For people who lived in Seattle during the 1980s—of a certain age and demographic—the name "Nasty" Nes Rodriguez holds especially profound significance. He DJ’d for some of Seattle’s first rappers, including the Emerald Street Boys, cofounded NastyMix Records, and, as a radio DJ, introduced some of the country's best hiphop to Pacific Northwest fans long before it hit the mainstream.

Nes died on Saturday, February 15. He was 63. His wife announced the news on Facebook on February 16.

Nes, who immigrated from the Philippines to Seattle as a kid, graduated from Roosevelt High School in 1979 and studied media communications at Bellevue Community College. After visiting his sister in New York during the late 1970s, Nes requested she start recording local radio shows for him. The cassette tapes that arrived in the mail included pioneers like Jellybean Benitez and the Latin Rascals on WKTU, Frankie Crocker on WBLS, and the first rap radio show, Mr. Magic’s Rap Attack on WBHI.

Nes was an intern in the fall of 1979 as 1250AM KYAC became the first station to play “Rapper’s Delight” on Seattle radio. When the station transitioned to KKFX (KFOX) in 1981, Nasty Nes soon became the host of FreshTracks , the first rap radio show west of the Mississippi River.

Nasty Nes was also the DJ for the Emerald Street Boys, the first Seattle rappers to make a record. At live events, Rodriguez would play the instrumentals from popular 12-inch singles for the group to rhyme and dance to. The Emerald Street Boys also performed the theme song for FreshTracks. This early African American-Asian American collaboration helped set multiethnic collaborative work as part of the foundation of the Seattle hiphop scene.

Speaking for myself, given the relatively slow drip of new hiphop available during those times, the level of anticipation for FreshTracks on Sunday evenings cannot be overstated.

Please allow me to share a couple of excerpts from my book Emerald Street: A History of Hip Hop in Seattle:

From the beginning, FreshTracks was a game changer. Live mixing and scratching on two turntables was completely new to Seattle radio. This foreign sound of Nasty Nes “in the mix” along with the rapid rise in popularity of hip hop created a diverse cross-section of listeners. While based primarily in rap, these mastermixes followed in the footsteps of Afrika Bambaataa and pulled music from an eclectic variety of genres and artists, including Kraftwerk, Hall and Oates, and Los Angeles-based Egyptian Lover.

Nes’s work on FreshTracks would eventually lead to an encounter that would change the course of music history.

In 1984, Nasty Nes heard about a series of parties being held at the Boys & Girls Club in the Central District and went to investigate. Every weekend, someone who called himself Sir Mix-a-Lot was packing the gym, and for a dollar per person, he gave the crowd a complete one-man show. Mix-a-Lot, who could cut, mix, and scratch records as well as rap, commanded the crowd. Thoroughly impressed by what he saw, Nes invited Mix-a-Lot onto KFOX to air his music. Mix’s underground material, which included songs like “7 Rainier,” “Square Dance Rap,” and “Let’s G,” now got wide airplay. Sir Mix-a-Lot became the most popular artist on KFOX, receiving more phone-in requests than even Michael Jackson and Prince. This exercise in musical democracy indicated Seattle pride in a local artist who seemed poised to take the baton from the Emerald Street Boys.

Nes would go on to co-found NastyMix Records with Sir Mix-a-Lot, Greg Jones, and Sheila Locke in 1985, setting the stage for Mix-a-Lot’s landmark Seattle rap narrative “Posse on Broadway,” and eventually the Grammy-winning “Baby Got Back” (released on the Def American record label).

In 1988, Nes joined “Shockmaster” Glen Boyd as host of Rap Attack “Seattle’s-Only-All-Rap-Radio-Show-in-FM-Stereo” on 90.3 KCMU, and in 1997 he moved to Los Angeles to take a position with the music industry magazine Hits and pursue acting opportunities.

Nes was always willing and excited to talk about hiphop, specifically on the West Coast and even more specifically in Seattle. He was an invaluable resource for Emerald Street and recently wrote the foreword for the fantastic new book The Birth of Seattle Rap by Novocaine 132.

“Nasty” Nes Rodriguez, the “Crazy Pinoy” and lover of Taco Time: I looked up to you completely in my youth, and you became someone I got to know and appreciate as such a quality person. For that, I am forever grateful. Rest in Peace to the Godfather of Seattle hiphop, see you at the Crossroads, my friend.

Dr. Abe teaches HUM 125 Hip Hop Theory & Culture at Seattle Central College.

This article has been updated since its original publication to correct the year KYAC radio station transitioned into KKFX.