Queensbridge

Queensbridge has a rich history of legendary MCs that made a name for themselves in the music industry, usually through DJ and producer Marley Marl who was a resident.

Roxanne Shantè, MC Shan, Craig G, Tragedy, Mobb Deep, and Nas all call the legendary housing project home. MC Shan's 1986 game-changing single, "The Bridge," was a history lesson on Queensbridge Hip-Hop. In the now classic song, which he created to be played at the annual "Queensbridge Day" celebration, Shan name-checks many legendary Queensbridge figures—amongst them is Dimples D.

"Dimples D the girl, she was great her and Marley Marl went and cut her plate/they used to rock it out in the place and the title of it was Sucker DJ's," Shan spit.

Many fans have repeated those lines from the popular song, but very few know exactly who Dimples D is and even less about her contribution to Hip-Hop.

"I was born and raised in Queensbridge Projects in Long Island City," Dimples told The Foundation. "Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson, Gladys Knight & The Pips and lots of Motown artists were played in my household growing up. But when I was about 13 or 14 years old, I witnessed Hip-Hop for the first time when I saw Dr. Bob Lee and Jappy Jap. They would sometimes go into River Park and have DJ battles, and sometimes Brooklyn DJs would come out. This was before rap records, probably around 1975, I would sneak down to the park to see this because I was too young to be there. There weren't any MCs on the mic yet, but the DJs were out playing music and every Memorial Day was a big thing out there."

Dimples explained that her older brother was friends with Jappy Jap who was immortalized on "The Bridge" as well.

"My oldest brother used to hang out with Jap on Vernon. They come from Vernon Boulevard and back in the day they were the ones that everybody looked up to and they could dress their behinds off. My brother played basketball with Jap and Dr. Bob Lee. They are what I would call the historians of Queensbridge who started coming out with the equipment and started playing music and we all had a good time."

Becoming An MC

"I was always good at poetry and The Sunshine Boys were always on the mic at the park," Dimples remembers. "The Sunshine Boys were TJ Swan [not the singer from The Juice Crew], Squeaky and Freedom and they were always outside rappin', and I knew that I could do this."

Dimples credits Bronx MC Sha Rock as the influence that put the battery in her back.

"When I heard Sha Rock I was like, 'I got that in the bag.' I knew that I could do it. I really idolized what she was doing because she was the first female out there with a bunch of guys rappin'. It was between her, and I heard a rap by Pebblee Poo. It was somethin' like 'I get power hour after hour/ Pebblee Poo I'm sweet not sour.'"

Dimples says that the combination of hearing these two MCs greatly influenced her to become an MC. "I knew that I could do it, and out in Queensbridge there were no females doin' it. [Roxanne] Shantè is much younger than I am. When I was 16 and I really started gettin' out there rapping, I knew of her. She was a cute little girl on the block, but I don't remember her rapping at the time. Remember, she would have been about 10 when I was 16, so I don't remember her rapping when I started."

Although she started as a solo MC, Dimples D said that she later joined a group where she was the only female.

"I joined a group called The Jazzy 4 in 1979, and Drew, Grandmaster Dee from Whodini was our DJ"," she said. "It was me, TJ Swan , Barshon who called himself Rapper G and MC Freedom. We didn't make any records, but we did shows in upstate, Connecticut, and Astoria. I stayed with them about a year, then Drew left and I went with him and formed a group for a while. It was Grandmaster Dee and The Devastating 2 with me and Giggles G. We did shows at Harlem World and we opened for The Cold Crush Brothers when they battled the Fantastic 5 — then Drew got his calling for Whodini."

Marley Marl

Dimples describes Queensbridge as one big family where everyone knew each other. Basketball tournaments and outdoor community jams were the norm, and her parents knew Marley Marl's parents.

"My Mom and Dad used to play cards with his Mom," she remembered. "After '82 or so, I hooked up with Marlon, and he was already playing music in the park all the time. He used to see me rappin' in the park and he said that we should get together and do something. That's really how it started, but we knew each other prior to making the record. We made that one record together and things didn't work out so I moved on and he moved on. The record wasn't really pushed and there was no video for it, so people didn't really know who Dimples D was because I didn't have a lot of exposure in the United States."

In Europe, several years after the initial release of "Sucker DJ's," Dimples would see success.

Sucker DJ's

"Sucker DJ's" was released in 1983 on Arthur Baker's Streetwise Records affiliate Partytime — the same label that released 1984's "It's Yours" by Tla Rock & DJ Jazzy Jay. Arthur Baker told ROCK THE BELLS that Marley Marl and musician Andre Booth brought him "Sucker DJ's" and he signed and distributed it to satisfy his partners in Streetwise/Partytime.

"That was the first credit that Marley ever received on a record," Baker said. "Sucker DJ's was an answer to Run-DMC's "Sucker MC's" which was released in March of the same year in several ways. Dimples used the same cadence as Run-DMC and the drum pattern was identical to "Sucker MC's."

In Goin Off by Ben Merlis, Booth revealed that Dimples D didn't have management.

"She never had a manager. It happened so fast and she was shocked because after they got the deal everyone vacated," he explained. "She had a record out and people wanted to see her. Promoters were trying to figure out who to contact, and they contacted me. I did a show with her in Boston once and she turned it out. She was Marlon's first MC."

The Acapella

As many rap singles did at the time, "Sucker DJ's" contained several versions. In addition to the standard version of the song, there was a dub version and an acapella. The acapella of the song mentions Marley's name and talents several times throughout, and it became an extremely important weapon in his arsenal as a DJ and producer. Starting with MC Shan & Marley Marl's "Marley Marl Scratch" from 1985, DJ Marley Marl used Dimples dropping his name on the hooks and in various parts of songs, including "Uptown's Kickin' It," "He Cuts So Fresh," "The Man Marley Marl," "Beat Biter" and "Down By Law."

Other DJs would also use various parts of Dimples' dedication to Marley in their cut records.

The Remix

In 1990, Ben Liebrand, a Dutch DJ, remixer, and producer remixed "Sucker DJ's" adding the melody from I Dream of Jeannie and increasing the tempo. The new version also dropped the "s" and was titled "Sucker DJ." Seven years after its original release, "Sucker DJ" provided Dimples with her first video, and a Top of The Pops performance (the UK version of American Bandstand). It also landed in the #1 position on the Dance charts in Australia. The remix also reached #17 on the UK singles chart and charting in many European countries.

The success of "Sucker DJ" led to a full-length album of dance music called Dimples & Spice that saw success in Europe. The business didn't go as she would have liked, and Dimples was jaded with the music business and exited.

"What's so sad is when people take advantage and get greedy," she said. "There's enough money in the industry for everyone to eat."

Dimples D is now a retired law enforcement officer enjoying life outside of the industry but with the knowledge that she made history and an indelible impact.