen, partner. The same day, laundry Hour party in Chinese. Eh, so we, but we. We's a new generation, right? You know, I I sick as in asthma Fever. Watch me, I want to die. Watch me, I in my bed that Friday. Watch me, I want to dance. Watch me, I'm in my bed. It's not.

Corie 42:06

Friday night Sudden response.

Hoppy 42:09

Watch me. So that was a whole little experience.

Corie 42:13

Yeah, yeah, yeah, so it ended up cancelling. You have to cancel the concert.

Hoppy 42:19

So that we say we're going again and we bring up. We kind of get bringing some other veterans too, so it's still me and Jules again and players think actually remember Biggie had a song where the players that's where we get players think right, okay, okay, okay, that's where it comes from, yeah, that's where we get it from. So players think now but all them guys say well, all these players you know me, I didn't feel that was wrong.

Hoppy 42:49

My memory's somewhere, yeah so the players, we end up training this party down in Blue Rainside there watch man. And that party was like whatever we didn't get for the party for 747, it doubled up now, right. So, and that is where it launched basically Players and Radioactive, because Radioactive was the DJ group, right, right, right, because Players was the promotional arm for Radioactive, gotcha, gotcha and so on. That day what happened was like a couple year, year or two before self-construction you want to get introduced and they realized it's my family Right.

Corie 43:39

So I said yeah, well, but by that time them done cutting dubs on. Well, at that time they were playing out more Okay. Okay, because his father had a song system.

Hoppy 43:47

Oh, it's true, gotcha so, but no, we's family, so I had to bring my family in, of course. So I put self-construction in that party Us. You know that other DJs back in the day Kool and Crosby Crush International, all them men.

Corie 44:01

Yeah, fire something from them. Things still, boy. That's a good thing to document.

Hoppy 44:04

Yeah right, somebody showed me one the other day. I was like sometimes people just bring up these things, yeah, those days, yeah, those days.

Corie 44:11

But players was straight party, it was players are brand.

Hoppy 44:14

Players was a brand for party, and then we started to play a soccer picnic, right? I remember that. So the first soccer picnic in, that is what we did, of course, of course, of course. They didn't know nothing about hockey goal, them hockey size posts.

Corie 44:26

There's another thing I took on get a hockey goal To do it, yeah to go and do it.

Hoppy 44:30

I go and buy the hockey association. Yes.

Corie 44:34

First one was Fatima Grung's, though.

Hoppy 44:36

First one was on St Mary's Grung. Oh, the first one was on St Mary's. Yeah, yeah, right, and we Was. And that's the first time People saw that size. We didn't know what we were doing. We just I didn't have no rules, as in international rules, to do in this. Yeah, we just Because we were swept by St Joseph's Grounds, right Field. So the same size we were swept on. Ah, you just make that into it.

Corie 45:01

Yes, I have a story to tell about that. I tell you, affectionate, I don't have to make a great deal about a soccer picnic, but before I get to that, I'm trying to figure out when do things shift from train parties? When it gets to be so much doubter, because at that point in time the clashing thing was yeah. So what happened is that?

Hoppy 45:19

we didn't even know it, the whole this globally. At that point, some system thing was starting to, you know, out of Jamaica.

Corie 45:31

it started to spread out everywhere plenty of people had that same story about here and that cassette for me it was Brendan Panton.

Hoppy 45:36

I hear him playing that, yeah and so this is, this is mid 90s, going into, you know, and all 97, 98, what happened is that the next year, um, our next group, so you know, choney Jungle Juice, yeah, yeah, yeah, they were actually out from since then, right, um, and they had, um, they used to throw this party and they wanted to kind of join up to throw this party with us, right, and they had this song called President Ivan Marley. Remember Ivan?

Hoppy 46:14

Yeah, boy he was on a song called President and they was trying to launch their song A real memory boy.

Hoppy 46:21

So that was your first time with Ivan, right, right. But the other next fella with him, I forget his name. He's a real smart man, right, I can't remember this man's name yet. No way, smart man, a real smart man. You don't have a story about that whole thing I have to do. And they was cutting the plates and we was like yo, we had to get some plates, they come in. I was like yo, we had to get some duplets, they come in. And I think I remember the first duplet we had was at Jigsaw. Tell us brother, all right, ring the alarm, another song is dying, right, and that's the first duplet we had. And then we had Jigsaw was the first. Jigsaw was the first duplet and we had a real old thing, that thing ring out in Harvard.

Corie 47:07

Yeah yeah.

Hoppy 47:09

Right when the M thing came out there.

Corie 47:11

He was like yo he's like yeah, we had to tell people too. When you talk about the play, talk about the physical.

Hoppy 47:18

Yeah, there's a physical. No, do it. So I try and remember at this point because I think, jules, I think was it then when Keith?

Hoppy 47:31

left Jamaica yeah, he went to Jamaica, but I try and remember I don't think I think he went after this part, because what happened is we have an interesting story the summer after, when they was launching presidents and we had to get doublets too Right and we ended up getting a moussi. That was like our second doublet Right. We were out doing moussi and things, but Keith was in Trinidad still because so Keith was our.

Corie 48:01

He was the go-to man.

Hoppy 48:04

He was very, you know RIP. Don't get Keith, but he was. He was very, you know RIP. Tunker Key, but he was he was one of the men I could have gone to and say, uncle, you know so and so and so this happening right, and he had a real. He'd take a real like into me too now.

Corie 48:22

So he he'd always yeah but again dubs from the attorney general when we young, right, we're trying to figure out all the fellas because we're in Fatima right, yeah them fellas. Whatever's the newest thing you and Jules had it.

Hoppy 48:33

Yeah, yeah, yeah just sneakers, clothes, whatever and then they're doing dubs yeah, yeah, yeah right yeah, because the plate then was a more.

Corie 48:40

You were at least outside of laundry. You're seeing that as men from the hood, like you say, it's a man-them-thing, and they cut up some chicks, but it's the up-tongue men now.

Hoppy 48:47

So that is and that is. I think that is the unique part of growing up in Diamond Vale and then being around you know certain men Because I Jules is one of my oldest friends I know Jules since we were kids, right, and they moved out of the Vale and they went. You know father out of the veil and they went. You know father became the age you know. By that point he. I remember this next party we did. It was after the first one, the summer we was going to do. We did this next party called Rumors, because that's a whole story. Rumors is spreading and, right, rumors was and they'd be launching President's Song.

Corie 49:26

Gotcha.

Hoppy 49:30

So Radioactive never officially had a launch launch. Serious no, no, no.

Corie 49:32

So it just come out of that blizzard.

Hoppy 49:33

We just came out from the Players Inc party, Radioactive, but that was and I'll give you a story why we had to. I had to do parties because back in the day they had men like BAP and Drup and them, and even though I know Baso and them, they were all on us but we couldn't get a play in there. And Lorde was running that, and then again you can't get.

