NYC native and world-renowned DJ Bobbito Garcia is the co-founder of Bounce Magazine and critically acclaimed author of Where’d You Get Those? NYC’s Sneaker Culture: 1960-1987 (Testify Books). In recent years, “Kool Bob Love” has done sideline reporting for the NY Knicks on MSG Network, voiced NBA 2K video games, and has hosted ESPN2’s It’s the Shoes series. In 2007, he designed seven signature Nike Air Force 1 25th Anniversary sneakers. Currently, he is the play-by-play announcer for the Boost Mobile Elite 24 Game on ESPNU, the Red Bull King of the Rock Championship on CBS Sports, and the Converse Band of Ballers on MTV2. He is also co-directing, along with Kevin Couliau, the documentary Doin’ It In The Park: Pick-Up Basketball, NYC (www.doinitinthepark.com, due out in 2012), and touring the world spinning records at various sponsored events for Red Bull, Brand Jordan, and Foot Locker, among others.

You may wonder when Bobbito has time to breathe, but in the last 20+ years he has been relentlessly pursuing his passions in music and basketball. After playing pro ball in Puerto Rico and graduating from Wesleyan University (CT) in ’88, he began working at Def Jam Records. He met DJ Stretch Armstrong there, and in ’90 the two started an on-air program at WKCR 89.9FM. By ’98, the Source Magazine voted it the “Best Hip Hop Radio Show of All Time.” The duo introduced the world to unsigned acts like Nas, Jay Z, Biggie Smalls, Big Pun, Wu-Tang, Mobb Deep, and many others that would go on to change the face of the industry.

Although Bobbito is a bonafide Hip Hop legend, any former reader of his Vibe Magazine column would know that his musical passion goes way beyond just Rap. As a club DJ, crowds in 35 countries throughout five continents have celebrated his unique blend of rare Jazz, World, and Soul music. He’s opened up concerts for Latin Music legend Eddie Palmieri (five-time Grammy Award Winner), Afro-Funk progenitor Tony Allen (formerly Fela Kuti's drummer), Jazz-Funk legend Roy Ayers, and Soul singer D'Angelo.

What’s next? Who knows, but who would’ve ever expected a kid who started out in the music industry as a messenger to have accomplished so much, or a student-athlete who got cut from his college basketball team to one day get paid to play? Bobbito is a true renaissance man, a walking example of how it is possible to love what you do and pursue it without compromise.