Mr. Magic
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John "Mr. Magic" Rivas, (March 15, 1956 – October 2, 2009) was a prominent hip hop
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DJ.


Career

Mr. Magic debuted in 1979 on WHBI in
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with “Disco Showcase” on the pay-for-time FM station. It was a far cry from the prime time in New York; what he didn’t realize was he was starting the very first rap radio show. A few short years would go by and Frankie Crocker, program manager for
Inner City Broadcasting The Inner City Broadcasting Corporation ("ICBC") was an American media company based in New York City. It was one of the first broadcasting companies wholly owned by African-Americans. History Inner City was founded in 1970 by a group of prominen ...
, took his rising star to commercial powerhouse
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with the first exclusive rap radio show to be aired on a major station. ''Rap Attack'', Magic's show featured Marley Marl as the DJ and Tyrone "Fly Ty" Williams as the show's co-producer. Magic moved full-time to WBLS in July 1982. His reign on the New York City airwaves lasted six years and was instrumental in broadening the scope and validity of hip-hop music. Mr. Magic recorded one 12" single as an artist "Magic's Message (There's A Better Way)", produced by Spyder D for Posse Records in 1984. He is also interviewed in the 1986 cult documentary '' Big Fun In The Big Town''. During the mid-80s there was a rivalry between Mr. Magic and Kool DJ Red Alert, who hosted a weekly show on WRKS-FM. The feud also played out between
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rap groups, the Juice Crew and Boogie Down Productions (see
The Bridge Wars The Bridge Wars was a hip hop music rivalry during the mid-to-late 1980s and early 1990s, that arose from a dispute over the true birthplace of hip hop music and retaliation over the rejecting of a record for airplay.Marley Marl – was named after one of Magic's aliases, "Sir Juice." In 2002 Magic lent his voice to '' Grand Theft Auto: Vice City'', as himself, a DJ on one of the in-game radio stations. Magic passed away on October 2, 2009 at the age of 53 due to a heart attack.Mr. Magic, Real Name John Rivas, Brought Hip-Hop to Masses
HispanicBusiness.com. Retrieved on October 2, 2009.


References


External links


Excerpt about Mr. Magic from "The Big Payback: The History of the Business of Hip-Hop," (New American Library/Penguin, 2010
*
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br>''Vice City'' biography
on
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Magic, Mr. 1956 births 2009 deaths American hip hop DJs People from the Bronx History of hip hop Profile Records artists Juice Crew members