Corie 49:55

They're looking for a different vibe.

Hoppy 49:57

They're looking for weekend music Knowing that we Upstarts.

Hoppy 50:02

We're now starting. I remember Drup because I know Jazz and Doc Doc foot on them back in them days and they gave us the first event to play in Right and we play in there. You know, we think you know, at my shoddy place and Twizz pull up and say who's them? He's going to get off here, he's going to come up now it. Who's them? Boy, all the girlfriends, boy Girlfriend said I'll let her come up now. It's Tweez, it's Tweez, it's Tweez, it's in the house. Right, tweez is in the house. And what's my? Rex? Yeah, what's my. I want to fight the Tweez, because what's my? What do you mean? You know what's. So I say you know what? We had a Saturday morning party Cause that's the only way To promote the song and that's how Players really Got you. Players was the Promotion for the song, but the actor was really Was my real focus Right, cause Jews and them End up going away and going to school and stuff.

Corie 51:09

And I had to do it by myself.

Hoppy 51:11

And then, but that summer this party, after the rumors big back and all. So keep this a door man Control the money and thing, yeah, so I could keep going home with the money and thing.

Corie 51:24

So after the party, the fella named Marvin Marvin went to know where the money, how the money was going to leave.

Hoppy 51:36

So Marvin had a little ola on us.

Corie 51:39

We kind of green in this promotion thing and it's now learning and figuring it out?

Hoppy 51:42

How are you going to leave the money and go on and things. I mean checking. I was right back in there. So races up to Flagstaff by Drew's house now and it's real back in there. Outside Men want to fight. You know, when you're young you want to fight Any little fight, anything. Yeah, we fighting you understand. And I was that kind of dude, I would fight anything now.

Corie 52:09

You're just glad for the opportunity that time you want to fight we were some wild men.

Hoppy 52:12

We wasn't like you know. I grew up. I said to people I wasn't a bad boy. And I was just, but I was miserable.

Corie 52:19

Yeah, men like fighting them.

Hoppy 52:21

You know what I'm saying. So, yeah, anyway. So back in the house I keep calling and saying, oh, they come inside and we walk upstairs. So kid was a real Jones man right. He said Marvin, have a seat. He said, Marvin, this is the money. And this is the money, and this is my gun.

Corie 52:53

I don't know if you had juice on there already, if you ever interviewed juice.

Hoppy 52:58

ask him about that, right. These are the defining moments of my life, life changing things.

Corie 53:05

It's like you got the bat on your face Right there.

Red 96.7 and Career Evolution

Hoppy 53:08

I pull out the money, I put it in my bag and then he put his gun. So easy, this is my gun. What do you want to do? What are you going to do? Well, boy, I haven't had a melt, I haven't had a chill out, so so I mean that was our. Yeah, yeah, yeah you, you know he was. He was the man and then, when they he migrated, I went to jamaica. That's how we started again. So I would have gone to make him many times by them.

Corie 53:41

Like I remember in that clash at time, a man, a man tell you I can't remember who it is. You know, boy, I want to say radio after we said donation sheet for the place. Right, yeah, happy jules. Tall paul dame, john boy, right, this is the most name calling that play I'd give you a friend.

Hoppy 54:00

I think behind the blame, okay, possibly it was almost like a twelt right what? Yeah, yeah, they had girlfriend buying the plate and thing giving me and I'm like she's like I want to buy her. I was like, but how you had three, four hundred US that way they're going to school, they're in school, right, and I'm like and they put it in, they go in double it.

Hoppy 54:24

You know what I'm saying. And then back and you know any way you could get it. We take it, um, and but you know the whole. At that point we knew we had to build the market right and um, and we couldn't do it alone. So I still like, I still. You know some of the artists today, like, like even the soccer artists and things. It's all good, you're competitive, you want to be number one, you want to be the next big thing or whatever, but you alone are theirs. It will never. You have to bring others with you and that to keep the competitive space. And you know, and that's a movement.

Corie 55:06

But even more than that, when you say okay, so you're saying you're throwing a party, you're having a bad life and you think you have to shut it down. These are the kind of things that people just give up for yeah, so it's a part of the thing that you know. People are getting messages that that's something, and I want to ask if you ever worked because all I ever know you is with your own ventures over the years yeah, I never really had a 95 or a 84 yeah, you know you bring it up from the mud.

Corie 55:36

Yeah, and I had.

Hoppy 55:37

I knew I had to. So even with when we had Radioactive and even because the the dub play thing and the song system thing was new Laundry and them tried to start it in a way. There was Laundry and Juice Crew and but they didn't have a movement with it.

Hoppy 55:54

Yeah, they didn't have enough of it Right, they didn't have it and they were already like in their probably 30s at that time. Focus a lot on this and come from a different school, even though jew school was. You know the rest. Our age group now started to hold it on globally and I didn't realize, because all renaissance copper shot and all in these guys and I sound a little older, but you know but whatever was happening in jamaica, here, germany, new york, miami, all over everywhere at the same age group and it was just happening at the same time.

Hoppy 56:30

We didn't realize, but we knew how to create a marketplace and I started to create all of these events for some system.

Corie 56:40

Yeah, I remember that and I was putting in.

Hoppy 56:42

Maximilla.

Corie 56:43

Right, so it was Maximilla Cell, well, the earliest days. Yeah, so you were active, maximilla Cell, well, the earliest days.

Hoppy 56:47

Yeah. Radioactive Maxi Miller Cell and then Jugglers came in soon after you know Jugglers. Jugglers happened because they asked. I remember a truckman had come to me at a time on to Mary's Grounds and he was like they want to join Radioactive and I'm like really yeah, o'player is one of them, radioactive, and they had Jokers.

Hoppy 57:08

No, no, it was before that and I'm like, so, I so. So Saul the other friend named Saul was um, used to be with me. I taught Saul how to DJ. I used to teach him how to DJ, but he and my business partner at the time, piper piper, didn't like, yeah, all right, so pulling them into the group was a trick, right, and so like it wasn't happening. That's what happened. That truck man come to me and say they want to join and I'm like we ain't taking any members. It's like this is like a partner thing, you know, it's like what are we his?

Corie 57:44

partners, his friends, me, you know all of you, you know what I'm saying.

Hoppy 57:47

Imagine that and they're going to take offense.

Corie 57:49

But Look what we bring.

Hoppy 57:52

Right and they're going to start jokers.

Corie 57:55

I remember, yeah, it was rivaling. Jokers was the fuck we have? Yeah, what Right I can? I'm out of there. It's the horticulture.

Hoppy 58:03

Horticulture right and the bus, the bus way, oh yeah, right down there, and then they call it the DJ group. Just like players who are radioactive, they came with jugglers Mm-hmm, and so jugglers naturally became radioactive enemy and rival.

