DJ Kool Red Alert
Kool DJ Red Alert is a pioneering hip hop deejay who is heavily responsible for the emergence of rap music on the radio airwaves during the early eighties. He is a beacon of excellence among deejays worldwide, and as a radio personality who rose to fame on his legendary mixshow "Red Alert Goes Berserk" on New York's KISS 98.7 FM (formerly WRKS), which first aired in 1983. Red is of West Indian descent by way of Antigua, and is credited as the first DJ to spin dancehall music on his FM radio. Kool DJ Red Alert received his nickname from his keen alertness while playing defense during his days as a former New York City high school basketball star in the mid-seventies. The result of his basketball excellence was a scholarship to play basketball at Hampton University in Virginia. Even with his great achievements on the hardwood, music kept calling him. After his freshman year Red returned home to New York City to pursue that calling as a deejay in 1976. He has never looked back. Since then, Uncle Red (as he is affectionately called) has helped to launch the careers of several legendary Hip-Hop acts including KRS One's collective Boogie Down Productions, Native Tongue Collective acts Jungle Brothers, De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, Queen Latifah, Black Sheep, and Monie Love. Red Alert's management company Red Alert Productions (RAP) once represented several of the Native Tongue acts.
