“I Had to Ride for My Team”
“I Had to Ride for My Team”: Ebro Darden Responds to Fat Joe’s ‘Dictator’ Accusations
NEW YORK — The ghost of New York’s great radio war has been conjured once again. Ebro Darden, the longtime face of Hot 97, has officially responded to recent comments from hip-hop legend Fat Joe, who accused the media personality of acting like a "dictator" during the height of the station's legendary rivalry with Power 105.1.
Speaking on a fresh episode of The Ebro & Laura Rosenberg Show on Wednesday, Darden didn't shy away from the label. Instead, he leaned into it, characterizing his past aggression not as a quest for power, but as a necessary defense of an independent flagship.
The "Dictator" Allegation
The firestorm began earlier this week when Fat Joe appeared on the podcast Joe & Jada. Reflecting on the mid-2000s and 2010s, the "Lean Back" rapper described the suffocating pressure artists felt to choose sides between New York's two hip-hop titans.
“You got dictators like Ebro on Hot 97,” Joe said during the interview. “It was, ‘You don’t come here, we running the show.’ What artists didn’t realize is that [Power 105.1] came with 40 other stations. So it was like, do you want to be the hottest on Hot 97… or you want to get played in 40 other stations?”
Joe credited Hot 97 with launching his career but noted that Ebro's "loyalty tests" often put artists in a professional bind when trying to navigate the corporate reach of iHeartRadio (then Clear Channel).
“I Was on That Type of Time”
Darden’s response was a mix of nostalgia and unapologetic defiance. Acknowledging that he was "on his BS 1,000%," Ebro explained that his "dictator" energy was a byproduct of being the underdog against a "corporate behemoth."
“We was up against a behemoth and we was always there first for artists,” Ebro said during his morning broadcast. “So what was our other mode to be? We was just going to fold up, roll up and act like it was cool for y’all to run down the street and kiss ass to them and not do nothing for us?”
Ebro emphasized that unlike Power 105.1, Hot 97 is a "small, independent flagship" with no global partners. In his view, the only way to survive was to demand absolute loyalty from the artists the station helped break. "I had to protect my team. I had to ride for my team," he added.
The Legacy of the Radio Wars
The exchange highlights a pivotal era in New York hip-hop history, where radio gatekeepers held the power to make or break a record. While the digital age and streaming have largely dismantled the "gatekeeper" model, the tension between Ebro and the G-Unit/iHeart contingent remains a frequent topic of debate.
The timing of the back-and-forth is also notable, coming just as Hot 97 undergoes a massive shift in its lineup following the recent cancellation of Ebro in the Morning and the announcement that The Kid Mero will take over the morning slot.
A Conditional Peace
Despite the "dictator" talk, both men seem to maintain a baseline of mutual respect. Fat Joe has remained a frequent guest at Hot 97 over the years, and Ebro acknowledged Joe’s honesty in describing the era.
However, Ebro’s parting shot made it clear he has no plans to rewrite history. “You guys thought we was just going to gladhand and be happy to be here?” he asked rhetorically. “Nah. We was at war.”
