The Hollis Crew and “It’s the Beat”

Although it would be easy to do so, The Hollis Crew, performers of “It’s the Beat,” are not to be confused with “Hollis Crew” (the 1984 recording by Run-DMC), nor with the young men captured in Janette Beckman’s iconic photo of Run-DMC and five of their friends, shot in Hollis, Queens, New York in 1985.

For our purposes, The Hollis Crew are Douglas “Butter Luv” Hayes and Terry “Cool Tee” Williams, the duo featured on DJ007, the last of Def Jam’s independent singles, released in the summer of 1985.

During a conversation with Bill Adler, both Butter and Tee recalled that the opportunity to make “It’s the Beat” was a kind of consolation prize for not having the opportunity to make “My Adidas.” “Me, DMC, Butter and Russell were hanging out on the corner of 202 ^nd Street and Hollis Ave,” recalls Tee. “All of us were wearing our ‘didas.”

“I wasn’t really no emcee,” adds Butter, “but I used to rhyme with the guys up in Run’s attic.”

“Me and Butter came up with the idea for the song and Russell—who was dusted—said that would be dope,” concludes Tee. “Then Run and D snatched it and the next you know, ‘My Adidas’ was a hit.”

“It’s the Beat” was very much a production of the larger Hollis Crew. As the handwritten lyrics (reproduced right) make clear, at least four, and maybe five, folks had input, after which one person wrote down all the agreed-upon lyrics in final form. Tee remembers the lyrics team as “me, Butter, Run, and Danny Whiteboy in Run’s basement.”

The record was produced by Run, Jam Master Jay, and Rick Rubin at Chung King, the de facto house studio for all the early Def Jam titles. Tee recalls that it was Jay who suggested sampling Kool & the Gang for the record’s horn riff and whistle.

The record led to at least one live show. Turns out that “It’s the Beat” was hot in Toronto—or at least hot enough—which allowed Butter and Tee to play a gig there in the fall of ‘85 in the company of The Showboys, DJ Cheese, and Pebbly-Poo, all of whom recorded for Profile. At the time, DJ Cheese was hitting with “Word of Mouth,” while The Showboys – who happened to be from Hollis – were getting some traction for “The Ten Laws of Rap” b/w ”Cold Frontin’,” which they’d cut earlier in the year.

Although the label copy on “It’s the Beat” lists the record’s producers, it neglects to credit its writers. This squares with Butter and Tee’s memory of their business relationship with Def Jam. “We never got paid,” said Tee. “Not a dime. Every time we saw Russell, he said, ‘I got you. I got you.’ But nothing ever happened.”

“We didn’t sign no contract, but I don’t know why they couldn’t give use a little something,” says Butter. “We were all homeboys.”

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