The Best Shout-Outs to Defunct NYC Clubs in Rap Lyrics

A good barometer for what clubs were hot back in the day? Rap lyrics, of course.

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Complex Original

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From the early days of modest community bars with DJs breaking out in simple raps from the booth to the excess of modern multilevel complexes with velvet-roped VIP areas, the club has always played a vital role in the culture of hip-hop. Some of New York's most famous clubs mattered simply because they gave young people a place to hang out; others offered superstars like Jay-Z and Diddy a place to mingle with the rich and beautiful. Many helped define the culture and the direction of the music. A number earned a degree of notoriety for the fights that broke out in front of them or the drugs that were done inside.

Whether they were flossing their ability to get into the most exclusive parties, reminding listeners of the cred they had at the hot spots back in the day, or simply describing their daily lives, rappers have always been some of the best indicators of which clubs matter most at the moment. Times change, though, and many of those hot clubs and important destinations have since disappeared, becoming drug stores, dorms, or new clubs with a lesser hip-hop pedigree. In fact, as some of these defunct New York clubs recede farther into our collective memory, it's hard to find any reference, beyond the occasional name drop in a verse. It is through these great shout outs that the spirit of these NYC nightlife destinations lives on for future music fans. These are the best lyrical shout-outs to defunct New York City clubs. Never forget.

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"Trained at Rooftop, Red Zone, Roxy and Bentley's/Who am I? THE MC!" - KRS-One

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Song: KRS-One - "The MC"
Club: The Roxy
Location: 515 West 18th St.
Years in operation: 1978-2007

Originally a roller skating rink, the Roxy briefly became the epicenter of the New York hip-hop scene in 1982 thanks to a party series thrown by British promoter Kool Lady Blue. Famously, the parties started out by putting up a curtain to hide the empty space in the room, but, as they became more popular, the curtain moved farther back and eventually disappeared. DJs like Grandmaster Flash, Afrika Bambaataa, and Jazzy Jay would perform from a booth in the middle of the floor, while b-boy groups like the Rock Steady Crew and rap crews like the Furious Five put on shows. The parties also began to draw downtown art scene luminaries like Andy Warhol, Basquiat, Keith Haring and a young Madonna, as well as then-NYU student Rick Rubin. A launching pad for acts like New Edition, the Roxy is the perfect place for any rapper shoring up his or her old school cred to namecheck.

"Yeah this is for the sports cars, Bonita's, Jimmy's/PJ's, old school, eighteenth at the sports bar" - Cam'Ron

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Song: Cam'Ron - "Oh Boy"
Club: PJ's
Location: 2256 Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd.
Years in operation: ??-2012

Something of a Harlem icon, PJ's was part neighborhood bar, part club destination on the weekends, and hip-hop through and through (one Yelp review from 2011 noted that Black Rob was in attendance). Although its low-key luxe vibe may have been a little tamer than Cam's usual over-the-top taste called for, it's exactly the kind of neighborhood place you'd expect the Harlem rapper to rep.

"In a navy blue Rov, stuntin' in Halo" - Foxy Brown

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Song: Foxy Brown - "Stylin'"
Also shouted out by: P. Diddy on Jermaine Dupri f/ P. Diddy, Murphy Lee & Snoop Dogg "Welcome to Atlanta (Coast 2 Coast Remix)"
Club: Halo
Location: 49 Grove St. 
Years in operation: Early 2000s

Noted for having a strict door policy—a 2000 New York Times article described the bouncers as rejecting "all who aren't very good looking or flashing $5,000 shoulder bags"—Halo was also an early culprit in pushing up the price of club drinks ($9 and up!). Not that the prices in any way deterred a celebrity crowd that included Harrison Ford, Taye Diggs, Jennifer Lopez and, naturally, P. Diddy. If you were going to stunt in front of a club, Halo was a prime place to do it.

