Moving from my hometown, Wheeling, West Virginia, to Manhattan to attend Columbia was an eye-opener in innumerable ways. But more than anything, it was the music that made me glad I had made the journey. During my four years at Columbia, I was fortunate enough to see Brooklyn MCs the Boot Camp Clik, hip hop legends Run-DMC, and Busta Rhymes without leaving campus. And among my many highlights as a campus DJ, I opened up for A Tribe Called Quest when they performed in front of Low Library. I also trekked downtown to see Common, the Beatnuts, and other seminal hip hop artists. And I took a train out to New Jersey to catch Prince's Jam of the Year tour. But one of my most treasured music-related memories is staying up every Thursday night with blank cassette tapes ready to record the DJ Stretch Armstrong and Bobbito show on WKCR. I would spend the following Friday stacking the shelves at Butler Library, feeling lucky that my job was so menial that I could concentrate on the absolute newest records I was hearing before anyone else in the world, and the exclusive live freestyles by Nas, Big L, Kool G Rap, and other rhyme slayers. Respect forever to Stretch & Bobbito.