Editing Funkmaster Flex (section)

==Radio career==
By the age of 19, Flex began working with fellow Bronx native [[DJ Chuck Chillout|Chuck Chillout]] for [[WEPN-FM|WRKS]] 98.7 Kiss-FM in New York. He later left KISS, and spent a brief period at 107.5 [[WBLS]]-FM.<ref name="Shapiro">Shapiro, Peter (2005) ''The Rough Guide to Hip-Hop'', Rough Guides, {{ISBN|1-84353-263-8}}, p.149-150</ref> In the early 1990s, Flex made club appearances at many of Vito Bruno's operated nightclubs. Bruno later convinced Joel Salkowitz, a regional vice president of Hot 97, to begin airing live broadcasts from clubs where he was performing. When they realized the resurgence of hip hop was coming fast from its decline in the eighties, they increased the hours of this urban radio programming.<ref name="PayBack">Charnas, Dan (2010). ''The Big Payback: The History of the Business of Hip-Hop'', {{ISBN|978-1-101-44582-2}}</ref> 

Due to the success of that programming, in the spring of 1992 Funkmaster Flex began mixing and hosting his own show, a specialized rap program on Hot 97. With this, Hot 97 became the first pop station in New York to showcase rap. Flex has been with Hot 97 ever since, and currently airs nationally through syndication during weeknights and weekends.<ref name="PayBack" /> 

He is well known for his signature "bomb drop" sound effect over records. On July 20, 2011, [[Kanye West]] & [[Jay-Z]]'s "[[Otis (song)|Otis]]" premiered on Flex's Hot 97 radio show. Despite the song itself lasting under 3 minutes, it took over 22 minutes for Flex to go through from start to finish, as he restarted the song 25 times (roughly once every 53 seconds) and played the bomb drop sound effect 63 times.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Minichino |first=Nick |date=2012-01-18 |title=Pazz & Jop 2011: Nick Minichino On Funkmaster Flex's ALL-CAPS Premiere Of Jay-Z And Kanye West's "Otis" |url=https://www.villagevoice.com/pazz-jop-2011-nick-minichino-on-funkmaster-flexs-all-caps-premiere-of-jay-z-and-kanye-wests-otis/ |access-date=2024-07-11 |website=The Village Voice |language=en-US}}</ref> Flex is also responsible for his early mentorship of his friend and former coworker at Hot 97, [[Angie Martinez]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mitchell |first=Julian |title=Get Paid To Be Yourself: The Business Of Being Angie Martinez |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/julianmitchell/2017/01/23/get-paid-to-be-yourself-the-business-of-being-angie-martinez/ |access-date=2023-10-07 |website=Forbes |language=en}}</ref>