|
Kool DJ Red Alert (born Frederick Crute in November 27, 1956) is an American disc jockey who rose to fame on 98.7 Kiss-FM in New York City, and is recognized as a one of the founding fathers of hip hop music and culture. He is one of the first deejays to perform with the architects of hip hop Universal Zulu Nation. He built his radio show's fanbase by shouting out to listeners within the Tri-State area. Red Alert has been noted for breaking in such acts and artists as A Tribe Called Quest, Queen Latifah, and Black Sheep.〔Kimani, Khari, "Ring The Alarm." ''The Source Magazine'', October 2007, p. 28.〕 Red played a vital role in The Bridge Wars beginning in 1986. His legend grew immensely after being the first deejay to break the record ''South Bronx'' by Boogie Down Productions on his KISS-FM weekend radio show and club gigs in support of the Bronx-based hip hop group versus MC Shan, Marley Marl, and the Juice Crew. He holds the all-time record for the most guest appearances amongst all hip hop artists and personalities in the history of music video. ==Personal Background== Kool DJ Red Alert grew up in Harlem, New York. He is of Antiguan heritage. As he attended public school located next to iconic basketball court Rucker Park, he was given his nickname "Red Alert" as a teenager for his natural reddish hair, and for his "alert" sense on defense when playing basketball. He later attended and graduated from DeWitt Clinton High School in The Bronx. At age nineteen, he began attending Thursday and Friday night parties in downtown New York City. He was influenced by dance/disco deejays pioneers Grandmaster Flowers, Pete DJ Jones, and The Together Brothers. On Saturday nights, he acquired the sounds of hip hop from the neighboring uptown borough The Bronx via DJ Kool Herc. Later on, Red would also attend parties, witnessing deejay sets from Grandmaster Flash, Kool DJ A.J., and Afrika Bambaataa. His allure was for the deejay's acute ability to blended vinyl records on two sets of turntables with ideal songs that had tempos and rhythms to keep the dancing crowd moving. He would soon after assemble his own record collection and gathered deejaying equipment. Red Alert taught the basics of deejaying to his cousin Jazzy Jay, a fellow pioneering Universal Zulu Nation member.〔 Jazzy Jay in return introduced Red to Afrika Bambaataa, the founding member and most exalted deejay of the Universal Zulu Nation. Red Alert would eventually become a fellow Zulu member, along with the likes other early Zulu deejays Afrika Islam, Grandmixer DST, and The Soul Sonic Force. Afrika Bambaataa added to the young Red Alert's wisdom regarding the value of keeping a non-judgemental approach to exploring various genres of music, including rock, reggae, disco, and new wave. The teenage Crute graduated high school as a top-ranking basketball prospect, and earned a full athletic scholarship to attend Hampton University in 1976. After attending a total of three semesters, Red dropped out of Hampton University and returned home to Harlem to become a full-time deejay for Afrika Bambaataa and performed throughout The Bronx, Long Island, Connecticut and New Jersey. In the early 1980s, Bambaataa would bring the sounds of hip hop to downtown New York City in legendary New York nightclubs Danceteria, Negril, and The Roxy. While deejaying at The Roxy in 1982, Red Alert met Barry Mayo, the KISS 98.7 FM Program Director. Impressed by Red's deejay abilities, Mayo hired Red Alert to inaugurate the station's "KISS Master Mix Party" showcase. Kool DJ Red Alert appeared on the station, becoming their top deejay. He built his fame and expanded his name recognition via mixtapes that were bootlegged amongst his fans within the Tri-State area who recorded his radio show, and eventually worldwide with the Universal Zulu Nation and the Rock Steady Crew. His only full-time hired colleague for the station's other hip hop shows was fellow pioneering deejay ''Chuck Chillout''. After over 11 years at KISS-FM, and the 1994 corporate sale from KISS-FM's parent company ''Summit Communications'' to rival ''Emmis Communications'', and KISS-FM's re-branding to an "R&B and Classic Soul" format, Red was transitioned to New York City's next arbiters of hip hop and R&B Hot 97 in December 1994. He would deejay two timeslots called ''The Twelve O'Clock Old School At Noon Mix'' and ''The Five O'Clock Free Ride'' for the next seven years. After a brief return to KISS-FM from 2001 to 2002, Red started playing for Power 105.1FM.. After a five-year stint at Power 105-FM, Kool DJ Red Alert returned to his initial radio station KISS 98.7 FM in 2006. After parent company Emmis Communications sold the station's license to become the sports-talk radio-formatted ESPN Radio New York 98.7 FM, Kool DJ Red Alert performed his (final mix ) on the pioneering urban-formatted station on April 29, 2012. Red Alert has performed on multiple international tours with Boogie Down Productions, The Jungle Brothers, and as a solo artist. He is currently back on Hot 97 on Sunday evenings at 9pm-10pm EST, and is in rotation with other mixes on ''WBLS 107.5 FM'' for the weekday after-work mix starting at 6pm. Red is currently a member of the Funkmaster Flex-helmed deejay crew (Lit Digital DJs ). He is also a grandfather to three grandchildren. Red's nephew is rapper Mike Gee of the hip hop group Jungle Brothers. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「Kool DJ Red Alert」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|