District 9 recently dropped a new EP called “SouthBronxMemoirs” after almost 4 years of silence. This classic New York Hardcore band hailing from the Bronx decided to re-record 3 songs and add an unreleased track in the process… With a huge show coming up at the BNB Bowl it seems District 9 is back on track. We caught up with D9 frontman Puerto Rican Myke to talk about the past and future of District 9 as well as his stint in Skarhead. He also opens up about some of his personal demons in this insightful interview..

DISTRICT 9

TWS: What made you guys decide to pick things up again?
PR MYKE: First and foremost I want to say “what up” to all the HARDCORE/HIP HOP kids around the world. Well, pretty much D9 played shows here and there, shuffled around a slew of musicians throughout the years & pretty much called it quits about 4 years ago. About a year and a half ago JOE HARDCORE got in touch with me and asked is D9 was interested in playing This Is Hardcore Fest in august of 2011. In a nutshell, the lineup for that show & the response we got let us know that we COULDN’T put a good thing to rest…

TWS: What’s the current line up of the band?
PR MYKE: The force to be fucked with / line up is: Lenny-guitars, Cesar-guitars, Todd the Kidd-bass, Lou Medina-drums & me Puerto Rican Myke-vocals.

TWS: The EP features one new song and three re-recordings of older tracks. Can you give me a quick rundown of why you choose to re-record those specific songs?
PR MYKE: Well the re-recording’s that we thought would sound great with the line up we have now, and just as we thought “THEY DO”!!!!!
VICTIM-is a heavy song, but the only recording we have of it is a live version originally recorded from a show we played at CONEY ISLAND HIGH back in 93-94, so we decided to put a backbone to it and finally give it life..
THE LETTER-is a song we had on the backburner for a while and never paid it mind. Actually the song is hard as nails, a really “DOPE” song, and different members had different styles of playing it, so it was difficult to really get a solid feel for the song until we got this line up.. now the track is on fire.. STRAIGHT FIRE!
FOOL– we all know is a fuckin “BANGER”. Another song that was recorded in early 93, but was only recorded in one take at BIG BLUE MEENIE studios.. so we added it to the list of “songs to be re-recorded”.. I brought in a good friend of mine to do the track with me, the one and only “DANZIG KILLA” Danny of THE NORTHSIDE KINGS, he and I sound dope on trax together. (as you all know from “GOOD GIRLS FINISH LAST”) and it sounds amazing..
THINK ABOUT IT– that song speaks for itself… Great Groove + Dope Lyrics = FUCKIN SICK TRACK “RECORD THAT SHIT NIGGGGAAAAAA”!!!!!

TWS: Are there plans to record any new District 9 songs?
PR MYKE: District 9 does intend to record new material, we in fact want to do a whole album with all NEW tracks… We are currently working on new material.. so expect to hear some dope Shit SOON…

TWS: You guys played This is Hardcore a few years ago.. Now you’re about to do the BNB Bowl.. Do you notice new kids present at those shows that haven’t heard of D9 yet? Or is it mostly old heads?
PR MYKE: Yes there are new headz at the shows “we see y’all new niggas” … It’s great to see new kids at shows, hence the reason we released SOUTHBRONXMEMOIRS, so that new kids who haven’t heard us, can hear some updated material.. once again its great to see that our scene is growing, and always great to see that the older generation hasn’t forgotten where they all came from, and they’ve stayed loyal throughout the years.. HARDCORE LIVES.

District 9 does intend to record new material, we in fact want to do a whole album with all NEW tracks… We are currently working on new material.. so expect to hear some dope Shit SOON…

TWS: You will be releasing a limited 7″ in Europe through Countdown Records (who also did your “D9 live from the Bronx Zoo” cd), how did you hook up with those guys?
PR MYKE: I got with the boys at COUNTDOWN through my brother LORD EZEC, AKA-SNUFF DADDY, AKA DANNY DIABLO… (the hardest working man in Hardcore and Hip Hop/ CEO of ILLROC RECORDS). He got the ball rolling and put out the PUERTO RICAN MYKE – D9 LIVE FROM THE BRONX ZOO C.D. which is a compilation of trax from District 9, Shotblockers and trax I’ve done with other bands like Northside Kings & Fight Like Hell. COUNTDOWN records put that out and so a relationship between them and I began. I love the work they did with my c.d. and I trust they’ll do great with the 7″. Luca and the boys at COUNTDOWN are a solid team, and go all out for the artist they work with.. just like FAMILY..

District 9 guitarist Cesar.

