Microphone Check

All year Morning Edition and NPR Music have been running radio pieces about rap albums released 20 years ago, in 1993. For a special episode of Microphone Check we invited a group of people who were working in hip-hop back then to meet us at the Ace Hotel in New York City and tell stories about that productive and creative year. Our guests were: Faith Newman — A&R at Def Jam and then Columbia, who signed Nas. Ralph McDaniels — host of Video Music Box, music video director and producer. Prince Paul — producer for De La Soul and the Gravediggaz, member of Handsome Boy Modeling School and solo musician. Mike Dean — engineer and producer at Rap-A-Lot Records. Stretch Armstrong — DJ for WKCR's Stretch & Bobbito radio show.