Ibrahim Jamil "Ebro" Darden (born March 17, 1975) is an American

radio personality A radio personality (American English) or radio presenter (British English) is a person who has an on-air position in radio broadcasting. A radio personality who hosts a radio show is also known as a radio host, and in India and Pakistan as a rad ...

, broadcaster, and DJ. Until 2014, he was Vice President of Programming for

Emmis Communications Emmis Communications is an American media conglomerate based in Indianapolis, Indiana. Emmis, based on the Hebrew word for Truth (Emet) was founded by Jeff Smulyan in 1980. Emmis has owned many radio stations, including KPWR and WQHT, which h ...

' New York contemporary urban station

WQHT WQHT (97.1 FM, ''Hot 97'') is a commercial radio station, licensed to New York, New York, which broadcasts an urban contemporary music format. The station is owned by Mediaco Holding and operated by Emmis Communications under a shared servi ...

(Hot 97). He is currently a co-host of the

Hot 97 WQHT (97.1 FM, ''Hot 97'') is a commercial radio station, licensed to New York, New York, which broadcasts an urban contemporary music format. The station is owned by Mediaco Holding and operated by Emmis Communications under a shared ser ...

morning show '' Ebro in the Morning'', alongside

Peter Rosenberg Peter Elliot Rosenberg (born July 23, 1979)Chris Richards''Washington Post'', May 31, 2013. is an American radio disc jockey, television show host, and professional wrestling personality, who is signed to WWE where he is a one-time WWE 24/7 C ...

and Laura Stylez. As of 2015, Darden also hosts a hip hop music-based radio show on

Apple Music 1 Apple Music 1, previously branded as Beats 1, is a 24/7 music radio station owned and operated by Apple Inc. It is accessible through iTunes or the Apple Music app on a computer, smartphone or tablet, smart speaker (such as the Apple HomePod) ...

Early life

Dardens was born to a Black father and a Jewish mother. He attended a Pentecostal church and Hebrew school while growing up in

Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay ...

and

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

Career

Start in radio

Darden began his career in radio in 1990 at

KSFM KSFM (102.5 FM) is a commercial radio station that is licensed to Woodland, California and serves the Sacramento metropolitan area. The station is owned by Audacy, Inc. and broadcasts a rhythmic contemporary format. KSFM's studios and office ...

Sacramento, California ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento C ...

, while he was still a teenager. At

he worked in research and as a sales runner until moving into programming as an intern, and later co-hosting for KSFM's night and morning shows. In 1997, he worked at KBMB in Sacramento as programming and music director, as well as an afternoon host. Eventually, Darden became operations manager at KBMB, while also co-hosting mornings at

KXJM KXJM (107.5 FM, "Jam'n 107.5") is a commercial radio station licensed to Banks, Oregon and serving the Portland metropolitan area. KXJM's studios and offices are in Tigard and the transmitter is located in Portland's West Hills. The statio ...

in Portland, Oregon, in 1999.

Hot 97

In 2003, Darden became music director for WQHT, ultimately becoming the program director for the station in 2007. Darden worked alongside several past WQHT Hot 97 morning show co-hosts including Star and Buckwild, Miss Jones,

DJ Envy RaaShaun Casey (born September 3, 1977), known professionally as DJ Envy, is an American disc jockey (DJ), record producer, and radio personality.DJ Envyat AllmusicBaker, Al (May 13, 2006D.J. Is Arrested Over His Threat to Rival's Child ''The ...

, Sway, and

Joe Budden Joseph Anthony Budden II (born August 31, 1980) is an American media personality and former rapper. He first gained recognition as a rapper with his 2003 top 40 single " Pump It Up" and as a member of the hip hop supergroup Slaughterhouse. In ...

from 2004 to 2007, and introduced Cipha Sounds and Peter Rosenberg to the AM drive in 2009. He rejoined the Hot 97 Morning Show in 2012, alongside Cipha Sounds, Peter Rosenberg, and Laura Stylez. As programming director and on-air host, Darden was the main voice of several events at Hot 97 including

Nicki Minaj Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty (; born December 8, 1982), known professionally as Nicki Minaj ( ), is a Trinidadian-born rapper based in the United States. She is known for her musical versatility, animated flow in her rapping, alter egos and accents ...

