MC Assault Is One of Atlanta's Original Architects Pt 1.
MC Assault has long worked behind the scene as Big Oomp Record’s most valuable player. Here are his words on how he kept the movement going.
In every successful organization, there are people who we can identify almost instantly because of how visible and hands-on they’ve been. Located right beside them, however, are the people who help envision and, sometimes, power the machine. For Atlanta’s Big Oomp Records, Howard Simmons, known to the world as MC Assault, serves as that person.
Born and raised in the Jonesboro South Projects, which he refers to affectionately as the JBS projects, MC Assault grew up like most youth who came of age during rap’s infancy. Influenced by the music of the times, he began his musical career as a DJ in his housing project before meeting his partner, Starvin Marvin.
“We used to call ourselves Assault and Battery, says Simmons.
Inspired by their musical partnership, MC Assault and Marvin began creating their own mixtapes, eventually inviting a local prodigy known as DJ Jelly. Jelly, who was the manager of Peppermint Records at the West End, agreed to work with the duo on their first mixtape. Sensing an opportunity to build a brand, the trio began canvassing the West Side of Atlanta, selling mixtapes hand to hand to anyone who would hear their tape.
“I told Marvin we need to sell at least 50 tapes a day. We sold our tapes for $10. We didn’t have a car, so we packed up the mixtapes in our bookbags and got on the Marta, says MC Assault.
As motivated as the trio was, they faced stiff competition from the infamous J Team, which was Atlanta’s biggest rap mixtape brand in the early 1990s.
“When we first started, everyone was talking about Edward J, so we had to change our tactics, says Assault. After an impromptu performance at a local park, word-of-mouth spread about the group’s quality sound and unique approach. Unlike the other mixtapes in the city, which featured the DJ speaking over the records, Jelly and Assault’s mixtape focused its attention on the scratches, introductions, and 808 beats.
Before long, their projects became the go-to mixtapes for the city. The Job Corp, on the corner of Westlake and Simpson RD, served as the trio’s unofficial headquarters day in and day out. It was here that Jelly and Assault ran across Big Oomp who at the time would purchase their mixtapes whenever he passed through.
“One day, Oomp pulled up in his Cherokee. He used to buy the tapes and we would throw the tapes in the backseat. He bought our first three tapes and on the fourth one, he dealt with us. Oomp hit us and he told us he wanted us to do a record label.”
According to MC Assault, Oomp wanted to start a label but pivoted to buying a record store after listening to Assault and Jelly. Oomp provided seed money for their venture, and from there they opened their first store at the Old National Discount Mall. The powerful buzz from their product created a friendly competition between Oomp on the Westside and Edward J who ran the Eastside.
“We killed the game because we had 90-minute tapes for $10 compared to their 60-minute tapes for $15.”
It wasn’t long before the burgeoning store struggled to accommodate the demand. Shortly afterwards, the Greenbriar location sprang up and then later made its way towards the Candler Rd location. Mr Collipark, who at the time was known as DJ Smurf, worked with the J Team and didn’t take kindly to the intrusion by Oomp and Assault. In response to the expansion move, Smurf issued a diss to the crew. Oomp Records responded with a mixtape that, in Assault’s words, “blew up all over Georgia.”
“When we made the 187 mixtape, the J Team waved the white flag. Our hometeam was the Westside and they were ready to fight over who was the best. We had to remind them just to enjoy the music. They thought it was real beef. We took over the Eastside and everything from there including all the country towns.”
With the streets of Atlanta firmly behind them, Oomp Camp focused on meeting the demand. According to Assault, the store averaged about 600 copies a week besides thousands of copies sold hand to hand by Assault and his friend Marvin. The duo traveled all over the state to promote their name and, for a while, enjoyed success. However, the technological change from tapes to CDs affected the company’s success. “Everything was going well until CDs came out. When CDs first came out you had to have written permission to duplicate the CDs. We literally started going out of business. It was over for cassettes when CDs came out. But a guy named Brian Lassiter helped us to get any mixtape and amount we needed.”
Over time, Oomp’s store got eight locations in the city and eventually even got the chance to wholesale their work as far north as New York, Connecticut and Maryland. With all the success and momentum on their side, Oomp and the team created Big Oomp Records in 1996.
“In 1996, we started Big Oomp Records and found Hitman Sammy Sam. No one gives him credit, but Sam was the first trap rapper in history. He was the first to say trap.”
