TRUE STORY: When this song first dropped I made this freestyle for a DJ outfit known as The Tech.Nitions… They would play DMX version and then drop mine right afterwards. Plus I included a shoutout to each DJ that would play it.
This is how I got worldwide airplay without being signed, and it was at a time when most Reggae artists would only do Jamaican Riddims. As you can imagine a secondary economy developed, piggybacking on the mainstream conduits.
Clear Channel, a corporation out of Texas, was purchasing every radio station they could by that time. They instituted a rule that DJs could no longer stray from the established playlist. So the mixes could only include the same songs you’d been hearing all day.
TRUST… This is the rule that destroyed radio. If you’re really young you might think it’s always been the way it is now, but there was a time that you could drop a hot remix and gain notoriety in major markets overnight.
The DJs banked on appearances because they had songs you couldn’t get anywhere. I call it “mixtape era”, and shoutout to ALL the DJs of that time. They helped many artists get started.