Interview with Albert "Tito" Ramos (Driven By Hatred)
Channel: Uptown Rumble
Date: 2024-03-20

Oral history with Albert "Tito" Ramos, vocalist for Driven By Hatred, recorded on March 19, 2024, as part of the "Uptown Rumble: Heavy Music in The Bronx" project at The Bronx County Historical Society. The interviewer is Steven Payne, director of The Bronx County Historical Society.

In his oral history, Tito speaks about his family's background in Puerto Rico, his childhood in tenements first on 158th Street and then on Monroe Avenue before moving into a house with his family on Marion Avenue, his early experiences as a child in The Bronx, food and music he was exposed to in his household and neighborhood, the public and parochial schools he attended, getting into hip hop and the first time he heard "Rock Box" by Run DMC, graffiti and breaking cultures, his first forays into heavy metal through Columbia Records, becoming more of a metal head in high school and the first show he attended, his decision to start jamming with Donald and other friends from high school, meeting Muttley at the Lehman College radio station and helping to produce the Requiem show, eventually becoming part of Degression with Shane, Manny, Jay, and Scotty; the evolution of Degression into Driven By Hatred and DBH's unique sound, early shows with DBH in The Bronx (the Train Depot, Blue Frog, backyard parties, etc.), other shows with DBH around New York City, recording experiences with the band, his process for writing lyrics and some of the backstories of songs (like "Concrete Jungle," about an experience at Williamsbridge Oval Park), forming the Boogie Down Crew (BDC) with other Bronx bands and what the philosophy behind BDC was, and more. Tito ends by reflecting on the idea of "Bronx heavy," noting that it's not so much a sound as an attitude.