JACK “THE RAPPER” GIBSON

Jack “The Rapper” Gibson helped establish the first African American owned radio station in the United States, WERD in Atlanta in 1949.  He is regarded as one of the fathers of the Black audience appeal radio format.  Gibson learned about radio while working as a producer for deejay Al Benson in Chicago at WJJD.

To his peers in radio his nickname was “Jockey Jack” and he achieved renown for his annual Black American radio convention where he was known as Jack “The Rapper” for an all-inclusive Black/urban music showcase.

Gibson worked as a Public Relations Manger for Motown Records.  While there, he mentored the Supremes, Marvin Gaye, The Jackson Five and Stevie Wonder.  He often provided these legendary artists with their first introductions to the public on stage.

Gibson began publication of a two-sided trade pamphlet called “Mello Yello,” about the radio industry.  Mello Yello is the oldest and largest circulated Black radio/music trade publication in America.

Gibson was inducted into the Black Radio Hall of Fame in 1989 and the Nevada Broadcasting Hall of Fame in 1998. 

In 2023, Jack “The Rapper” Gibson received a Legends Induction into the Radio Hall of Fame.