Oral History with Ivan "Doc" Rodriguez (Bronx Latino History Project)

Oral history recorded for the Bronx Latino History Project on April 24, 2022 with Ivan "Doc" Rodriguez ("DJ Doc"), one of the most prolific and accomplished DJs, producers, and engineers in hip hop history. Over the years Doc has worked closely with the likes of Spyder-D, KRS-One and Boogie Down Productions, Eric B and Rakim, MC Lyte, Biz Markie, E.P.M.D., Queen Latifah, Lord Shafiyq, Redman, and many others. In his oral history, Doc speaks about his family's background in Puerto Rico, growing up in the Upper West Side and Hell's Kitchen neighborhoods, basketball, his early years as a DJ (spinning primarily soul, disco, and salsa), block parties, how he became a producer first and then engineer at Power Play Studios, his outstanding work there with some of the top hip hop artists of the 1980s and 1990s, his children, surviving cancer, and the professional and personal legacy he hopes to leave behind.

The interviewer is Dr. Steven Payne, librarian and archivist at The Bronx County Historical Society. The Bronx Latino History Project is a project of The Bronx County Archives at The Bronx County Historical Society Research Library.