's relationship with the station, and her alleged sexual relationship with the host; Hurricane Sandy; and Mister Cee's personal life. In 2014, VH1 announced a new unscripted comedy series, ''

This Is Hot 97 ''This Is Hot 97'' is a reality-based docu-comedy television series that debuted on VH1 on March 31, 2014. The series is executive produced by Mona Scott-Young for Monami Entertainment, Toby Barraud, Stefan Springman, Mala Chapple and Ian Gelfand ...

'', which featured Darden and fellow hosts including

Angie Martinez Angela Martinez (born January 9, 1971) is an American radio personality, rapper, singer, and actress. Nicknamed "The Voice of New York" during her two-decade tenure at New York City station HOT 97 (WQHT), she left that position in 2014 to jo ...

Funkmaster Flex Aston George Taylor Jr. (born August 5, 1968), professionally known as Funkmaster Flex, is an American DJ, rapper, record producer, and host on New York City's Hot 97 radio station. In 1992, he became host of the first hip hop radio show on Hot 9 ...

, Cipha Sounds,

Miss Info Minya Oh, professionally known as Miss Info, is an American radio personality and journalist. Early life and education A native of the North Side of Chicago, Oh is the daughter of Korean immigrants. Oh graduated from Columbia University. C ...

, and Laura Stylez.

Apple Music 1

In addition to his current on-air role at Hot 97, Darden is now one of three anchor DJs on

an internet radio service from

Apple Music Apple Music is a music, audio and video streaming service developed by Apple Inc. Users select music to stream to their device on-demand, or they can listen to existing playlists. The service also includes the Internet radio stations Appl ...

. He additionally serves as the Global Editorial Head of Hip-Hop and R&B for Apple Music.

Feuds and controversy

A comedic rivalry between Darden and fellow accomplished radio personality

Charlamagne tha God Lenard Larry McKelvey (born June 29, 1978), known professionally as Charlamagne tha God or simply Charlamagne, is an American radio host and television personality. He is a co-host of the nationally syndicated radio show '' The Breakfast Club ...

of Power 105.1 has been ongoing for years. In May 2017, Darden clarified their relationship, stating, "The stuff we do on the radio is stupid. It's for fun. I make fun of you for fun. That's it. It's not that deep... me and that dude don't have a personal problem... a personal relationship". Darden was mentioned in Remy Ma's " shETHER" diss track, on which Ma insinuated that he slept with

by stating "Coke head, you cheated on your man with Ebro". After jokingly going back and forth with both Ma and her husband

Papoose Papoose (from the Algonquian ''papoose'', meaning "child") is an American English word whose present meaning is "a Native American child" (regardless of tribe) or, even more generally, any child, usually used as a term of endearment, often in t ...

on social media, Darden denied the rumors, stating that he and Minaj had only a professional relationship. On the March 16, 2018 ''Ebro in the Morning'' broadcast, Darden was critical of Jersey City School Disctrict teachers going on strike stating "...the school system in

Jersey City Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

artist

6ix9ine Daniel Hernandez (born May 8, 1996), known professionally as 6ix9ine (stylized 6IX9INE and pronounced "six nine") and also as Tekashi69, is an American rapper. His music has been marked by an aggressive style of rapping, while his controversia ...

. Ebro made fun of 6ix9ine as looking like a clown and criticized him for bragging about

streaming Streaming media is multimedia that is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner from a source, with little or no intermediate storage in network elements. ''Streaming'' refers to the delivery method of content, rather than the content i ...

numbers, and 6ix9ine responded on the song " Stoopid" with the line "That nigga Ebro, he a bitch/Just another old nigga on a young nigga dick".

Personal life

Darden has a daughter, Isa, who was born in 2014.

Recognition

In 2013, Darden was recognized by ''Radio Ink'' as a future African American leader.

Filmography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Darden, Ebro 1975 births Living people African-American radio personalities African-American Jews American music people 20th-century American Jews American reality television producers Participants in American reality television series People from Sacramento, California American radio executives Television producers from California 21st-century African-American people 21st-century American Jews 20th-century African-American people Tikar people American people of Tikar descent