Corie 58:18

Yeah, yeah yeah, that was our time.

Hoppy 58:21

People might not for sure and, as I said, people, they always need you always need a Pepsi, yeah of course, you know, of course a number two you know, yeah, you need a rival. You need a rival and that actually created, make the business started. You know, because it's always you never know what will happen you used to come them dance, hoping, hoping for cash. You would get.

Corie 58:42

You would get because by the time, and turn on them, so they'll come in and I where's my boy from Trinity? Name again Menace.

Hoppy 58:48

Menace Audio Menace, audio Menace was my next, my next they were sisters of mine and they used to, they used to gang up and them days. It was like when I watch Drake, like how Drake is now I watch, that's something. How Radioactive was like. You know, we kinda creating this, this thing and um, the whole. In retrospect, if I look back, the whole industry, you know I was very instrumental in this. You know, creating that space for sure, um, for for a lot of the songs and the songs I was coming in after that's what I say, like that idea of you building things for people to come into.

Corie 59:28

Yeah, yeah, kind of as a commentary on something, david, before we start. Like Soccer Picnic, I remember the stink thing in Soccer Picnic I hear on Fatima Grounds, right, I remember York playing in the stadium one day, right in Lara at 375. Yeah, yeah, what up. Okay, sorry what I just told. Well, tell me. Tell me if I'm wrong, because York come, I remember going soccer picnic and see York looking sleepy, leaning up on that car, that man I look at Serious, and they say a helicopter supposed to be waiting to take him.

Hoppy 1:00:01

Yeah, yeah, yeah yeah didn't know he was there. It do happen. Soccer picnic, stone, john, me and Stone was real good at that time too. So big up man like Stone Stone is one of the first men that gave us uniforms, but these days he was playing with either DC United or one of those.

Corie 1:00:22

Okay, okay, okay, he was in the States already.

Hoppy 1:00:24

Yeah, His girlfriend at the time was part of our gang, Chanel Gotcha gotcha, and he was running with her.

Corie 1:00:37

Oh serious, yeah, yeah, yeah, you think I was running with her.

Hoppy 1:00:40

Yeah, yeah and yeah, we he bring showed something and Stone John was like yeah, that was.

Corie 1:00:49

That was the man then.

Hoppy 1:00:50

Yeah, and I, I, we were heavily promoting Stone John, you know, like that is the next, that is the man, yeah.

Corie 1:00:57

So yeah, yeah, Stone.

Hoppy 1:01:00

John was the man to soccer picnic.

Corie 1:01:02

You know, you know, we, we, and when I hear the kind of man play pass, you suck up with me everybody, yeah, yeah, everybody everybody and the jokers, and them started doing it, of course, and you're all right anything we are doing them trying to do yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah you know, we following them yeah, so we, we was more St Mary's actually.

Hoppy 1:01:30

Yeah, a lot of people thought I went St Mary's actually Because Jules and all them boys was St Mary's man. That's true, right. And then I had a Fatima crew as well. Yeah, so people didn't realize I went Trinity. They thought I either went QRC I mean was St Mary's or Fatima. It was that group against QRC.

Corie 1:01:49

So Jokers was QRC. Yeah, yeah, yeah, full right, yeah, for sure.

Hoppy 1:01:53

But yeah, it was healthy. I mean, I used to enjoy it. I remember one of the best clashes was 45 Shootout.

Corie 1:02:04

If I had to say one of your best performances as an MC Alkais and Matty Miller man, Right, I had to say one of your best performances as an MC. Akai is a mat similar man up to now, Right, and I can't remember if Oumbo was in it or he hosted.

Hoppy 1:02:13

He didn't want to dump him because he was afraid.

Corie 1:02:15

Boy, listen, it's one of the greatest things I've ever seen in Clash days, boy, because you, you remember the last thing, thing you play and what you say.

Hoppy 1:02:23

let me see how good your memory is and no, forget that it's had a one for one, I think it could have been you and Sel no, it was me and I'd cup a shot, oh right yeah, yeah, yeah, then there's. Gutty, gutty and them.

Corie 1:02:35

Gutty was bad, bad, bad, bad. I see it was neck and neck, that's how I remember it. All your wrongs was fired.

Hoppy 1:02:43

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Corie 1:02:44

And dub for dub was fired.

Hoppy 1:02:45

Right.

Corie 1:02:45

And you pull out 45 and say Omba, you pay a thousand US for this tune. I pay $15 for a cross piece and play around, Blow your nose, Boy. I never seen nothing like that. No clash here in my life. Omba and all other holy, it's had nothing to do with me after that.

Hoppy 1:03:02

That was the greatest, yo, let me tell you that clash and even though it wasn't, it was there, it wasn't like it was 45, I think that was one of the defining moments of that career as radioactive for me. That said, you know what we're different from the rest? Right, because going into that, the whole idea of the 45 shootout, and Oomba didn't want to come in. Right, because going into that, the whole idea of the 45 shootout, and Oomba didn't want to come in. Right, because he was afraid. Telling him that he was afraid. Oomba, don't feel like we know he was afraid.

Hoppy 1:03:40

You have 45 and the plate. Nah, he was afraid Oomba. Oomba was one of the promoters myself and I can't remember who else. So Mba said he was in the class. I said all right, mba, but I don't know if I ever told this story before how this, how we were so radioactive, as I tell you was, it was bigger than than people would have realized right now. What happened is that this clash happening now? And I try to figure out because I know, as I say, I know everybody gonna come at me. Right, in particular, my rivalry is jugglers. Right is our biggest rival in the clash. In particular, my rivalry is Jugglers Right, it's our biggest rival in the clash. I don't think Audio Menace was in it.

Corie 1:04:36

No, slaughter was in it. Scalabar, scalabar Copper Shot. Copper Shot Jugglers Cell oh yeah and Oli, it could be five or six people.

Hoppy 1:04:46

No, trudeau was in no.

Corie 1:04:47

Trudeau. Trudeau wasn't it? Yeah, but Trudeau was working by that time. Trudeau International Trudeau.

Hoppy 1:04:52

International. Yeah, ivan, I think they had a six song. Somebody else was there, it could be six. Anyway, for two weeks I try being wrong. No, when this, when this clash happened, it was just when records was. We were stopping playing records and it was CDs, okay, okay, and it was 45 shootout. You had to play records.

Corie 1:05:17

Okay, okay, so you couldn't play CDs.

Hoppy 1:05:19

No CDs, right, but we had stopped. Everybody basically had stopped buying records. Two, three years now, right, so by this time records was nothing. Nobody's playing records. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So we had to go and pull up all the old records and find new records and stuff and just find new records and I tell you the preparation for that. I don't think the other songs understood or did what we was doing. Yeah, so my team at that point was was Lord Hype Dane, right, dj Dane.

