Rap
Not many people know Johnny’s roots in rap music as they run deep. He literally introduced rap music to the Twin Harbors shortly after arriving. Upon moving here in 1989, he noticed that the music he had was accustomed to growing up in the city, was lacking in the area, along with MTV and the internet.
Not many people in Grays Harbor had heard it and the ones who had, labeled it “black music“. And because of Johnny’s passion for creating rap music, he was ridiculed along with it. “I would just walk down the street people would throw bottles at me and call me a ‘white n—er’ because I wore red Levi’s and had Troop shoes. I didn’t fit in with the ‘butt rocker’ look that was here” he says.
He would eventually meet other transplants from larger areas who had the same passion for producing rap music as he did and eventually started the first rap group in Grays Harbor.
While writing lyrics & producing beats for his own group, Johnny was often found DJing dances & was actually the first person in the Twin Harbors to perform a rap song, which happened at the teen club Mr. V’s. The crowd was shocked. Half of them didn’t know if it was real and the other half just stood there in awe. After that night, many people sought Johnny’s guidance in the creation of rap music finding themselves traveling to his remote studio in the coastal bog area of Grayland where he resided at the time.
By around 1993, Johnny felt that the area had developed enough to bring in some professional rap artists to the Harbor. MTV was finally offered to the area, opening many minds to the art of street poetry. He connected with Gene Dexter of Boomshaka management and booked Silver Shadow D & The Lost and Found Crew from Seattle, who had opened for Sinead O’Conner, Public Enemy, Da Lynch Mob, Ice Cube & others. With them, came acclaimed Dj D.V.-One and JM Vox from Tacoma. They were all booked to perform with Johnny group, D.V.S. as the opening act.
Before the first rap show in the Twin Harbors ever happened, Johnny was met with some resistance from the community. “Concerned citizens” would call the property owner & express to Alfie that they were going to “…stop him before he gets started…” because the community of Grays Harbor “…didn’t want that type of thing here…“. Much to their dismay, the night was a success and with the beats he made, got his group a record deal with Lynx Records who were on-hand that night.
At one point in the evening, a teenager approached Johnny & said “Johnny….thanks man!” Johnny asks “For what?” and the lad points to the stage as the Lost & Found Crew are performing and replies “For this.”
After that successful night, Johnny brought in other acts to perform along with his own to open the show. It was when he got hired at Sidney’s as the head DJ, that he changed his focus to nightclubs and put his passion for producing rap on the back burner.
He recalls a funny story from a couple years ago: I went over to this cats house with a friend who said he had a studio at his crib. When I get there, I see he had a nice little setup much like I had when I first started out. I asked him how long he had been putting his studio together and he said “Ever since Jeremy & John took me out to your house in Grayland and I saw your studio out there.” Keep in mind, that was 15 years ago. It made me feel good to know that I had such an influence on people years before I even thought about being on the radio.
When it comes to rap music and the Twin Harbors, Johnny Manson did it first & he did it to show others that there was a great music not being heard when he moved here. It’s hard to think of a time without hip-hop on the Harbor, but it was Johnny Manson (a.k.a. High-Q) that first performed it, produced it on a local level & promoted it. You can thank him later.
