Welcome to Cassette Culture, a column devoted to the content and context of audio cassette tapes.

First, let me introduce myself. I’m a born-and-raised New Yorker who fell in love with the sounds of the city at a young age. I went from The Beatles, Elton John and Fleetwood Mac to Queen, The Police, The Clash and Talking Heads to Chic, Stevie Wonder and Donna Summer to Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five, Black Uhuru, Kurtis Blow and Run-DMC and finally to the vast world of underground music, 12-inch vinyl and DJing.

In 1990 I adapted the moniker Stretch Armstrong in the tradition of some of my favorite hip-hop DJs taking names from comic books or superheroes (Flash, Clark Kent, Richie Rich). I also befriended a Def Jam employee named Bobbito Garcia who, in October of that year, joined me on the radio on Columbia University’s WKCR. For nearly a decade we produced a radio show which gave the world unsigned or as-yet-unheard future rap stars like Nas, The Notorious B.I.G., Jay-Z, Eminem, Big L, Cam’ron, Fat Joe, Big Pun, Mobb Deep, Common and many more. The Source magazine voted it the Best Hip-Hop Radio Show of All Time, a flattering (though slightly embarrassing) accolade. Through the 90's and beyond I wore many hats in music but always considered myself a DJ first. That’s true to this day.

Now, let’s talk cassettes.
https://medium.com/cuepoint/cassette-culture-with-stretch-armstrong-73e1a14652ea