Photo: Ian Meyer
The words “The Rub” for some invokes thoughts of a mishmash secret ingredients that they carefully concoct to help tenderize and/or enhance the flavor of the meat that they’re cooking. For others its the party rocking dj trio known as The Rub, which consists of Cosmo Baker, Dj Ayres and Dj Eleven. As a collective they’ve been rocking the scene via clubs and online radio since 2002. Their parties are known to be bananas and to guarantee a great time. We were fortunate enough to catch up with the trio for a quick interview.
First off, I got to say that I’ve been a fan of the Rub for a while now. The whole History of Hip-Hop series as well as the It’s The Motherfucking Remix compilations are insane. Anyways, what’s the origin behind the Rub? How did the crew end up forming?
Eleven: We’d all met separately in the years before the party began. Ayres & Cosmo met through On the Go magazine; Eleven & Ayres met through mutual friends; and, Cosmo & Eleven through a mutual DJ friend who’d forgotten to bcc their email list. Ayres started the party at Southpaw with one of its owners, Mikey Palms. Eleven played at the first one and Cosmo at the second. From there, we kept building, and the party at Southpaw, the CDs and the Rub continued to grow and grow and GROW!
How’d you guys all come up with the name the Rub? Is there a meaning behind the name?
Ayres: When we were trying to think of names for the party, we went through a bunch of different ideas, and I was looking at records for inspiration. “The Rub” is a George and Gwen McRae song about slowing the music down and dancing close, so it’s a thinly veiled metaphor for sex. And then a “rub” is also a simple scratch from the early days of hip-hop DJs, so the name fit nicely and everyone liked it. None of us had any idea that this party was going to be so successful and last so long, but because it did, we’re all happy we came up with a good name and logo.
