Bobbito Garcia: Taste, Storytelling & Never Selling Out

Bobbito Garcia, aka Kool Bob Love, joins GEMS with Shom.A legendary DJ, author, filmmaker, ballplayer, radio host, announcer, entrepreneur, and cultural storyteller, Bobbito has spent decades shaping taste across hip-hop, basketball, sneakers, records, radio, film, and New York culture.In this conversation, Bobbito discusses storytelling, authenticity, social activism, family, music, basketball, and the importance of never creatively compromising for attention, reach, or sales.We talk about his father’s record, Ray García y Su Charanga, Lord Sear’s “Alcoholic Vibes,” Gil Scott-Heron, MF DOOM, Rhymes Like Dimes, and the cultural moments that continue to ripple decades later.Ray García y Su Charanga single:https://www.fatbeats.com/products/ray-garcia-y-su-charanga-la-charanga-de-garc-a-b-w-para-ti-opaque-white-7?_pos=1&_psq=ray+gar&_psid=a8e01b827&_ss=eWe also discuss Bobbito’s films Rock Rubber 45s, Stretch and Bobbito: Radio That Changed Lives, and Doin’ It In The Park: Pick-Up Basketball, NYC.Learn more:Rock Rubber 45swww.rockrubber45s.comStretch and Bobbito: Radio That Changed Liveswww.stretchandbobbito.comDoin’ It In The Park: Pick-Up Basketball, NYCwww.doinitinthepark.comGEMS is a show about beat digging, records, production, and other things.Subscribe for more conversations on music, creativity, records, culture, and the deeper stories behind the DJs, producers, artists, collectors, and cultural figures who shape the sound.Full episode available now.