Quotes"I EQ my mixtapes for car audio systems.""I definitely A/B my mixes from the studio straight to the car.""Listening to music in the car is much tighter than at home or in my office.""Cars mentioned on records is the current trend."
Keep a look out-upcoming:www.funkmasterflex.comwww.teambaurtwell.comwww.loud.com
The Entrepreneur (Cars)Clearly Funkmaster Flex is driven by and committed to the music industry, but he has another passion: cars. On September 8, 2001 Flex put on the inaugural Funkmaster Flex Celebrity Car show at the Meadowlands Expo Center in Secaucus New Jersey (see the Jan. '02 issue). In his trademark way of setting things off, this launch of what will be an annual event was truly entertaining and tremendously received. Much less the traditional car show than expected, celebrity vehicles were certainly well represented. And with an impressive lineup of performers like Ja Rule, Busta' Rhymes, and Fat Joe the attendance was phenomenal. A performance by Baby and the Cash Money Millionaires crew also made the stage and took the excitement level off the meter!
His interest in the automotive industry is so great that he has become the principal proprietor of the new Advance Tire and Wheel Company and Team Baurtwell, his car club featuring celebrities and car lovers alike. Flex is even into designing wheels; he has a design (or several) that will be coming out soon under the Baurtwell Wheel Company name. He is also responsible for presenting to the hip-hop arena The Davin Spinning Wheel, available at Advance Tire and Wheel.
It was at his Celebrity Car Show that I heard Flex was into classic cars. Huh?! I knew that he had a bunch of glamour whips and big trucks, but it was an unexpected, sexy twist that he respectfully collects and restores great American classics. He definitely puts the same kind of drive and commitment into his cars as he has into the music business. I got a nice list of cars being worked on, including several Impalas, and an Oldsmobile...
Delta Ninety-EightFunkmaster Flex took the time and energy to make the car his own in every way. Flex is a real lover of true American machines and made sure that his cars would receive only the best in restoration. He put together an all-star team to work on his fleet of cars. After getting some body work by Custom Car Works in the Bronx, Flex took it to the audiophiles at Audio Dimensions in the same borough; there he had some fabulous custom interior work and a boomin' audio install performed by the hard working Paul Smythe and his team (i.e., Anthony and Basir). Beautiful paint work was done by local favorite Steve Catalano of GFX Custom Airbrush, who hooked up the clouds and sky motif, a crucial aesthetic theme throughout. The engine was also restored with love, and chromed nice to go with the entire class-act rolling package. The interior was fully restored in artic white and all the wood in the interior was refinished in Steve's trademark tight style.
An Alpine head unit is the main source for Flex's system. An Alpine DHA S680 DVD changer in the glove box plays the latest hip-hop material and music videos on an 8-inch MA Audio wide screen monitor. Twin Cabasse DLM-30 tweeters reside in the dash and rear; Focal Dual Voice Coil Mids reside behind flawless white panels in the floor, matching the interior; more Focals are mounted on the rear deck. Zapco 2.0 and 3.0 amps power the rear and front and Zapco 6.0's serve up the juice for the subs. Four JL Audio 10W3D2 subs guard the trunk with sexy fiberglass work to crown them; a 10-farad MA Audio capacitor is on the opposite side; the Funkmaster Flex logo proudly adorns the left side. Finally, Flex rolls on Vogue gold-white wall skins and shoes are wire wheels by Dayton for classic continuity.