The 10 Best Quotes from the Oral History of the Tunnel

Yesterday, Complex dropped its oral history of the Tunnel, a sprawling piece that followed the famous Sunday night hip-hop party at Peter Gatien's massive nightclub from its inception in 1993 to its end in 2001. To track the nearly decade-long run, hours of tape were accumulated: lots of interviews, lots of gems.

Here are the 10 best quotes from the oral history of the Tunnel.

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"Tupac came to the club, and I had to send him back to his car, telling him, 'Sorry, Tupac, but you can’t come in here with a weapon.' He gladly went back to his car, put his weapon away, then came back and partied.

- Chris Lighty (@clighty)

Read the entire story here.

"I think the same things that made hip-hop and hip-hop culture exciting back then were the things that made the party exciting: it was brand new. It was unknown. Nobody had even been in a hip-hop party with this many people, this much energy, this many bottles, and this many artists."

- Jessica Rosenblum (@Jrosenblum1)

Read the entire story here.

"The cops told my police liaison flat out: 'If Peter stops doing these nights, weʼll stop bothering him.' A club’s responsibility is to create culture. These people were not coming from Mars; they were New Yorkers, and should have been able to go and dance and enjoy themselves and network."

- Peter Gatien

Read the entire story here.

"I used to do at least an hour in the bathroom every time I went. It was a bathroom but the party was still going on in there! That was crazy! Wherever Peter Gatien is, I send him all my love—I hope he ain’t die or nothing—because that was incredible, to put a coed bathroom in there."

- Jadakiss (@Therealkiss)

Read the entire story here.

"It was hot as a motherfucker, and the stage was crowded. The Lox were there, Onyx was there. Everybody in the crowd had those leashes, the kind that make it look like you’re walking an invisible dog. When I performed—and it’s the only time I’ve ever done this—I performed one song at least 12 times. One fucking song. Each time I did 'Get At Me Dog,' it was like the first time. I only had a few songs at that time anyway. But the energy was up, so I just kept giving it to them: 'Where’s my dogs at?!' I was wearing overalls, and when I finished, the shit was around my waist."

- DMX (@DMX)

Read the entire story here.

"At the bar, you’d say, 'Give me a bottle of Moët,' and you would pay cash. 'Give me a bottle of Cristal, give me a bottle of Dom—no glasses.' Watching a thousand people holding bottles of Cristal, Dom Pérignon, or Moët at one time was kind of amazing. The club constantly sold out of champagne. Remember, this is the Bad Boy era; Puff Daddy was king at the time. It was pre-Jay-Z. Jay would be there spending tons of money, but this was the Puff Daddy era."

- Joie Manda (@Joeyie)

Read the entire story here.

"We did 'Benjamins' for the first time [live] there and it was a madhouse. Flex pulled it back two or three times and we just kept rocking it. There were other people on the bill, but after we did 'Benjamins' it was a wrap. They didn’t go on. The club was shut down. Craziest thing I’ve ever seen. Diddy lost his Rolex that night, just wildin’. You know how 'The Benjamins' was. Somebody walked out of there with an $80K Rolex."

- Jadakiss (@Therealkiss)

Read the entire story here.

"Flex and me had this thing I called 'The Shoulder.' He would always come early, even though he didn’t get on right away. I would be playing new records. I remember playing the Lost Boyz’ 'Jeeps, Lex Coups, Bimaz & Benz.' That was the b-side to 'Lifestyles of the Rich and Shameless,' which Flex was playing at the time. I played that record early one night and the crowd went crazy. Flex came over and put his hand on my shoulder. He didn’t say anything, but it meant 'Don’t play that record next week.' I was the tester."

- Cipha Sounds (@ciphasounds)

Read the entire story here.

"On the radio I stop and start records, but I never did that until I played the Tunnel. One of the records where I started doing that was 'Get At Me Dog.' The biggest night with that record in there, I pulled [the song] back, and this kid started burning hundred dollar bills. He was waiting at the bar to buy alcohol, and he just lit it up. I don't think he was a drug dealer or nothing, he was just so hyped."

- Funkmaster Flex (@funkmasterflex)

Read the entire story here.

"I miss all kinds of kinds of things from back then—I miss Biggie, I miss the people I worked with. But I don’t believe that you wallow in the past. People say, 'Oh, nightlife is not like it used to be.' That’s the most boring conversation you can have. I hate when people come up to me in the club and have this conversation. I’m like, 'Shoot me, because now you’re really ruining nightlife, tonight.' Wherever you are, whatever the era is, whatever the party is, make it the most fun you can."

- Jessica Rosenblum (@Jrosenblum1)

Read the entire story here.