KRUNCHTIME!!!!! Snacks from 1997.

I recommend this post for anyone that is feeling a bit down. Listen to it, and within 10 mins, you will be laughing, guaranteed. If you aren't, go see the doctor. I haven't reviewed many shows in their entirety, but this episode of Krunchtime (what we came to call the 4-5 a.m. slot, when we were too tired to dj, focus, or be anything but delirious, and usually opened the phone lines to anyone) seems to embody the very best of what we could come up with under the circumstances. Just leading up to this, where this post begins, you can hear the tail-end of a Red Alert tape from the 80's that I was playing on the air because I was too tired to dj, plus it just was cool to broadcast a 1980's NYC radio show in the 90's, in NYC. Must have had some people bugging to turn on the radio and hear a KISS-FM radio ID, ON 89.9. Juicy Fruit gum - the taste is gonna move you!

Listening to this segment makes me remeember how foul we were to the listeners, but they liked it. And I'm bugging on how in sync Sear, Bob and I were. A lot of the things we were doing on the air sounds planned but none of it was. We were just in the zone. Enjoy the following: listeners freestyling and getting dissed, listeners trying to diss but getting slayed, some yo-yo-yo-yo-yo-yo speed demonstrations, me rapping about snacks, the concentration clappping song about...snacks ("nuts" ayo!) and teaching someone how to improve his mother joke delivery. Joisus Bobby!!!

KCR, Krunchtime Snacks, 1997

Early Days at 'KCR. Our First Future Superstar

I'll get the date for this soon, but didn't want to let that stop me from posting this. It isn't the entire show either...gotta find that. This is from early 1991; still one of the first shows. This is the night I met my homie-to-this-day DJ Ekim from the BX. I was a little wary because I thought, from him name, that he was a Five Percenter, and would therefore automatically be hostile to me. It tuns out his name is just Mike spelled backwards. We hit it off well, and soon after took a trip to the legendary 1212 Studios in Queens (home of the late great Paul C, where too many of the best hip-hop records were recorded and mixed) with his partner Percee-P, where we started recording a 12" for Big Beat Records. The 12" featured the Ekim-produced "Now They Wanna See Me" which also had Ekim putting down some funny ass lines on the m.i. The B-Side saw an early appearance by Pharoah Monch. Ekim also brought to the studio fellow BX dude DMX - yes, THAT DMX, who hadn't had record one out, and had never been on the radio. In his rhyme, he addresses what he thinks is K-Solo's theft of his "letterman" style. The mixing levels are bananas here because Bob was very new to the technical aspects of making a broadcast sound even half decent, and this was a constant source of irritation for me. Half the time, I'd get home to listen to a freestyle, and it was all vocals, mad loud and distorted, with barely a hint of the beat underneath. On top of that, KCR's signal was very uncompressed and natural sounding, unlike the commercial stations, and that always bugged me because the music didn't pop out like it should. Of course, back in '91, we were still using a mixing board from the early '70's and sometimes the left or right channel would drop out, and to fix it, we'd punch the board 'til both sides were up, and dust would fly out of the fader openings. It was grimy but fun. As far as the record selection, this segment is pretty big-name: Brand Nubian, N.W.A., Kane, LL Cool J, EPMD, Kool G Rap...

KCR, 1991 with DMX and Percee-P

KCR and Anna Nicloe Smith

Here's some 4:30 a.m. banter with Bob, Benji and Lord Sear. I think I'm half asleep, drooling on a turntable. Must be 1993.

Talking About Anna

Stretch Armstrong & Bobbito, 'KCR 10.28.93

We put this out as a limited edition CD a while back, but I figured I may as well put it up for those that don't have it. This show was a big deal for me because Nas, who already was a legend to us back then, spit over a beat I had made that day. It was unfinished and muddy, but he liked it, and for like two days I was on cloud nine. Nas always had fun coming up to the show, and it's apparent. On the same show, Big L passed through...Rapper Nas and Big L in one show...not bad.

Stretch Armstrong & Bobbito, KCR 10.28.93 Part One
Stretch Armstrong & Bobbito, KCR 10.28.93 Part Two

WNYU Rap This!: Overlooked But Essential...

When reminscing about mid and late 80's NYC rap radio, you tend to hear the names Red Alert, Marley Marl, Chuck Chillout, Mister Magic and Awesome Two. But what about P-Fine and Lydvio G, of WNYU's Rap This!?! Their show, which ran from '85 to '88, bridged that awkward gap between the old school and the new, having hosted guests like Jeckyl & Hyde, UTFO, Spoonie G, T-La Rock, The B-Boys, Grandmaster Flash, as well as Ultramagnetic, Just-Ice, LL Cool J, Public Enemy, BDP and Marley Marl & MC Shan. P-Fine, incidentally, was immortalized by getting dissed on the intro to BDP's "I'm Still #1" (P-Fine ain't down with us") because he aired a tape of a song that dissed BDP.

In this show, which aired in April of 1987, Schooly D talks about how he got his start, making records and Spoonie G.

WNYU Rap This! 4.29.87 with Schoolly D and DJ Code Money

It's Magic...

For the super listeners- a teaser of what's about to go down here. Mister Magic's Disco Showcase. Remember when air personalities had, uh...personality?

Mister Magic Disco Showcase Teaser, 1981