MELLO YELLO–The Incredible Story of Jack The Rapper (book)
MELLO YELLO–The Incredible Story of Jack The Rapper
First African-American Radio DJ – Jack The Rapper GibsonMentor to 40 Years of Musical Superstars
as told to Walker Smith Foreword by Nelson George
“I’m a ghetto man who made good. I never forgot where I came from and who put me on top — God and Jack The Rapper.” ~ James Brown
If ever one man embodied the black experience in America, it was Jack Gibson, known to the world as “Jack the Rapper.”
Beginning with childhood remembrances of Marcus Garvey in the 1920s, Gibson continued to cross paths with the most famous African American personalities of the 20th century.
Directly and indirectly, Gibson opened doors and launched the careers of several noted radio personalities and superstars.
His long reaching influence began in 1949, when he and J.B. Blayton establi
Gibson’s popularity on radio paved the way for a lifetime of career moves. As an emcee and promoter, he built enduring relationships with the early black royalty of the entertainment world, among them, Sammy Davis, Jr., Billie Holiday, Erroll Garner, Sarah Vaughan, Nat King Cole, Pearl Bailey, Dinah Washington, Nancy Wilson, and Ray Charles.
When he was hired by a young go-getter named Berry Gordy to head up promotion at a fledgling record company called Motown, Gibson befriended a new crop of stars including Stevie Wonder, The Supremes and Smokey Robinson.
Moving on to the Revelot label, and then to Stax, Gibson’s uncanny timing once again placed him in a position to further the careers of promising future stars: Otis Redding, Jackie Wilson, Isaac Hayes, The Staple Singers, Rufus Thomas, Carla Thomas and many others.
In addition to his involvement in the music scene, Gibson gave voice to one of the most critical periods of American history — the Civil Rights Movement. In a long on-air interview with Malcolm X in 1963, he shared some anger and even a few laughs with the controversial spokesman for the Nation of Islam.
In 1968, when the news broke about the assassination of Martin Luther King, radio and television announcers immediately dismissed the angry reaction as “senseless violence.”
Enraged by the one-sided reporting, Gibson ru