Corie 1:05:54

Yeah, people know Lord Hype. Now they might not know DJ Dane. That's true, dj Dane is our whole next person. That's our whole next right. What?

Hoppy 1:06:00

the hell is this boy? So, dane and Brent Molyneux. I had them in studio by us in my house. They there pulling records every day for two weeks. Right, we started preparing, right. So we're pulling records trying to figure out what's that, what's what? We're going around asking men who not in the classroom, who have records still, so we're going all over the go. Some men on the main road that we know wanting to borrow some of the records that they had my job. I was just driving around In the yellow Civic, in the yellow Big Bird.

Corie 1:06:40

Yeah, all the tint yellow.

Hoppy 1:06:44

I was driving around in the yellow Civic just listening to the radio or listening to song class Stone Love. I love this sort of thing, just listening, trying to hear, get ideas, get songs, whatever, and I just just thinking of different songs or different music we could play. So for a whole week I'm just driving around just driving, writing and whatever. And the week of the event we reached back in the studio and we said so you're going to hear this band, we have an A-list. So the rules of the event was no playbacks. You can't play back a song that was played before. If you play back a song, it eliminates it automatically.

Hoppy 1:07:35

So we created three scenarios. There's the A plan, plan A, b and C. These are the songs we're going to play on A, b and C. These are the songs we're going to play on A, b and C. So when we reached the event now we came to shoot out with a 45 crate, a 12-inch crate and an empty crate. Yeah Right. So here's what's going on, everybody watching. They're actually selling them coming like the whole library right? Chocolate on it, man let me see record.

Creating Scorch Magazine and Media Empire

Hoppy 1:08:14

You won't see it on wheel or something these yellow crates was iconic, right, but we only have limit and when you open the crate, half the crate full. So I watching them in faces everybody face was like Something ain't right. What happened?

Corie 1:08:31

in here Because he only has food too. If that little bit of that Yo listen.

Hoppy 1:08:34

I ain't lying to tell you, the crates was half full, one empty and one thing, and they didn't understand this. So here's my strategy. We have, and Brent have a clipboard Right Marking it up. So every time I DJ playing in the rungs, we know lats, we draw lats, so everybody gonna play and beat out songs. So by the time we come to play now on the first rung, most are plan A, go on, go on, right. So Brent is scratching out, taking all the records, playing any MC, so you can't play back, so you can't play Right, so we have nothing to play. And so by the time I think Judah was the song before us that play we come here and say we're going to plan B, we're going to start, so. But actually at that point we just had to change the plan a bit, yeah, and improvise between band A and B. Remember they used to say I used to talk too much. We also had the Guinness Song.

Hoppy 1:09:35

Right, it's true, we had the first song system that actually we had the first DJ with sponsors and stuff. So after Mama Guy, we go out to Guinness and make up the sponsors, I say, watch out, this You're going to put on. I ain't going to say nothing.

Corie 1:09:53

Oh yeah.

Hoppy 1:09:53

Remember that.

Corie 1:09:54

I remember that. I remember that and no talking wrong.

Hoppy 1:09:57

Wait Actions, we glow. And that was it. And for that whole clash it was like a systematic thing. It was like and them, it's only after the late in the clash. It was like yo, these fellas come for it tonight, come for it. You know, we had, it was. And at that moment I was like yo, you know this was, and it was almost like the end of a year yeah, for sure, for sure.

Corie 1:10:26

That was because it had swarmed. It had many of them.

Hoppy 1:10:28

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Corie 1:10:30

And even when they started bringing a lot of songs because Fully Loaded was that right, A lot of songs you sang down, Fully Loaded, Right.

Hoppy 1:10:35

Fully Loaded was that we brought Mighty Krong and Black Chinese and all them Stone Love. Yeah, TOK Bass Odyssey.

Corie 1:10:45

Right, right, right With Squin G before he died. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But even when you say Bass Odyssey, it makes sense because you and Dane had a quickness where I understand it was yeah.

Hoppy 1:10:54

So that's why we still love that.

Corie 1:10:55

Yeah, because two of them was like that. Yeah, they were like that, you know.

Hoppy 1:10:59

And you know it's like I always tell people we were like the Michael Jordan of song system business back in them days. Right yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure, for sure. You know, everybody think that. So, yeah, I mean, as we say, people wouldn't know that. No, that's the thing, that's the thing.

Corie 1:11:15

That's exactly why I like doing this because half of these stories here, people will say he do all that and you morning, yeah. But a question I had for you too about the whole thing, because it's soccer picnic. You're still more stitch before we start. Stitches, yeah, stitches, yeah, yeah. What was the branding thing with you? Because you had a way of making, because now you're telling me where radioactive come from. Radioactive wasn't just a name, yeah, it was a, it was a yellow number one, yeah, and then the logo, like them, is things people from here to remember yeah, yeah, yeah, for me I mean, brandon, um, art.

Hoppy 1:11:51

That was one of the only only um subjects I passed in trinity, right, let's work on and, um, so, so, fonts and stuff. We still actually had to draw funds and so I always had a thing for funds and for branding and messaging and making things stupid simple and things right. So with Ingrid Radio, the activity, the color thing that yellow, thing.

Hoppy 1:12:19

It went throughout everything as you say yellow crates, yellow crates, yellow car, yeah, yeah, yeah, you know you have to live the life you have to live. You know you have to live the life you have to live. You know your brand um, and you know I tell folks, like now, scorch is radioactive, part 2.0, 3.0 to what we started with radioactive. We just took some of that with Scorch, you know, and when we started Scorch um Scorch, you know, when we started Scorch um, scorch started as a magazine.

Corie 1:12:50

Yeah, A little magazine, yeah, right, yeah.

Hoppy 1:12:52

So some folks remember that.

Corie 1:12:54

Mm-hmm.

Hoppy 1:12:55

The new folks wouldn't wouldn't know that, probably not. But before Scorch, I tried a magazine before named Soul. Right, it's also local entertainment Mm-hmm, also local entertainment. Right, and we had Bungee, because them days Marshall was the big thing and you know me and Marshall have a real interesting relationship, right, and everybody you know he was the blowing up man and Bungee was same time we get Bungee, we put Bungee first and Marshall. Right, we did Bungee on the cover and then Marshall would have been the next cover. Right, this was the almost like the pilot issue, right, gotcha. So I wanted to. So we did Soul and we, when we, when we finished Soul, we shot, we shot Marshall, everything for the next issue.

Hoppy 1:13:43

And I, I read the magazine and I'm like I would never buy this. Serious, yeah, I was like this magazine is shit. It's it only good because nobody else doing it, like nobody else was creating a magazine for the entertainers. Actually, I lied, they had a magazine called Our Magazine. Right, came out Graphic-wise, they were bad, okay, but they didn't have Any content. They were and they weren't part of the entertainment space. Okay, gotcha Like that, right. So they inspired me in a sense, but we was doing it all at the same time, right when I saw their layout and everything, I'm like yo. This this R magazine is really wicked right.