TWS: District 9′ members seem to be scattered geographically.. How hard is it to maintain a band working like that…
PR MYKE: Lucky for us that we have such a solid unit, that even with some members having other projects they are true to the 9…. Lenny has a project called WELL EXCUSE ME-PRINCESS which is (I wanna say) POPCORE… a new genre infusing pop punk with hardcore… sounds dope.. Lou is in a band with Mike Dijan called SAI-NAM and Todd has a band in Arizona called Bro-Loaf, a kind of “lets party-get drunk” No Redeeming style band, and Cesar had a group called Nova Cez Everything which was a rap group.. they were pretty dope but they put N.C.E. to rest in mid 2012…. Anyway back to the question at hand …and that is that with 90% of the band being in N.Y. and 10% of it being in Cleveland now and Todd being in Arizona (ha ha ha just kidding). It really is hard… It takes dedication and that’s what the members of the 9 have…. We all have been friends for years and still are. On a professional level we work well with one another, as for rehearsing before a show its always 1 before a show….. We’ve been doing these songs for years, so there really shouldn’t be any FUCK UPS on stage … but you’ll hear one or two slip ups (Cesar).

TWS: D9’s newest song “The Letter” seems to deal with prison life… Are you talking from personal experience?
PR MYKE: “THE LETTER” is one of those songs that plays itself out in my head, and the story line has to end in consequence like all the rest of my songs do….. so of course its about a guy writing home from prison.. As for being arrested… who hasn’t? Always overnights or 2 / 3 week spans but never nothing serious.. A lot of assault and batteries and warrant arrests for the assaults.. it comes with the territory… DMS FOR LIFE.

As for being arrested.. who hasn’t? Always overnights or 2 / 3 week spans but never nothing serious. A lot of assault and batteries & warrant arrests for the assaults.. it comes with the territory… DMS FOR LIFE!

PUERTO RICAN MYKE SOLO TRACKS

TWS: You have also recorded a bunch of tracks with The Shotblockers… “Blaze”, “Back On Up”, did you ever consider fully going the hip hop route? To me you were always one of the best, flow and lyric wise, out of that camp…
PR MYKE: THANK YOU, I am truly appreciative of that, and honestly all the brothers in the S.B. have their own flows and styles which makes for the ingredients of the SHOTBLOCKERS style…. Diversity and dopeness is what you can expect from this team…. EZEC, ME, SLAINE and DANNY BOY (of Coka Nostra) with EZEC’S train of thought, went in and recorded the debut trax
out of the SHOTBLOCKERS camp called B.L.A.Z.E. and BACK ON UP. So that being said I guess I have gone that route already….. HARDCORE/HIP HOP.

TWS: And you collaborated with North Side Kings for three tracks, “Hustle Don’t Stop” being my favorite.. How did that collabo happen?
PR MYKE: “HUSTLE DONT STOP” (BLOOD MONEY ANTHEM) was a track that I wrote for the NorthSide Kings’ SUBURBAN ROYALTY album. That song I wrote in literally 10 minutes (no lie).. Danny from NorthSide called me up and asked if I could do a track on their upcoming album, he said he wanted the gangster-est, most ignorant shit and he knew I was the one he wanted on the track.. That being the most insulting compliment I have ever gotten from anyone, I said id do it without hesitation… So you have the cocaine sniffin, crack cookin, blood money anthem aka HUSTLE DONT STOP…. A NorthSide Kings, PUERTO RICAN MYKE BAAAAANNNNNGGGGEEEERRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!

Puerto Rican Myke at the Warzone tribute, BNB Bowl 2012.

SKARHEAD

TWS: How did you joining Skarhead first come about?
PR MYKE: Right about the time that the “Kings At Crime” album dropped, is about the time Lou Dibella (of Skarhead & SubZero) was battling cancer (which he beat and is alive and very well today) anyway I get a call from my childhood friend Armando (who fronted the band Farenheit 451) who was working for Strong Management at the time, and told me that Skarhead needed a singer to do an upcoming, one off show in Belgium called DOUR Festival.. And until two years ago Ezec and I fronted the monster we all know to be SKARHEAD….

TWS: You did a few tours and recordings w/ Skarhead. In my opinion the “2001 Demo” (w/ New York Crime, 31-40, and We Love Pussy”) was one of the best things you guys did. A bit more crossover than the older more hardcore orientated stuff… Felt to me like you guys could’ve blowed up back then… What do you think happened?
PR MYKE: That demo opened the doors for a lot of shit that’s going on now…. I guess we didn’t pay much mind to it, and the songs were rarely played live, but that demo includes a lot of the classic 31-40’ish style of hardcore that we were working on…. That demo was all Ezec’s train of thought & he and I collaborated great together….. back then I don’t think people were ready for one of their favorite hardcore bands to go that route, but 12 years later, they go hand in hand now within the scene …… REAL HARDCORE/ REAL HIP HOP/ REAL RECOGNIZES REAL….. SKARHEAD 2001 A Thug Odyssey…. proud to be a part of it…

Putting it to you lightly; no one wanted to manage us [Skarhead], tour manage us, or in that case book us at a point in time..

