Juice Crew producer and Cold Chillin' Records co-founder DJ Marley Marl was recently honored with the "I Am Hip-Hop" award at the 2023 BET Awards. In his acceptance speech, Marley said that it all started as a dream in Queensbridge projects. "My window faced Manhattan so that's all that I could look at and wonder what's happening with them lights over there," the Mama Said Knock You Out producer remembered.
Mr. Magic's Rap Attack producer and co-creator Tyrone "Fly Ty" Williams was recently honored by his alma mater Howard University. Ty made history and helped rap music become the powerhouse that it became in the mid 80's as co-creator of Mr. Magic's Rap Attack. The show, which aired on New York's WBLS, became a breeding ground for record company A&R personnel, as Magic and Tyrone would broadcast music from unsigned artists, prompting listeners to visit record stores looking for music that wasn't commercially available. Tapes of The Rap Attack show traveled around the country and later the world, creating a cult following.
After managing artists and producing records released by Roxanne Shantè, Biz Markie and Craig G on Philadelphia's Pop Art Records, Tyrone, Mr. Magic, and Marley Marl decided to form their own label Cold Chillin' Records. Cold Chillin' eventually entered into a distribution deal with Warner Brothers, releasing music by MC Shan, Biz Markie, Big Daddy Kane, Marley Marl, Roxanne Shanté and a pre-Wu-Tang Genius.
Tickets to the Apollo Showcase can be purchased here.
