Marley Marl on Roxanne Shanté, Rakim, and the Juice Crew
Marley Marl turned a Queensbridge apartment into hip hop’s hit factory. Jeffrey Sledge sits down with the legendary DJ and producer to talk about Roxanne Shanté’s one-take record, scratching live on W...
11 Nov 1h 5min
Louise West on Missy Elliott’s First Contract, Jay-Z’s Masters, and Founding BESLA
Louise West read Missy Elliott’s first contract line by line. She taught Missy and Timbaland the business, shopped Roc-A-Fella’s label deal, and became the lawyer down the hall for Drake’s right hand,...
4 Nov 48min
Merlin Bobb on Signing En Vogue, Breaking Missy Elliott, and Building the Next Atlantic
Merlin Bobb went from bagging groceries in Murray Hill to running A&R at Atlantic, co-founding EastWest, and steering Elektra through Missy Elliott, Busta Rhymes, and En Vogue. He tells Jeffrey Sledge...
28 Okt 1h 14min
Steve Rifkind on Inventing the Street Team, Signing Big Pun Blind, and Breaking Akon
Steve Rifkind invented the modern street team, built Loud Records into the home of Wu-Tang Clan, Mobb Deep, and Big Pun, then broke Akon at SRC. He tells Jeffrey Sledge how his dad strong-armed him in...
21 Okt 1h 2min
Jonathan Shecter on The Source, Street Beat, and Underground Poker
Jonathan Shecter cofounded The Source out of a Harvard dorm room with a mailing list and about $200. He joins Jeffrey Sledge to talk growing up on Philly radio, borrowing Lady B's station drops to lau...
14 Okt 1h 9min
Bryan-Michael Cox on Jermaine Dupri, Usher's Confessions, and Be Without You
Bryan-Michael Cox wrote the soundtrack to a generation. Jagged Edge, Usher, Mariah Carey, Mary J. Blige. He joins Jeffrey Sledge to talk about cutting his first demos on Beyoncé, getting put on by Jer...
7 Okt 1h 5min
Tracey Waples on Def Jam, Discovering Wu-Tang, and Signing Method Man
Tracey Waples heard Wu-Tang on a tour bus and was in RZA's basement the same day. The Def Jam A&R who signed Method Man sits down with Jeffrey Sledge to talk Andre Harrell driving her home at 15, Russ...
30 Sep 1h 20min
Chris Atlas: The Executive Who Went From Tommy Boy Intern to Fat Beats President
Chris Atlas has worked every side of the record. Promotion, A&R, marketing, distribution. Tommy Boy, Cornerstone, Def Jam, Warner, and now Fat Beats. He sits down with his friend of thirty years, Jeff...
24 Sep 53min
