Hip Hop has suffered another loss with the passing of Mr. Magic today. The Super Rockin mix master whose career is a testament to the development of Rap and popular music has left the DJ booth of life. His works carry on with us in the RAP ATTACK series of LPs and of course our off the beat box recorded cassettes, dust them off and give them another play in memorial.
I recieved this email from DJ Premier a good friend of his so I thought I would share his words with you-
I WANT TO SEND OUT THE UTMOST RESPECT AND CONDOLENCES TO THE MEMORY OF JOHN RIVAS——aka MR. MAGIC
HE PASSED AWAY THIS MORNING OF A HEART ATTACK…..
TRUE HIP HOP HEADS KNOW THAT HIS HISTORY IS SO LONG
DUE TO HIM BEING THE FIRST RAP MIXSHOW TO EVER BE ON COMMERCIAL RADIO ON NEW YORK’S WBLS—(107.5) WITH MARLEY MARL AND FLY TY IN 1982-1984…....THEN WENT ON TO WHBI IN OCTOBER OF 1984 AND THEN
BACK TO WBLS in 1985 and WDAS in Philly SIMULTANEOUSLY
HE PAVED THE WAY FOR ALL RADIO STATIONS THAT EVER DID MIXSHOWS AND ALSO SPARKED THE CAREER OF BOOGIE DOWN PRODUCTIONS DUE TO THE DISS HE SHOWED WHEN THEY CAME TO SHOP THEIR DEMO TO HIM AND WAS TURNED AWAY WHICH THEN SPARKED “SOUTH BRONX” AND “THE BRIDGE IS OVER”.......
HE WAS KNOWN FOR HIS DIRECT AND SARCASTIC ATTITUDE ON THE AIR AND EVERY ARTIST WANTED HIS APPROVAL WHEN IT CAME TO BREAKING NEW RECORDS….....HE EVEN HAD SONGS DEDICATED TO HIM BY THE LEGENDARY WHODINI—(“MR. MAGIC’S WAND”) WHICH WAS SURPRISINGLY PRODUCED BY ONE OF MY FAVORITE ARTISTS THOMAS DOLBY…....
SHOUTS OUT TO MARLEY MARL AND FLY TY FOR THE CORRECT INFORMATION ON THIS…...
REST IN PEACE MR. MAGIC…..........DJ PREMIER
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Photo- Luis Lucas
