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Corey McGriff, A Life that Mattered
DJ Megatron Fondly RememberedFebruary 9, 2021
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It’s hard to believe that this year will make ten years that have passed since NYC’s DJ Megatron, Corey McGriff was gunned down in a senseless crime near his apartment on Staten Island in March of 2011.
A month had passed since his tragic murder and my desk phone rang at CBS Radio in NYC, where I had the privilege of programming 92.3 Now at the time. On the other end of the call was Corey’s mom, but why would she have been calling me?
I didn’t take my position in NYC lightly or for granted, as I had learned that part of my role as a person who was given great authority was that with that came greater responsibility. And believe it or not, I didn’t learn that from watching a Spiderman movie.
In 1999 I had lost a PD job in New Orleans and just days after that I was interviewing for a job in Columbus OH to program a legendary Top 40. The GM told me what he’d pay me to do that job, and it was 30k less than I was making at the station that had just let me go.
You Are Defined Not By Your Job
I explained that to the GM who responded with, “Well you find yourself in a precarious situation where you don’t have a job, and without a job, you have no chips to bargain with.” My retort was that the ‘value of a man doesn’t come from his circumstances, but rather from his abilities and that he should be paid as such.’
Two moves later, following stops in LA and Charlotte I found myself in NYC where Megatron sat before me in my office and his circumstances could have easily been judged, as he was out of work.
My first impression of DJ Megatron was one of respect, as he cold-called me in late 2010 to see if I’d entertain the idea of him working on-air at 92.3 Now.
He came with an impressive resume, with a history at New York’s WKRS, Kiss-FM, Hot 97 and other stints in NYC, Boston, and Philly, including TV Hosting with BET’s “106 & Park.”
The camera lens picked up on his natural charisma while his no-fear take-it-to-the streets style of bantering with bystanders, gave him a TV Host reel most radio talent could only dream of having in their grasp.
I didn’t have in my office, a gentleman who was out of work, but instead a talent not willing to give up on a career simply because the doors at the stations he had been most affiliated with, had swung closed.
I asked him if he thought a transition to Top 40 from the world of Hip Hop seemed doable. “It’s definitely different,” he answered, “but I’m up for the challenge.” I gave him his first assignment, to listen to the station, the music, the vibe, the talent and asked him to prepare a demo as if he were on the air here.
This was a task I had many talents do before they’d eventually get a gig on-air with CBS, but while it was a task, it was also a test, and it would weed people out very quickly.
Gotta Do It, Did It, Check
Megatron had completed the assignment in a matter of days and that worried me, honestly, because this assignment was about getting the existing nuance of the station and this typically wasn’t something that you could rush and end up with a passing grade.
I listened and he was invited back a second time. This time I toured him through the station and introduced him to the current staff members, a part of the process if you made it to this step.
His demo included music he was most familiar with, Hip Hop, and then some that he admitted was new to his ears, but he showed me that he not only listened to the station, but that whether he was fully familiar, he understood the different styles of music that played together to nicely knit the station’s backdrop for its brand and personality.
He asked me if there was anything specifically that he could do to get a job with 92.3 Now, or what I would be looking for that could increase his chances. I responded with a simple word; “You!”
Be You Nique
Because he looked at me quizzically, I continued. “Nobody has your DNA,” I said, “Nobody has your fingerprints, so what I am looking for is that thing that only you can do.” He smiled. He nodded his head, and I knew we were making a connection.
“It sounds so easy,” he said with a laugh, making me understand that he knew it wasn’t. I asked if he thought he was ready for an aircheck session with me, which I was honest about, that my critique sessions made stronger men than him cry like newborns with colic.
You ever see that guy who can take a chainsaw and a log and carve out a bear or an eagle? If you were to ask that guy how he did that, you’d get his stock answer, which is a humorous one. “I just cut away every part of the log that doesn’t look like a bear.”
That’s my goal with my aircheck sessions. If it isn’t you, I try to cut it out.
And with that, we hit play. In the first break he had two phrases that are common for black culture and hip-hop radio, and because I wasn’t looking for typical, but instead specifically Megatron, I addressed what I heard.
“It’s your boy, Mega, in the building…” and while he sounded amazing doing it, I asked him if those phrases gave the audience him. He said it was standard, and that he had never really thought about that because everybody he knows and works with male and female, typically uses those phrases.
I responded with, “Well, you’re not everybody, you’re somebody. Somebody specific.”
And with that, the smile returned. I gave him his next assignment, but I added something incredibly important. Now that he showed that he understood the music, it was time to wow my boss, Dom Theodore, with the full package.
Listen Linda
I told Megatron to take his time with this assignment, to continue listening to the station, and in fact, begin listening so much that he can start feeling what kind of song might play next, and to listen so much that he can get a nuance of the station imaging, its purpose, and the humorous undertones.
I said, “Don’t rush this assignment. You are not on a clock. You will know when you have completed it. If that takes 30 days, great. If that takes 90 days, great but do yourself a favor and take the right amount of time to complete it with a quality and personalization that you are happy with.”
With that, a beaming Corey McGriff left 345 Hudson in SoHo and purpose was all around him. I had no idea that I would never see Megatron again after that and while I would wonder how the assignment was going, I gave him his time.
Nobody Knows The When
Then one day, I got the tragic news. It hit me hard.
And one month later his mother was calling, but why me? I would soon find out and the answer to the why would forever bond his mom and me at the heart.
“Thank you,” she said. “I know you don’t know me, but my name is Louvenia McGriff, Corey’s mom.”
“I want you to know that while going through my son’s personal items, his Bible in particular, I found your business card. I am so happy I came across it because I had no way of knowing how to contact you. He had put your card in a specific place next to a verse he liked that gave him hope,” she said. “He was so excited when he talked to us about you, and we shared that excitement with him, so we want to say thank you, because while there are a lot of things we don’t know about that night, what we do know is that my Corey was looking forward to a new opportunity and we are forever grateful for the hope you instilled in him.”
The industry has always been most special when the impact it has on us and other people is way beyond a song, a job, ratings, or revenues; and for a young man who I had only met face to face two times, he gave me one of the most impactful moments of my career, ever.
Thank you Megatron! We will meet again
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