I am VERY saddened by this because if there was ANYONE that I consider a major influence in terms of radio, as well as for me looking into this as a potential career, it would be Mr. Magic (John Rivas).
I remember as a kid in high school, knowing that I had to go to school the next day, getting up in the middle of the night to tape his radio shows off station WHBI (105.9) because he was playing music that NO other station in New York was touching. Even Kiss-FM and 'BLS didn't play rap/hip-hop to the level of what Magic did for those 2 hours of leased time. He broke out many artists, including one girl who I believe he played a "tape" of doing an answer song to what was the big rap track of the time, UTFO's "Roxanne". The girl was known as Roxanne Shante, and his "Oh My Goodness" at the end of the track stayed on the 12" record as well.
His urban "lexicons" and style will forever stay glued in our consciousness ("Boogie Down Bronx", "Do Or Die Bed-Stuy", "Money Earnin' Mount Vernon"). He also had his arrogance as well...dissing competing Kiss DJ's Red Alert and Chuck Chillout (calling them "DJ Red Dirt" and "Chuck Illout") while on 'BLS with DJ Marley Marl spinning new tracks by his side.
For rap/hip-hop, he was the "Alan Freed" of the music on the radio. The hip-hop community owes a great debt to him. And to that, while noticing that he had not been inducted to the National Radio Hall of Fame, I want to push for his nomination and induction for 2010. He has certainly met the qualifications for it.
He will be sorely missed.