Corie 1:14:34

If they had it right yeah to come with it.

Hoppy 1:14:36

So Soul was selling for like $10 or something like that $15. And I'm like now these days, magazines are selling and I'm like now these days, magazines are selling, yeah, five magazines. So what? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Magazines was the thing was the only way you could get stuff. Yeah, it's not internet, no Instagram, no Facebook, no nothing yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So I used to have these subscriptions of these magazines and I just love the layout, the imagery and everything.

Corie 1:15:07

The image and everything of these marks.

Hoppy 1:15:11

And then I read a Playboy Somebody tell me to read.

Corie 1:15:13

Playboy. Right, that's just something like a Trinity thing. Read a Playboy.

Hoppy 1:15:18

That's something like David and the world. David, you ever read a Playboy? Some of the best Serious the articles themselves.

Corie 1:15:29

Yes, right, playboy, some of the best serious the articles.

Hoppy 1:15:32

Yes, right, people didn't notice yeah people wouldn't know. People wouldn't know right, that playboy had some of the best editorial right at content and I'm like, wow, this, all these things started to blow my mind and I started to read some of these things. So after I did the first issue of Soul, I was like this is bullshit. I, I, I would never buy it. So if I wouldn't buy it, why I? Why I?

Hoppy 1:16:00

trying to sell it right, gotcha um, and I immediately just like went in, but but I ain't doing, we'd shot Marshall for the AC2. Right, I was in the middle of production of the AC2 and I was like he holds it. I say I hold it, right. Um, this was the early 2000s, right, probably 2003 or four. And I paid on the shelf, um, and I went and wrote where I bought and then they came to me them days I was on 96.1. Right, we're showing them. And then we had a little fall in the ODC and I was the fireman, mm-hmm falling out. I was the fireman. It was a very interesting thing at that time because at that time I wasn't the money on the radio, I wasn't making money, like it was small money. Yeah, you was making money. Otherwise the money was too radioactive playing out. So I could have made on a weekend, $30,000 as radioactive right for the month. You a weekend, $30,000 as radioactive right For the month. You're making $3,000. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Corie 1:17:13

I guess radio just keeping the name, I suppose.

Hoppy 1:17:15

So yeah, radioactive radio, it was a catch-22 with us, right, but it saved the poopers, right, right. But what happened is that I had a clothing store. So I was like entrepreneurial, you know, it saved it for us, right, right, but what happened is that I had a clothing store, mm-hmm, so I was, I was like entrepreneurial, you know so, and I always, you know, it couldn't depend on just one thing for me.

Corie 1:17:35

Yeah, remember, you can ask mommy for money, so you gotta figure something out, correct, correct.

Hoppy 1:17:39

So at this point, I had we hyperclothed and everything where this was in a patria on the main road where it used to be.

Corie 1:17:52

Yeah, yeah, oh, you had a store there yeah, that was my store.

Hoppy 1:17:57

Yeah, yeah, so, um. So I was there and they came from um John Wayne Benoit. Yeah, I see John Wayne pull up in my, in my store. He's like boy Louis, you wanna talk to you, boy?

Corie 1:18:13

I was next point to him.

Hoppy 1:18:18

I say who, louis? You say you wanna meet him.

Hoppy 1:18:21

I say nah, he, good he say he good, yeah, yeah, cause, so you ain't doing radio no, no, I'm still on the radio, but I just, I am, I, I, even though I fired. Oh no, they had my suspension. Oh, I got it okay, but it was like extended suspension, I ain't suspension like the last three, four months, right, I said by 8.1. He actually, she come, he came back about twice, right, and he and twice. I was like nah good, you see, boss, how much you make anything. Give me a number. I see, you mean how much you want. Hey, sounds like we think about it. Right, but come on me to Louis. So under me to them. They asked me much I want to come and start this station. They're starting this new station and blah, blah, blah. So I called my ex-girlfriend. She was a lawyer, one of the few lawyers.

Hoppy 1:19:16

I knew at that point Like close yeah, yeah, no, no. I said what do you think about this? She's like do it. I was like what, how much I should ask her. She said who makes the most money on the radio? I don't know what's his salary, so I tried to figure it out, asking who's making the most money at that time. She's like ask for $25,000.

Corie 1:19:40

I was like what? Yeah them times there's money, money right from tree right from $3,000 or something like that.

Hoppy 1:19:47

I was like nah, nah, nah, they would never give me that thing, thing, thing. So she's write up a thing, and I think she paid like twenty thousand, right, yo. They came back and said yeah, let me do it. I was like what for something like that? Um, it was something close to what I'd asked for right.

Hoppy 1:20:07

I'm like, well, I had to consider it now, right. So I went to meet with them again and I was like so I had asked some questions like so who who run in this thing? Like who, because all you're not from this world, yeah, something, you're right. So I know who's in this thing.

Hoppy 1:20:29

Um, they say, well, what are you thinking? I say, well, I'll come, if you give me to, to run the show. Right, right, I would come over. So they say, yeah, right, they'll make me like the program director or whatever, and shit like that. I said I want some stuff, some shit.

Corie 1:20:53

Yeah, see, yes.

Hoppy 1:20:54

Right, so this is all my.

Corie 1:20:56

Experience. Oh right yeah, good advice.

Hoppy 1:20:59

But I also was Thinking like that. I was like yeah, you know, if I'm moving From here to there, all they have, all they have from, yeah.

Corie 1:21:07

And they you know, if I'm moving from here to there all they have, all they have from all over, and the people who are in the room. They may start here. They're now starting when they come to you, yeah, they're now starting Right.

Hoppy 1:21:12

Yeah, the other couple of fellas, I mean I'm like the biggest drum at that point, yeah. So I was like they say they're a good thing and whatever, they all missed some stocks, profit share you, some stocks, um, stuff it share you know about. But I mean I was young, I was like 25, 26, you know, now going and get this big salary right, I think I was like 27, right, um, and you know I was like all right, so I had, so I had to make a decision to move. So I go on to meet with with thing, but no, with Chow and and Paul Richards.

Corie 1:21:56

Oh yeah, Paul was a programmer.

Hoppy 1:21:57

Paul didn't like me at all back then, seriously, nah them. Well, plenty of them in there didn't like me at all, like yo. They want to see this man go. But Chow was like my father, right. So you know, I still always had that respect for him man. So they come and meet with me and thing, and so I tell them listen, I remember the analogy real good, right. They tell me you know, you like, you like you like yoke, mm-hmm, you're a little indisciplined, so sometimes you gotta be on the bench and thing and whatever, right, mm-hmm. So I listen to them, talk, right. I say okay, but here's the problem now.

