On June 27, the legendary DJ Polo died at 63. The Queens DJ is remembered for the seminal work he did with the revered MC Kool G Rap starting in the mid-1980s. As Kool G Rap & DJ Polo, they released three studio albums, including 1989’s “Road to the Riches” and 1990’s “Wanted: Dead or Alive,” and one compilation project. Kool G Rap gave Rolling Stone his memories of his fallen friend.
I grew up in Corona, Queens, from five years old. This is the early days of hip-hop, so [around] 10 years old I’m starting to hear the talk on the streets. Polo was a name that I heard. As time went on, I started gaining a little neighborhood reputation as the young dude that could rap. I started registering on his radar. Somewhere in that time Polo put out [a record] with Frost B — he was one of the older cats that was known for MCing in the park jams.
Me and Polo never formally met until I got real cool with Eric B. I was like, “Yo, E. Put me on, bro.” I just wanted to get in where I fit in. Eric was like, “No doubt, G. I got you.” And he linked me up with Polo. Polo pulled up on me one day like, “Yo, come on, cuz. We’re going to Marley Marl crib.” I jumped in his wheels, we went to Queensbridge and cut our first record. I thought it was just a demo at that time, so it’s titled [“It’s a Demo”]. Polo got me there. He got me my introduction to the game.
Even though he loved DJing, he wasn’t so focused on being the best in the world. It wasn’t his thing. Polo was a ladies’ man, so Polo just wanted to have his name out there — he wanted to be in the mix and get the girls. This is why later on I unofficially brought Dr. Butcher in, because Dr. Butcher wanted to be that dude. I didn’t want to push something on Polo that he didn’t want to focus on like that. I wanted to stand out as one of the illest rappers that ever came to the hip-hop game, but Polo didn’t want to be the illest DJ ever.
I looked up to him because he was that dude in the hood. Even though he wasn’t known to be the craziest DJ ever, he was still Polo. Everybody knew that name. But with Polo came DJ Smalls, Disco Twins, [and] a whole bunch of other names, because he was affiliated with all them. And DJ Smalls was a prominent name back then. I looked up to Polo as far as being a name in the hip-hop game at that time, having the ability to get a record out there early. I’m honored to this day that my career happened to come into fruition through Eric B. and then Polo, and then Marley Marl, and then Juice Crew.
Polo was like a big bro. Polo was older than me, even though it didn’t feel that much like it at the time, because Polo had a youthful spirit. So it wasn’t like I had to look up to him all the time. Polo was driving before me. There’s certain things he was doing before me outside of music. Polo [was] talking [about] things that I knew nothing of prior to that. And it was just awesome to have that companionship coming from an older cat. But he didn’t treat me as if I was beneath him in maturity or wisdom. He treated me like I was his equal.
Polo had a record before I even got with him. But our union is what made everything take off for him as well. The record he had put out before me got some neighborhood rep, it got heard around the boroughs and stuff like that. But now we dealing with a totally different animal. “It’s a Demo” took us further. And the follow-up single “Rikers Island” is taking us further.
Polo gave us our early image. He used to wear the polo hat. Our first promo pictures we ever took, it was his idea for us to rock the polo jackets. I thought that shit was dope. He wasn’t following no trends or nothing like that outside of that polo shit. And he wasn’t a Polo shirt dude. It was the actual jockey shit that he gravitated to. It was the style of the horse rider [laughs]. Polo was his own original self…he’s the only Black dude that got a fucking tail in the back like the Spanish cats had. [Laughs.] Polo ain’t doing the shit that niggas is doing and ain’t no other nigga doing the shit Polo was doing as far as dress code.
Polo was just a funny dude. He was so loud with jokes and shit like that, he used to bomb on our dancers [with jokes]. Our dancers TCF Crew was young and when they first started dancing for us, me and Polo would have on streetwear. I’m rocking Timberlands, Polo’s [rocking] some other kind of boots that nobody else in New York is rocking. [Laughs.] Our dancers [were wearing] blazers and slacks and shoes, but they killin’ the dance moves. Polo used to be like, “Yo, look!” and have everybody in stitches [laughing at the dancers’ shoes]. He had a crazy sense of humor. And outside of that, he was loved by a lot, because he was a real cool dude. He was humble with everybody. He never acted too fly for nobody. And people loved him for that.
Kool G Rap and DJ Polo circa 1990. “It was his idea for us to rock the polo jackets. I thought that shit was dope.”
Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
Even when I separated and it was no longer Kool G Rap with DJ Polo, it was never done out of no differences we had. I just grew. And from the time he got me in the game, I gave him seven years of it being Kool G Rap with DJ Polo. Three albums and seven years. I felt I paid him back at that point. Now he’s a household name, his name’s known worldwide. I just happened to grow career-wise, but he was always my man. That’s why back in 2012 [or so], I brought him back out [on the road] with me. I looked for him, found him, got in contact with him, and we did a number of shows. We did Milwaukee, Chicago, Atlanta, upstate New York… Because that was my boy, man.
[In 2019], I was trying to call Polo for over a year. [His phone was] going straight to voicemail every time I call. I [had] promoters hitting me to do a Kool G Rap and Polo tour, and they were adamant about DJ Polo being on. Polo didn’t DJ for me for [a few years] at this point. I’m like, “All right. I’m going to try.” So I tried again, same thing, still go to voicemail. Now, I had heard prior to this that Polo had got Parkinson’s disease. But I’m thinking, “He’s probably going to have a little complications, but he’s going to be all right.” But now I’m calling him for a long stretch of time, and this shit keeps on going to voicemail… I start thinking, “What the fuck? The nigga blocked me or something?”
I was so happy to tell him, “Yo, they want us to go out on this tour.” I was going to do the tour more for him than for myself. I was on the road in 2017 and ’18, and that shit beat me down. I was going to do it because I know Polo [wanted] to be back out there. But I couldn’t get in contact with him. And then later on, all the Covid shit… I started hearing that Polo was still in the hospital. And I remember being shocked by that, like, “He’s still in the fucking hospital?” My life is crazy too [at that point], so I didn’t really get a chance to go and see Polo.
Last year, we did the Cold Chillin’ [30-year] reunion at the Apollo Theater. The first time Cold Chillin’ did that I wasn’t there, because I was in the hospital. And now I’m there, but Polo ain’t there, 30 years later. I’m like, “Ain’t this something?” My car ended up getting locked in the garage [afterwards]. I was forced to stay [in the city], so I took that as a real powerful sign. And I was like, “You know what? I’m stuck here, I’m definitely going to see my man. I’m going to find out where he at, and I’m going to see Polo.”
One of my other homies from my hood was with me. We both went to see Polo. I felt the urgency to see him. I made sure I [saw] him, and I saw what people was telling me [about his health]. He had complications with getting a full sentence out. He was struggling a little bit, but we was able to understand everything he was saying. He had us laughing, we had him laughing. I was just happy to see my man.
So I felt at ease. I was like, “Yo, niggas talking like Polo’s damn near dead.” I’m like, “Yo, my man is all right.” He told me he was going to be going home in a week or two and he was like, “Yeah I’m going to hit you cuz, I’ll be home.” I was like, “Well, let me know when you get home, and we’ll come through.” I never got that call. But I’m still not thinking the worst. And then I heard that he never came home out the hospital.
Polo, he was a true friend of mine. He was a brother of mine. I loved him. And one thing monumental that he did, other than bringing himself to the world, [is bringing] Kool G Rap to everybody. It happened because of Polo. [He was] one of the most realest, down-to-earth, humblest and funniest dudes a person could ever know. And I know I speak for a lot of cats that got to know Polo, personally. They would agree.
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