"Favorite club? Speed/Favorite drug? Weed" - Saigon

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"Me and shorty from the Mecca, having a session/Play the Shark Bar, sipping on French connection" - Capone

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Song: Capone N Noreaga - "Stick You"
Club: Shark Bar
Location: 307 Amsterdam Ave.
Years in operation: 1995-2010

Although it was technically an upscale soul food restaurant, Shark Bar stayed open late on weekends and was perhaps best known as a place where famous people hung out. Denzel Washington, Oprah, and Mike Tyson were among its fans, while rappers like Nas and AZ were said to frequent the place and tip generously. But the celebrity patrons may have made things less appealing for those not prepared to spend serious money. According to diners' reviews from the time, the service was horrible, and the food went downhill in later years. Given the celebrity cachet in its early days, though, it was an ideal place to see beautiful, famous people. Like, uh, Capone.

"Kicked out of the Palladium, you think that I cared?" - Beastie Boys

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Song: Beastie Boys - "The Sounds of Science"
Also shouted out by: Ice-T - "6 'n the Morning"
Club: The Palladium
Location: 126 East 14th St.
Years in operation: 1976-1997

Originally a movie theater and concert hall called the Academy of Music, the East Village venue was renamed the Palladium in 1976. In 1985, Studio 54 impresarios Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager turned it into a more traditional nightclub. Among the storied performances it hosted were a night on The Rolling Stones' first U.S. tour in 1965, U2's U.S. debut and the 1979 show photographed on the cover of The Clash's London Calling. The final two shows at the club were played by Fugazi in 1997, after which the venue was demolished to build an NYU dorm, fittingly named Palladium. You can be sure downtown mainstays like the Beastie Boys both hung out there and got kicked out.

"The Tunnel banger, come and get me/The first 500 b'tches free" - Prodigy

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"But last night I'm with Wesley Snipes/ Gettin drunk in Cheetah's just feelin aight" - Noreaga

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Song: Noreaga - "Cocaine Business (Hysteria)"
Also shouted out by: Jay-Z - "So Ghetto"; Jay-Z "I Wanna Love U (Give It To Me)"
Club: Cheetah
Location: 12 West 21st St. 
Years in operation: 1997-??

This Flatiron District club cemented a reputation for luxury after Jay Z shouted it out on "I Just Wanna Love U (Give It To Me)," an endorsement so definitive that New York magazine called it "the pimpinest spot in town." But while it may have made Jay's laundry list of fancy destinations, the true proof that Cheetah was indeed the "pimpinest" is that, according to this Noreaga lyric, Wesley Snipes hung out there. In other words, this line may be the closest any of us ever get to taking shots with Blade. Today, likely prompting confusion from the occasional Jay Z sightseer, a strip club of the same name stands in Times Square in the former location of Club New York, another hip-hop hot spot with its fair share of lyrical shout-outs.

"Been gettin dumb ever since Harlem World used to jump" - Redman

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Song: Redman - "Wuditlooklike"
Club: Harlem World
Location: 116th St. and Lenox Ave.
Years in operation: 1978-1985

Before it became shorthand for the entire neighborhood (the ultimate shout-out was Ma$e's album of the same name), Harlem World was a club that, along with Disco Fever and T-Connection, helped launch the genre of hip-hop. Among other distinctions, it was where Sylvia Robinson, who would put out the Sugar Hill Gang's "Rapper's Delight," was first heard rapping. Talent on display included artists like Love Bug Starski, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, Cold Crush, Doug E. Fresh, and Kool Moe Dee. With gold shag carpet, chandeliers, mirrored walls, and a lightening bolt-shaped bar, it was a legendary destination and, as Redman reminded us, a great place to party.

"Red Alert in the booth, the T-Connection to mix/Silly rabbit you know my style has Trix" - Kool Keith

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Song: Ultramagnetic MC's - "Bust the Facts"
Also shouted out by: Grandmaster Caz - "Get Down Grandmaster"
Club: T-Connection
Location: 3510 White Plains Rd.
Years in operation: 1978-1981

A line about a silly rabbit and Trix may sound cliché at this point, and so would many of the rhymes shared at the South Bronx's T-Connection in the late '70s and early '80s. But rap wouldn't have evolved the way it did if it weren't for the contributions of MCs like Grandmaster Caz, groups like the Cold Crush, and DJs like Grand Wizard Theodore, who took the stage at this humble second-floor dance hall. Back in the day, T-Connection was the happy median between the more intimidating Bronx River Center and the more polished Harlem World. This song breaks that history down.