Danny Diablo & Puerto Rican Myke

TWS: I’ve always wondered about the voicemail messages on that demo.. Are those real.. Can you shed any light about the kind of trouble you guys were getting into back then….
PR MYKE: No comment hahaha.. one of them is real I’ll let you guess which one it is… Putting it to you lightly; no one wanted to manage us, tour manage us, or in that case book us at a point in time.. some venues didn’t want to let us play either… I always said “NIGGA YOU’RE BOOKING A REAL HARDCORE BAND THAT JUST SO HAPPENS TO HAVE REAL NIGGAS FRONTING IT” .. “EXPECT REAL SHIT TO HAPPEN”….

TWS: It’s been rumored that Skarhead will record a final cd with, besides Ezec of course, you and Eddy Leeway on vocals…. Can you update us on those plans?
PR MYKE: I was asked to do the final c.d. which I thought would be dope, being that I’m not on any of the previous albums aside from the 2001 demo.. I haven’t heard anymore of it, but I can tell you if it does go down I will not hesitate doing it.. (can’t promise tours though ). But if it does go down Ezec, Eddie & Me together.. it’ll be a monster album….

PERSONAL LIFE

TWS: What do you do in your everyday life?
PR MYKE: I work a lot of construction jobs, I can’t really work in an office or do customer service jobs cuz I’ll be that nigga to tell someone to suck a dick fast.. I do real tiring jobs, digging pits, trenches for underground pipe and electric cable.. after work I don’t do much you know, I live to work and work to live……

TWS: You told me you were moving to another city? Where did you move to and why did you decide to make that move?
PR MYKE: Well I moved to Colorado from N.Y. 10 years ago because beside hanging out and getting in trouble a lot, I had no life or no job…. I was sleeping on the floor at my moms house, and literally took on the name “THE BUM” given to me by my aunt and my mom… it wasn’t cool…. I had a friend that I’ve known since we were teens and he had relocated to Colorado years before, he said I can stay with him, get a job, and start a new life. Which brings me up to date, I’ve been living in Denver Colorado 10 years now, I’ve made so many friends and linked with some crews ,and met some real solid people… Its gonna be to move away…Next stop Cleveland Ohio….. HOME OF “RINGWORM” AND THE “HOODLIFE” NIGGAS…..

This girl has opened my eyes to things I never really gave a shit about, like life itself

TWS: You seem quite content with your girl and son.. Is PR Myke settling down?
PR MYKE: You know I gotta say, I have never met or have had such a kind hearted, understanding, opened minded significant other EVER….. Seriously this girl has opened my eyes to things I never really gave a shit about, like life itself… She has made me feel what real love is, and I am able to give it back… She has showed me that there is life after addiction…. on top of that she is sexy as hell… lol but she is beautiful all around heart, soul, and looks…… I can truly say that I want this to be my last relationship and I want her to be the last woman in my life….. the baby boy is a blessing to me although I am not his biological father, I love him like he is mine and so he is…. He completes our circle, if things stay the way they’re going we will definitely be getting married this year soon….

TWS: Also on your Facebook you made a few comments on getting clean and staying clean… How bad did it get, and how long have you been clean for now?
PR MYKE: my addiction with cocaine and other narcotics beside the drinking got the best of a nigga.. Sniffin coke poppin pills snorting pills smoking crack basically anything that can get me where I wanted to be which was numb, I would do.. I wanted to forget daily struggles and deaths of family and friends…. I wanted to forget so bad that I wanted to die… day in day out drugs and alcohol consumed me, I hit rock bottom and still tried to go deeper, I overdosed about 3 years ago and still left the hospital and hit the spot for another package… Bad times… I’m fuckin glad to say that with my will, and the push I needed from my girl, I’ve been clean 8 months now & don’t intend to go back….. It was a dark time in my life & it scared the shit out of me, but I’m on the right track now….

Day in day out drugs and alcohol consumed me, I hit rock bottom and still tried to go deeper, I overdosed about 3 years ago and still left the hospital and hit the spot for another package…

TWS: Okay, that about wraps it up…. Anything else you wanna add…
PR MYKE: Just keeping it simple…. Shouts to my D9 niggas, shouts to Ezec & Ill Roc, shouts to my lady & son, shouts to the Rivera clique, AND LAST BUT NEVER LEAST THIS IS FOR MY DMS FAMILY……. NEVER ABOVE YOU, NEVER BELOW YOU ALWAYS BY YOUR SIDE. PUERTO RICAN MYKE.

Here’s a bonus old school District 9 video, recorded at the Wetlands NY 03/15/1998..