Hoppy 1:22:45

It passed. It passed that you know there's no IM player coach. They want to make me Right. So what are we going to do? So Joe watched me. He said I think he was in a line at a concert or something like that. So they was kind of busy too. He said he was going to call me later and he never called. Yeah, so, so I just stick that as that. And then Louis and them can be happier. Yeah, so, so I just stick that as that.

Corie 1:23:10

and then Louis, and them can be happier.

Hoppy 1:23:11

Yeah, I guess they have me crossing, because I've been a big thing. You know what I mean Big promotion where there's a national event Chris Crossing over point one Baby.

Corie 1:23:20

just confirm with them that I booked till 1.30, right, I changed it to that, we have it. I booked it till 1 to 20.

Hoppy 1:23:26

All right, good yeah, oh, you know that time.

Corie 1:23:29

Nah, I know it, that's what people are kind of yeah, yeah yeah, no wonder. Okay, good, all right, good, it should have always been, but yeah, so I remember that was a big announcement, billboards, everything.

Hoppy 1:23:40

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So they really used the thing.

Corie 1:23:44

Yeah, that was the draw.

Hoppy 1:23:45

But I I sat down for a couple months billing out red um, I didn't know what I was doing so people on it yet, or they? Had, so they had, they had like like they had. So they had pulling Devon, they had sell, they had. Um, I ended up calling Doggy Right.

Corie 1:24:09

Um, well, dane was over there, he didn't go to the 96 side or something. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Hoppy 1:24:16

So, um, so Slaughter came over with me and, um, a couple other people, so they had, so they had self-construction and then they had Jason and then so I'm trying to build out this thing. Now, I never do this in my life, right? So I ain't know about no programming, but when I was at point one, I was creating a lot of the, some of the programming, like the names of shows and things. So they had something used to call Fat Ass Friday. That was my idea in point one. So a bunch of things I was doing with them unofficially, right, this idea is getting them and thing right. But now I was like I, I, I, I call, they call my bluff to give me this thing. What can I have it? So I, I never do this in my life. I didn't want, but I just want to create, of course, right creating, right Creating is my thing, right.

Hoppy 1:25:07

So I sat down there now for like two months or so I ain't in there until five in the morning, sometimes Coming up with you know what we're doing. But we didn't have a morning show and I was trying to figure out who placed in where. So I tried to build out the whole programming for Red and then I used to see how jason blaze was interacting. They're always talking with serious and this when we have meetings on him. That means he took long, that's why they're not right sick and I watched him and I said you know what? And I went to um, I went to louis, you to anyone. I was like I think I want to put Blaze and Jason together. I'd create a show like they had a show on 9-6, on 9-7, hot 9-7 in New York, ebert and Siskel, you know what I mean Cool Jackass right no, not the movie man, not even.

Corie 1:26:06

Stan Buckwell.

Hoppy 1:26:07

Stan Buckwell. You remember him, man? Um, not even. Um, oh, you're talking about um. Stan buck. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah right because it was too unlikely.

Corie 1:26:16

Many knows blaze was a song man. Jason was right, yeah, and I know what you know.

Hoppy 1:26:20

I'm saying like yo, so I actually put the jason base together for that well. Original red hot morning for that Red Hot Morning show. Yeah, right, and and it worked.

Corie 1:26:33

It worked Right. It's one of the greatest shows we ever, one of the greatest morning shows we ever had.

Hoppy 1:26:37

And I and I wanted it to be just like Star and Buck, Wild Gotcha yeah.

Corie 1:26:43

When you watch your drama Wednesday end when you watch your drama Wednesday. They had another thing they used to do with them on Perry boy, with a kind of shootout thing on a Friday.

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Hoppy 1:26:51

Them things that make iconic moments. So I went to that in the morning and in the afternoon the hyperdrive was supposed to be, you know, a similar kind of thing, but different, right, and Jason and Blaze took off and they started to give us flack to the hyperdrive and people started oh, they spoke too much and this and that. And I remember Louie and them when they come in and tell me boy, I'm hyper, you know, they, they complain and they this and I'm like, until we start, people like started to catch on to the hyperdrive. That was that was like we start this. People like started to catch on to to to the hyperdrive. And that was that was like three, four years after they started, you know. But, um, I hate to manage people, mm, anything, that's not my thing, right? So after a year or two of that, I, I, we had a, we, they changed it up, I. After a year or two of that, they changed it up, I gave up. That. I think Blaze took over for me.

Corie 1:27:51

Oh seriously, yeah, so at that point you was just doing the hyperdrive on the station.

Hoppy 1:27:54

So, yeah, oh.

Corie 1:27:55

I see.

Hoppy 1:27:56

And then I was a little disgruntled because they didn't give me the profit share.

Corie 1:28:02

Oh, you never gave it. No, they must have given it to you. No, they never did they danced.

Hoppy 1:28:06

No, they must have had the favor. No, they never did. They dance, man.

Corie 1:28:08

They spin the wrong way and they dance man, louis and Tony still live.

Hoppy 1:28:11

They dance. Man, that would profit sharing thing. That was how they do, Right? So I was like you know, like I ain't, I ain't, I ain't going to create a next thing for somebody if I don't have a share in it.

Corie 1:28:24

I understand.

Hoppy 1:28:25

Right If I don't have ownership, right, and that's how we start with Scorch Mm-hmm, I don't give a.

Corie 1:28:34

Oh, okay, oh sorry, so that's how it starts.

Hoppy 1:28:36

So that's how I end up. So Scorch, now, that's how I jump back on, that's where you do. I started to think I can't get rid of the station at that point. Um.

Corie 1:28:49

Well, so you had it in mind from then.

Hoppy 1:28:51

You felt like it's something that was not getting, like I felt like no, but I felt like I needed some ownership in the space that I am in, right Right. I needed something, a platform that I have. Yeah, cause the career is only as long as you know you never know, right?

Corie 1:29:07

Yeah, and if other people see you as a draw, then you could be the draw for yourself, Right?

Hoppy 1:29:10

so I was like I don't own this station, I don't own another station and, to be quite honest, they could get rid of me. And you're there, you know what's my thing. So I started to think like I need to create my own thing, right. So, my own thing, right, so went back to the um drawing board of the magazine. I was on a flight with uh, actually, one of my creative uh confidants. Like you know, her name is Junan Hawkins.

Corie 1:29:40

She's, you know, Junan.

Hoppy 1:29:43

Very, very, you know she's, she's very you know she's.

Corie 1:29:46

She's a yeah built up from nothing.

