Now, the powerhouse group that helped pioneer the sound of Latin freestyle, R&B, and Hip-Hop in the 1980s is coming forward to reclaim its story in an exclusive sit-down with AllHipHop. Com's Chuck "Jigsaw" Creekmur, Cult Jam's Mike Hughes, and the group's new electrifying lead singer, Mystina Sol, spread it all out. They're here to clarify things from the drama behind the Lifetime biopic Can You Feel the Beat: The Lisa Lisa Story to the group's renewed love of music.
The Lifetime movie, a co-production of Lisa Lisa and her manager, Toni Ménage, was supposed to chronicle the life of an era-defining artist. Hughes flexes her writer-director muscles to tell a story that she says not only slights some important but obscure parts of history but also snubs the vital contributions of Full Force, the production and songwriting collective that discovered Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam, wrote their hits, and even provided background vocals on their records.
"Let's just call it lies," Hughes says bluntly." The way they told the story, it's as if Full Force never existed. That's not the truth, but They were the heartbeat behind our success. Essentially, "there's no Lisa & Cult Jam without them."
This erasure is an anachronistic slap in the face for those who were part of New York's golden age of popular music. Full Force, U.T.F.O., Howie Tee, Chubb Rock, Whistle, and others created a creative explosion that helped define a generation's sound. But their lack of presence in the film is telling in terms of who's storytelling.
Despite the controversy, Hughes and Mystina Sol are focused on the future, not the past. And with their new album, Love Making Waves, Cult Jam shows that their legacy isn't something to be framed and forgotten but something to be followed. The loss of longtime member Alex "Spanador" Moseley is significant, but the band's dedication to honoring their origins while carving out a new trajectory is undiminished.
"Music is family," Mystina says. "This is not only about setting the record straight. It's about maintaining the culture and proving that our sound is still relevant now."
The episode has also made its way into their artistry's evolution, welcoming new writing influences as staying, at the perfect time, true to the soul that made them idols in the first place. The New York music scene of the melded '80s with an undateable wiring of a tight circuit for innovative ideas, and Cult Jam's job was to carry that same ruckus into new work.
For Hughes, the interview is less about airing grievances and more about reclaiming a legacy formed of sweat, talent, and undeniable passion. With a new album, a new voice in Mystina Sol, and a desire to set the record straight, Cult Jam shows that legends don't just fade away. They transform, adapt, and keep making history.
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