Kool DJ Red Alert

Frederick Crute (born November 27, 1956), known professionally as Kool DJ Red Alert, is an Antiguan-American disc jockey who rose to fame on WRKS 98.7 Kiss FM in New York City and is recognized as one of the founding fathers of hip hop music and culture. His weekly radio show airs on WBLS 107.5 FM from Monday to Saturday at 6pm EST.

Red Alert 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. Red Alert played a vital role in both The Roxanne Wars and The Bridge Wars, two of the first major hip-hop feuds. Red Alert's legend grew immensely after he broke the record South Bronx by Boogie Down Productions on his KISS-FM weekend radio show.

Red Alert holds the all-time record for the most guest appearances among all hip hop artists and personalities in the history of music video. When the cassette tapes gained popularity in the 1970s, Red Alert was the first disc jockey to record mix compilation albums, which were later known as mixtapes. He also was the first mixshow disc jockey to introduce dancehall to mainstream radio on his KISS 98.7 FM during the mid 1980s.

Personal background and career

Kool DJ Red Alert was born in Antigua, West Indies and grew up in Harlem, New York City. 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, though his favorite was Grand Wizzard Theodore. on the pioneering urban-formatted station on April 29, 2012.

Red Alert has performed on multiple international tours with Boogie Down Productions, Jungle Brothers, as a solo artist, and is currently a member of the Funkmaster Flex-helmed deejay crew Lit Digital DJs.

He has eight grandchildren, his son and daughter are Robert Simon Kool G MiMe, and Alexus James. His nephew is rapper Mike Gee of the hip-hop group Jungle Brothers.

Signature slang terms and drop

Red Alert is widely known for his former vibrato-style vocal chant "YEAAAAaaaaaah!" at the beginning and throughout his radio show mixes and appearances on various rap classic records. According to Red, the inspiration for his chant was from Looney Tunes cartoon character Foghorn Leghorn.

As a former bachelor, his self-ascribed moniker "The Propmaster" came from his gentleman-style approach to "properly" court women, or "props."

Additional executive production credits

Kool DJ Red Alert had a small hip hop management company in the late 1980s called Red Alert Productions, which managed the careers of Native Tongues acts such as the Jungle Brothers, A Tribe Called Quest, Monie Love, and Black Sheep. Besides Chris "Baby Chris" Lighty's Violator, in the late 1980s through 1990s, Red Alert Productions was the only major hip-hop management alternative to Russell Simmons' Rush Artist Management and Cold Chillin' Records' management division. With his Red Alert Productions, Red Alert brokered a contract with Warner Bros. Records to release the Jungle Brothers seminal sophomore album Done By The Forces Of Nature.

His most notable guest features on hip hop records are Boogie Down Productions "Jimmy," The Jungle Brothers classic songs "Jimbrowski" and "Beyond This World," and A Tribe Called Quest's "Pubic Enemy." His most famous remixes are his additional productions on Jungle Brothers "J Beez Comin' Through (Red Alert Remix)," and his scratches on synthpop band Dominatrix 1983 hit record "The Dominatrix Sleeps Tonight (Remix)."

Additional radio personality credits

Red is integral for helping increase the exposure of New York Radio Hall of Fame inductee Funkmaster Flex on the radio in the late 1980s. Funkmaster Flex was regular first choice by Red to be the fill-in deejay on his KISS-FM radio show, due to his occasional absences while on tour with Boogie Down Productions and Jungle Brothers in the late 1980s.

After the demise of WRKS as "98.7 Kiss FM", he became one of the deejays in rotation on the Afterwork Mix at 6 P.M. (Monday – Thursday), and performed during the holiday mix segments on WBLS. Until the end of 2014, he had a regular time slot on Saturday nights on WBLS at 11 PM EST. He also hosts the mix show Article One on Youth Radio 92.5 in the Virgin Islands and had a show on the Sirius Satellite Network station Backspin.

Honorary awards Kool DJ Red Alert has received numerous awards and accolades including a special award at the first annual Rap Hall of Fame Awards show. He was given the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award from music trade publication Impact in 1998, and the 1997 Mix Show DJ of the year award from the now-defunct San Francisco-based radio industry trade publication Gavin. He was named one of the 50 most influential people in music by Rolling Stone magazine. Red Alert is the only hip hop deejay honored with a display in the Radio Section of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio. He has been appointed by the United Nations as an honorary Ambassador To Music. In June 2003, he was recognized with a location on the Bronx Walk of Fame, a series of street signs recognizing people of note from the borough, alongside other notables such as Colin Powell, who have originated from the Bronx.