heavy d: R.I.P. Super Rocking Mr Magic aka Sir Juice

"A Woooooorld Premier"

Sadly another great and legendary DJ has passed on, the pioneering John Rivas aka Mr Magic passed away from a heart attack on the morning of October 2nd 2009, Magic first debuted on WBLS FM in 1982 with the first exclusive rap radio show to be aired on a major station, the show known as Rap Attack featured Marley Marl and Fly Ty.

During the 1980's, Magic had a rivalry with Kool DJ Red Alert and after dissing BDP's demo, the infamous "Bridge Wars" (BDP vs MC Shan/The Juice Crew rang out and...well I am sure you all know the rest.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bridge_Wars

Magic was referenced in a lot of songs and Whodini's "Magics Wand" was the first, but everyone from Nas, Notorious B.I.G., 2-Pac and Blaq Poet have mentioned his legend in their tracks.

Every Hip Hop DJ doing radio shows, owes that opportunity to Mr Magic, Magic was the one that opened the doors for rap being played on radio.

I remember getting dubbed tapes of Mr Magic Rap Attack shows from friends at school and I loved them, he always rocked the dopest shit, had a dope voice and cold rocked the party and from what I heard on those tapes, he always played material that I would scrawl down on a never ending wants list, the Rap Attack series were on high rotation back in the day too.

Today's kids might know the name from his Wildstyle Pirate radio station on Grand Theft Auto's: Vice City game, Mr Magic released 5 volumes of The Rap Attack series

DJ Premier's condolence letter:

I WANT TO SEND OUT THE UTMOST RESPECT AND CONDOLENCES TO THE MEMORY OF JOHN RIVAS—-aka MR. MAGIC

HE PASSED AWAY THIS MORNING OF A HEART ATTACK…..

TRUE HIP HOP HEADS KNOW THAT HIS HISTORY IS SO LONG
DUE TO HIM BEING THE FIRST RAP MIXSHOW TO EVER BE ON COMMERCIAL RADIO ON NEW YORK’S WBLS–(107.5) WITH MARLEY MARL AND FLY TY IN 1982-1984…….THEN WENT ON TO WHBI IN OCTOBER OF 1984 AND THEN
BACK TO WBLS in 1985 and WDAS in Philly SIMULTANEOUSLY

HE PAVED THE WAY FOR ALL RADIO STATIONS THAT EVER DID MIXSHOWS AND ALSO SPARKED THE CAREER OF BOOGIE DOWN PRODUCTIONS DUE TO THE DISS HE SHOWED WHEN THEY CAME TO SHOP THEIR DEMO TO HIM AND WAS TURNED AWAY WHICH THEN SPARKED “SOUTH BRONX” AND “THE BRIDGE IS OVER”…….

HE WAS KNOWN FOR HIS DIRECT AND SARCASTIC ATTITUDE ON THE AIR AND EVERY ARTIST WANTED HIS APPROVAL WHEN IT CAME TO BREAKING NEW RECORDS……..HE EVEN HAD SONGS DEDICATED TO HIM BY THE LEGENDARY WHODINI–(”MR. MAGIC’S WAND”) WHICH WAS SURPRISINGLY PRODUCED BY ONE OF MY FAVORITE ARTISTS THOMAS DOLBY…….

SHOUTS OUT TO MARLEY MARL AND FLY TY FOR THE CORRECT INFORMATION ON THIS……

REST IN PEACE MR. MAGIC………….DJ PREMIER