Old School Hip Hop: Mr. Magic’s Rap Attack
Mr. Magic (right) with Grandmaster Caz of the Cold Crush Brothers
Late in 2009, hip hop lost one of its earliest and most long standing supporters. John Rivas, better known to the world of hip hop as Mr. Magic died of a heart attack on October 2nd.
Mr. Magic debuted on the New York’s Radio WHBI 105.9FM in 1979, with a pay-to-play program called Mr. Magic’s Disco Showcase. Magic was playing disco and what would soon come to be known as early hip hop. “I used to come on real, real late at night. At that time it was called “Magic’s Disco Showcase“; wasn’t even no hip hop. I used to have someone come down and just hang out like we do now. And you know if they started rapping, like Kurtis Blow would come down and start rapping, Melle Mel would come down and start rapping. (Laughter) And so then it kind of developed. And then the Sugar Hill Gang came out with Rapper’s Delight“, Magic said in a 1995 interview with www.hiphopmusic.com.
What it developed to, was Mr. Magic launching the world’s first dedicated hip hop radio show: Mr. Magic’s Rap Attack, in 1983. Featuring Dj Marley Marl and co-produced by Tyrone “Fly Ty” Williams, Rap Attack was the first show to take hip hop to the airwaves.
Rap Attack was a huge influence on a lot of cats – some of whom went to become on some of the biggest names in hip hop – including Dj Premier, KRS-One, Biggie Smalls aka The Notorious B.I.G, Tupac Shakur, Nas, Eric B. and Rakim, and many more.
“He paved the way for all radio stations that ever did mix shows,” DJ Premier stated on his blog. “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.”
Rap Attack ran on the air for 6 years, winding up in 1989, but Magic’s influence on the scene didn’t start and end with Rap Attack. He was also a founding member of the Juice Crew — along with producer Marley Marl, Fly Ty, and none other than Roxanne Shante, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane, Biz Markie and Master Ace.
He also went on to run the underground show Classic Showcase on radio HOT ’97 alongside Mr. Cee, and even made a break into the video game world, hosting Wildstyle Pirate Radio in Rockstar Games’ Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.
Whodini – Magic’s Wand
Today’s track was a tribute to Mr. Magic, by old school rap crew Whodini, originally recorded as an advertisement for Rap Attack in the early 80s. Magic’s Wand is a classic track, and has gone on to be heavily sampled by other hip hop and Miami bass artists, and even more mainstream electronic music: the melody was sampled by Stanton Warriors for their song The Virus, along with a sample from the movie Wild Style.
Mr. Magic’s Rap Attack Recordings
The Old School Hip Hop Tapes blog features a nice collection of classic old school Rap Attack shows for anybody interested, including such famous moments as Mr. Magic dissing Public Enemy (and snapping their record live on air), promising “No more music by the suckers” – which they went on to sample on their album It Takes A Nation Of Millions to Hold Us Back. Check it out here: Mr. Magic’s Rap Attack show recordings.
RIP Mr. Magic — hip hop would not have been the same without you.
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