"I'll take you out like a sniper on a roof/Like an MC at the Fever in the DJ booth" - MCA

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Song: Beastie Boys - "Professor Booty"
Club: Disco Fever
Location: 167th St. and Jerome Ave.
Years in operation: 1977-1985

Owner Sal Abbatiello once famously claimed that the only reasons people went to the South Bronx was to visit Yankee Stadium or the Disco Fever, the club and community landmark the young Italian-American convinced his father to orient toward an emerging genre of music called hip-hop. Abbatiello started hiring Grandmaster Flash for a weekly gig on Tuesday nights, promising the DJ $50 per appearance. The night was an instant success, and the club soon became one of the primary hubs of the early hip-hop scene. In 1983, a young Russell Simmons, then Kurtis Blow's manager, told People magazine: "If a rap record doesn't go around in the Fever, it's fake." The club was eventually shut down during the filming of the seminal hip-hop movie Kush Groove, when the board in charge of approving the filming permit discovered the club had been operating without the proper license. But back in the day, there was no better destination for hot rhymes than the DJ booth at the Fever.

"I spend wild chips gettin' drunk up in the China/ Club, while you up in Skate Key with a minor" - Sheek Louch

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Song: The LOX - "If You Think I'm Jiggy"
Club: China Club
Location: 2130 Broadway; 268 West 47th St.
Years in operation: 1985-2010

Although it opened as a relatively humble spot in the basement of the Beacon Hotel, China Club soon became known for attracting many musicians after impromptu performances in early months, from Stevie Nicks and David Bowie to Steve Winwood. A Thanksgiving dinner the year the club opened hosted figures such as Mick Jagger, Cher, Bowie, Madonna, and Sean Penn. Over the years, everyone from Axl Rose, Prince, Bruce Springsteen and Jay Z stopped through, and, for a while, it was even a favorite hang of N'Sync. With its highly visible VIP area, it was a great place to be a famous person at the peak of the jiggy rap era. A fantastic New York magazine feature revealed that Geraldo Rivera (of all people) cryptically described the club as "a place that's never disappointed." Skate Key, on the other hand, was a roller skating rink in the Bronx, a destination with its own share of lyrical nods but a slightly grimier reputation, making this diss particularly cutting.

"Got real drunker than a skunk and happy as can be/We went to the Latin Quarters and we got in free" - Slick Rick

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Song: Slick Rick - "The Moment I Feared"
Also shouted out by: Tupac - "Old School"; Boogie Down Productions - "Super Ho"; Ice-T - "6 'n the Morning"; Biz Markie - "Pickin' Boogers"; Raekwon - "Black Mozart"; countless others
Club: Latin Quarter
Location: 200 West 48th Street (Times Square)
Years in operation: 1985-1989

Latin Quarter has existed in many incarnations, from a 1940s lounge rival to the Copacabana, a softcore porn showroom, a Broadway theater and, currently, an Upper West Side nightclub rebranded as LQ—but, for a brief period in the late '80s, it was the biggest destination in hip-hop. One of the only Times Square area clubs that (reportedly) would let people under 21 in, Latin Quarter was known for housing a rowdy teen clientele. It also drew all the big performers of the time, including Roxanne Shante, Queen Latifah and Big Daddy Kane. Naturally, Slick Rick would have shown up for a night of debauchery and underage drinking at some point.

"Sunday we layin' low in Halo sippin Cris and we straight/Monday we go to Bungalow 8/Tuesday I'm in Spa drunk doin the shake" - P. Diddy

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Song: Jermaine Dupri f/ P. Diddy, Murphy Lee & Snoop Dogg "Welcome to Atlanta (Coast 2 Coast Remix)"
Also shouted out by: Jay-Z - "Jigga That N*gga"
Club: Spa
Location: 76 East 13th St.
Years in operation: 2000-2003

In keeping with its healthy name, one of the perks of this short-lived East Village hotspot was that it featured a menu with 16 types of bottled water. Which is to say, it was exactly the type of ridiculous, over-the-top place where you'd expect P. Diddy to hang out and do the Harlem Shake (the original, kids). But while the concept seems to have bordered on celebrity magnet club self-parody, Spa did attract some of the hottest parties and DJ talent, including Grandmaster Flash and a young Mark Ronson.

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