Hoppy 1:29:47

I remember she had done a child insurance book and she's just yeah yeah, yeah, right she's she, she's you know, and we was talking, I think, coming back on a flight from Jamaica, and I started talking about she had asked me about the and I was like you know what I feel? I want to do it. I was in just like TV and radio that you'd other people Like it's just free and I just use the advertising and stuff. It's their revenue. So when I got home that day I started to figure out like and I was asking like what's my name? That's hot? That one is to be you know the next hot thing? What's hot around the country? What's who's the hottest, who? You know who's the hottest? This and that? And I reworked soul and the scotch came out and I was like wow.

Hoppy 1:30:43

I see alright, and what happened is? So, with my new salary go work. I say um, all right, and what happened is um so with my new salary. I remember, I remember, um, you know, I say money, more money, more problem. I remember a brethren come and say how people? I know it might be a thing, but come and check me out, I'll show you something. A fellow was working in Mercedes Benz, right Like steelhead. I said what? No, I was a BMW man.

Hoppy 1:31:21

I always used to like BMWs, right. So I was the first man driving a BMW. I was like man, so I want to force me to drive. I was like man, right, I'm a soft man, take my car, so I go on my street, they show me this car. I was like yo, what? You see here, boy, I'm gonna order this car and I want it again. You know, you know, by the I said it's a means of thinking, yeah, I was like, oh, this thing now, right, so I bought this car C-Class. More money, more problems. I drive in a C-Class, yeah, so I'm like and I remember it's like a year or two into this, right, because we started right in 05, so this was 07. Right, and I was going to start Scorch Mm-hmm. But I need money, I need capital. You know what I was like. You know what I started to pay the graphic artists, all my salary guys making on the radio and from my radio.

Hoppy 1:32:20

I still used so I still think right, so I used him. So I hired two graphic artists. The guy who did our magazine, that I, like I'd always been.

Corie 1:32:28

I'd pull him in right, right. So I hired two graphic artists. The guy who did our magazine Right, you're fine, then I'd always been Right.

Hoppy 1:32:31

I'd fill him in Right and next thing, so I had two graphic artists on salary. Salary basically Right yeah, paying them over my salary. I needed more cash, mm-hmm. So I sell my bands, right yeah. And talking about my Benz right yeah, and I remember people saying well, hoppy Benz repossessed yeah, men say it's hard times with Tim Boy.

Hoppy 1:32:53

They say you run out at 9.6 and look like you fall on your face and get and um, I drive me that little Civic, that little hatchback Civic, that little hatchback right, and that's. I had a little hatchback to make.

Corie 1:33:09

I had a little hatchback Right and I just, you know, I just tuck in again like trying to pull right.

Hoppy 1:33:12

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I started to make some little singles. So that is what financing that, my whole operation with sports Serious. And I said you know what? I can't do it like how we did Soul, because Soul was more of a project. I say, if I'm doing this thing, I had to do it like a proper. So I had to get an office, I had to get a base, I had to get an employee thing. So I get an office.

Corie 1:33:38

Now I have two graphic artists on the thing.

Hoppy 1:33:43

I had to get a salesperson. I went to Sophie, she just came back from university, employed her and I just bootstrapped in this whole thing yeah, of course On my own. And I remember when we launched, when we put out, we were spying out the first magazine. I didn't like the photography on it Right, so I changed like three photographers before I found this girl named Laura For her right on it right, so I changed like three photographers before I found this girl named Laura for her right, and what she was doing was like. I was like yo, what is this kind of editing she doing?

Hoppy 1:34:15

right she making these girls look like yeah, I was like yo, I gotta get this girl, I gotta get this girl. So when we did the shoot with her and she, I was like yo, there's that here now. So the first issue was actually was our pilot issue. We never paid out. We call that zero, zero. That was the first court issues, but that was like the deck, yeah, yeah yeah Of course, of course. I remember the first one. Yeah boy, people was like yo. What is this?

Corie 1:34:43

Yeah, who is this guilt? I remember people was like who is this guilt? I remember people was like who is this guilt? Who is this?

Hoppy 1:34:47

Where this guilt came from and I wanted to produce this magazine for people like myself who do like to read. I mean, that's why I read short things. Give me this shit to the point, gotcha. Right, use advertising and it'll be a free thing. Advertising will pay for it. We and it'll be a free thing. Advertisement pay for it. We have cool where and what is hot, right, right, and you know, gain the whole thing and the distribution of it is key. Right, we are painting the hot spots and all that, right, and and it just it took off.

Corie 1:35:19

Yeah, remember that taking off, because I mean you say it with you and Jules, all the fellas that control the cool Like people was already watching, all the further Correct. So formalizing that business makes sense. Yeah, yeah, and one of the things I always look at you as since, back then, at the time you tell me something. I'll never forget it Because them days I was Matty Miller by Copper Shot because he nicked one and that was Fatty Bird thing.

Corie 1:35:41

I remember we gained your talk me, me and Damien and our younger brother getting in touch. We'd say boy, hope you were there. I remember you leaning up and saying boy, the plates can't do me nothing. I'll never forget that, because that is what I've seen. Now, boy, you do it, yeah, because you see it over your life. You know what I mean because it was, it was probably never about that that was then but and I also remember seeing Scorch I see you do that since I was a teenager.

Looking to the Future: Scorch TV

Corie 1:36:05

It seems as though you always used to look at, not what's the best we could do here, what's the best. You always look at what's the global standard to launch things, Because Scorch Radio launch was an impressive thing and one of them things where I see the internationals I was telling you before we start where I remember the days of Cleaves and Reiners and Crosby's and things you launched Island E tickets.

Hoppy 1:36:29

You sweep that up too in terms of how the all the ticket market going now, yeah, well, so with ilany is um, that's an interesting story too, because with scorch now coming on, um, and what a lot of people don't know is like, again, radioactive was like university scotch now is your master program, so your doctorate coming going to master's in doctorate for me, and we launched scotch the magazine's doing pretty decent. I didn't even realize how the company was make was generating over a million dollars a year yeah, it's good, which I didn't realize it until I was like wait no, two, three years in, like you know, um, because we instead of I'm not even doing it, I just doing you, just focus on what you're doing, I just doing I, instead of doing it like basically for the money per se. Yes, we're doing for the money, but it's just something that is part of my life, it's just.

Corie 1:37:27

I'm doing this, this is what I do.

Hoppy 1:37:29

Yeah, but I'm not doing it as survival, I'm just doing it as just doing this thing I decided you know what. So this is two, three years.

Hoppy 1:37:43

I stopped training parties Right Training in the 80s was the last big thing, yeah, I stopped training parties, right, training in the 80s was the last big thing, yeah, and then we had stopped that, probably in 2005 or so, or 6, maybe 7, actually, right, training in the 80s was now fizzling out and we wasn't doing most events. Radioactive was still there, but you know, things was changing. Of course, right, and I'm like you, I wasn't doing most events, radioactive was still there, but you know things was changing. Of course, right, and I'm like you. Know what. We need to add a personality, we need to bring Scorch to life, right From the magazine, and we tried to do an event called. The first event we tried to do was something called Cover Girls. Right, right, and it busts.

