Exclusive: Kool DJ Red Alert Honored With Harlem Statue Commemorating 40 Years In Radio

by Cedric ‘BIG CED’ Thornton August 1, 2024 ‘Thank you for believing in me and embracing me for what I’ve been doing’ Legendary hip-hop DJ Kool DJ Red Alert, who is commemorating 40 years in radio, was honored with a statute in Harlem, New York, where he grew up. The sculpture was unveiled on Friday, July 19, at Montefiore Square, West Harlem, located at 138th Street and Broadway. BLACK ENTERPRISE got the opportunity to speak to the legendary Kool DJ Red Alert about how the statue of him came to be, how it felt to witness an honor being unveiled, and what he has to say to the people who have supported him over 40 years. Red Alert stated that a good friend of his, Irving Pantin, introduced him to the sculptor of the piece, Sherwin Banfield, and that started the process of getting his likeness made. Banfield has also done statues of other iconic hip-hop figures, The Notorious B.I.G., LL COOL J, and ‘The Cipher in Queens’ in Socrates Park that features Phife Dawg from A Tribe Called Quest, Jam Master Jay from Run-DMC, and Prodigy of Mobb Deep. He said that Banfield was interested in meeting with him...