For people who lived in Seattle during the 1980s—of a certain age and demographic—the name “Nasty” Nes Rodriguez holds especially profound significance. He DJ’d for some of Seattle’s first rappers, including the Emerald Street Boys, cofounded NastyMix Records, and, as a radio DJ, introduced some of the country’s best hiphop to Pacific Northwest fans long before it hit the mainstream.
Nes died on Saturday, February 15. He was 63. His wife announced the news on Facebook on February 16.
Nes, who immigrated from the Philippines to Seattle as a kid, graduated from Roosevelt High School in 1979 and studied media communications at Bellevue Community College. After visiting his sister in New York during the late 1970s, Nes requested she start recording local radio shows for him. The cassette tapes that arrived in the mail included pioneers like Jellybean Benitez and the Latin Rascals on WKTU, Frankie Crocker on WBLS, and the first rap radio show, Mr. Magic’s Rap Attack on WBHI…