Did you know Cash Money Records stiffed the woman who got them their landmark deal?
Little known hip-hop fact #3: Wendy Day, the head of the Rap Coalition, worked for free for the better part of the 1990s helping rap artists out of bad deals and helping them negotiate good ones. But the first time she charged a fee for her services, she got stiffed. And that’s when things got […]
In Memoriam: JMJ taught Lyor Cohen the business
I knew Jam Master Jay only in passing. I met him when I was a young mail clerk at Profile Records, running packages between Profile and the recording studio where Run-DMC was completing their Back from Hell album. But Jay was always the most approachable of the crew. One of the stories I tell in […]
Did you know that New York’s Hot 97 was not the first pop station where hip-hop lived?
Little-known hip-hop fact #2: In 1994, Hot 97-FM became the first pop station in New York to feature a hip-hop format. But Hot 97 wasn’t the first pop station in the country to do so. In fact, they didn’t even invent the slogan that they made famous… Think you know the answer? Comment below! [Hint: […]
VIDEO: Dan Charnas at York College
On Monday, October 25, 2010, I was honored to be the guest of Business Unusual magazine at their Urban ThINC Series event at CUNY—York College in Queens. Quite humbling to be on the same panel as the brilliant Cedric Muhammad and Glenn Williams, Jr.! You can see me in the video below, reading from The […]
Did you know that Lyor Cohen once owned half of The Source magazine?
Little-known hip-hop fact #1: For a brief time, Lyor Cohen owned half of The Source magazine. After the founding editors of The Source walked out in a dispute with publisher Dave Mays, a friend stepped in to negotiate on their behalf. But what Lyor Cohen ended up doing was not the act of a friend… […]