So I'm listening to one of the latest episodes of 'Juan Epstein', lovingly known as "Juan Ep" by major fans such as myself, and the guests of honor were Stretch Armstrong and Bobbito Gracia. Lovingly known themselves as "Stretch & Bobbito" from the actually (no shots to Sway) world-famous radio show of the same name, they spent the next TWO (!) hours nerding-out with Pete Rosenberg and Cipha Sounds and talking about everything and anything related to that amazing era of hip-hop in the 1990's. They were there to promote the new documentary Bobbito directed called "Radio That Changed Lives", which I can't comment on since I still have yet to see it. (I know, I know...*shame emoji*) I purchased it last night, as my stoner ass spaced on the release date back in late October. ANYWAYS. Stretch Armstrong and Bobbito. Juan Ep. It was an amazing 2 hours. They talked about ALL the shit only dedicated hip-hop nerds would salivate over. Pure nerd glory, as most all Juan Epstein episodes are.
It all started on Limewire. Well, Napster. THEN Limewire. That's where I, and countless thousands, if not HUNDREDS of thousands of hip-hop heads discovered 'Stretch & Bobbito'. I think the first audio from the show that I ever heard was that legendary "Jay-Z & Big L 7-Minute Freestyle" we all know and love. The piano loop is already playing in my head as I type this, with a smile forming on my face thinking about that specific track as well as those early days in general. I listened to as many episodes as I could back then - risking viruses and damaged computer memory but fuck it - that shit was audio gold as far as I was concerned. Not that I was starving for classic hip-hop radio material here in Northern Cali - we've had The World Famous Wake-Up Show from day one. And Sway & King Tech get eternal props and endless respect for that groundbreaking show - but they were on KMEL and had to play by their rules. If you wanted to hear raw, un-cut NY artists and underground in it's purest form - Stretch & Bobbito were the answer. They hit the airwaves on WKCR college radio - Stretch mentioned on Juan Ep that they didn't even ATTEND the college nor alumni either - which meant the freedom to do whatever the fuck. Which meant playing super backpacker material 24/7 and somewhat-talking to artists in between cuts - but more like a "just chilling" vibe and conversations instead of a straight-forward interview. Stretch & Bob will be the first to tell you that the early days were kinda rough. Mistakes were made. And NOBODY CARED. God bless college radio for that. It was like listening to your homie's 2am-3am slot on the university airwaves - but he had all these heavy hitters coming through to launch new material and promote whatever instead.
I still have yet to fully comprehend the spectrum of influence both men and their little radio show had on my listening tastes as well as everyone's else. Unfortunately, like most all famous radio shows, the episodes available for listening to the general public is slim. Thank GOD for Youtube - some episodes have made their way onto the site and many other have in the past (before quickly being shut-down and served papers by the label's lawyers) because at it's heart a radio show is meant to promote OTHER people's property. Indeed, the ad-libs and commentary between Stretch & Bobbito and them with the artists is their intellectual property. But most all of the tracks aren't. Hopefully, over time, I'll be able to gather together a hodgepodge of the entire run of Stretch & Bobbito. Kind of like what Questlove does with old Soul Train episodes. But for now, 'Stretch & Bobbito: Radio That Changed Lives' will have to suffice. Time to go grab some grub, roll a blunt, and throw on the documentary. Long live independent hip-hop radio!
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