Hoppy 1:38:24

I mean a couple hundred people, but not Ram or anything, of course, bus in my standards and I shit, all right, maybe we ain't getting that. And then Treasure Queen was around and they were trying to get into, I guess, look at our market. So them fellas came to me and asked me if I want to try something on the boat. And asked people if they wanted to try something on the boat. I was like no to me in those days it was kind of more of a good thing, you know, it was more of a grong.

Hoppy 1:38:57

Yeah, yeah, of course I said why don't we go try it? And they said we're going to do this cruise. The first scotch cruise was too, but that's how you write among the people. Do this cruise at the first Scorch Cruise, boston, yeah, but that's how the right amount of people right to tip over. So they say Habermas could hold 700 people Ram. We had about that's about 300 people, right, but what happened on that cruise? Shady Vibers was iconic, right.

Corie 1:39:32

Vibemasters, it was just vibes people was having a blast.

Hoppy 1:39:37

When people come over there, they was like yo yeah was that right, yeah, and Treasure Queen and people were at that time. Second cruise now sell out and Scorch Cruise became like and people were at that time, second cruise now sellout and scotch crews became like you know them early days, like scotch crews they was like and then I had a problem now with these tickets yeah, it started becoming one of these things people complain about can't get tickets and you know how to figure out to keep your crowd.

Hoppy 1:40:07

Yeah, yeah, yeah, who has been there with you and what else? And I say I need to do this online. You know, and they had no, they had no Ticketmaster. They was the only things you knew about, right, bro? And they don't do what we was doing, right? So, one of my same pipe who was it really after me? Right, so, he could do, he could do this thing with the back, with QR codes and everything. So I explained to him what he said yeah, man, I could do that thing thing, blah, blah, blah, blah. Yeah, that's very.

Corie 1:40:41

Trinidadian.

Hoppy 1:40:45

Big, big cruise. Watch my cruise over Seoul. People thing up waiting for the tickets. How are they going to get the tickets? This is new. There's new technology we come with. This is how we go and issue tickets Now. Before, what we used to do is we used to sell a ticket in our envelope. We couldn't break the envelope. You can add shit like that right To avoid reselling things yeah right Gotcha.

Hoppy 1:41:05

and shit like that right to avoid reselling yeah right gotcha anyway, the cruises the Sunday, saturday night, nobody could get the tickets piping on. The thing failed, the thing don't. It's not gonna work right. I'm like what the frig is this shit? So I had to clean up that mess, figure out how to give people. Now, you know, it happened there, it happened, yeah. So, yeah, the thing gets out now. Yeah, and the boat ride came on and it was an epic thing and it happened and I was like after, I was like yo, well, andrew definitely knows how to do this, right.

Hoppy 1:41:47

So I had to find somebody right and luckily, matthew, my business partner in Ireland. He was, was part of the committee and how he ended up being a. He chose some party by Frankie's, changing him from Frankie's to Matthew's. I was like who's this fella? Right, and that's how we come in and be part of the crew, right? So he tell me that's what he's doing. He's a coder and thing. I remember him. At that point I was like yo, I call Matthew and say, matthew, yo, what need you could do this one.

Hoppy 1:42:23

And and he said yeah, I said don't look like, don't make it like pipe don't look like pipe. So we caught up with this thing and at first I was going to call it scotch tickets, right, and then I said, nah, I need a next ticket yeah, that's what people think of scotch events alone.

Corie 1:42:45

Yeah, so.

Hoppy 1:42:46

I've seen and something interesting happened.

Hoppy 1:42:51

The other fella um used to have a I think called um island tickets or something like that right and I remember he checked your link not to help him because he had a fire and it had burned down. He used to print, he used to print. We used to do physical tickets back in the day, right, and I went to him and said you want, you want something of that name? He said no Thing thing, he didn't want to sell it or nothing. But I said, but, you know, you see the thing, and it become a. We kind of had a. You know, however, it thing now see, but um, I see a piece of a piece of um, the old, old, arrogant song man come out in the day at that point right, and I was like, but dog, I could have scored, I could have scored some. I'm going to call Ireland E-tickets. Yeah, seriously, no, yeah, and that is all that happened right, like almost in the final right. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that yo.

Corie 1:44:00

Yeah. This come like Soca Warriors. Something like Soca Warriors, sorry, something like this so-called horror story.

Hoppy 1:44:08

No, my, because my thing was he wasn't making no sense. Because you're defunct and I've given you some money I want to buy it for you.

Corie 1:44:15

Yeah, so I got no value outside of that, right yeah.

Hoppy 1:44:17

So, and he didn't want to do it and I was like but um, so that and that was supposed to be a thing, and but he never.

Corie 1:44:29

Somebody told me he was going to sue us and all kinds of things right, yeah, hey, man, maybe you should cut this part out, just to be sure but I don't know how that happened and I think he lost his name. But the same thing I wanted to get, of course yeah, yeah, yeah, but look how island I end up getting.

Hoppy 1:44:47

So I have island tickets now. Oh, you have both.

Corie 1:44:49

Yeah, yeah, yeah, but the name ended up being one of them brand names, and you do that many, many times. I mean you call it names. I forget about Trinity 80s. I remember that back in the day, but it's something that you continue to do.

Hoppy 1:45:03

Yeah, yes, david, if you ever need it.

Corie 1:45:04

If you ever had a part two that we needed, it's this one for sure. Tell me. No, I'm just saying, if I had it, you really had to come back because we had a lot of more sports to do. Oh, yeah, oh, you want to just end it there. Well, you only have three weeks, oh God. Yeah, when you talk to all these fellas, it needs weeks, not hours. So we had to do our part, right.

Hoppy 1:45:31

Yeah, yeah, but I really enjoy, like where you've been, as I say, like from seeing it a couple months now. What you've been doing, it's something that was missing in this space, and I remember having Daniel and I always felt like you. Yo yeah, calypso Showcase missing, that yeah, of course, and missing people who tell, who capture these stories, and for the next generation and this generation to know. So you know, keep doing, keep doing what you're doing. For sure it's very important.

Corie 1:45:58

Well, I go be here. It's importantorch TV.

Hoppy 1:46:06

Yeah, we have Scorch TV. It's on now. You could go on scorchtvcom and you'll see it, but we're going to be on cable. I guess by this time it's out it should be on cable as a regional channel, creating a podcast network for you and everybody podcasting that's the announcement we on.

Corie 1:46:29

Well then, as we roll it out, we come back and we go ahead. Yeah, you didn't take a drink for the day, but yeah man lost a glass and everything. Thanks a million, brother. This was nice cheers appreciate you.