Take a look at our sit-down with Syndicate Radio’s Nick Ospina, Justin Muzack and Kent Mulato as we dig deeper into the world of underground radio and how they built their rapidly rising radio show in Los Angeles.   Ask anyone in world of entertainment and media and there’s no doubt that Los Angeles is one of the largest markets in the world. With over 12 million people residing in the current metro area and with new dreamers moving to LALA-land every day, if you’re in the world of music and entertainment, Los Angeles is the perfect testing ground to launch your entertainment dreams. While there’s a host of Podcasts and Youtube channels dedicated to covering artists and their music, Los Angeles based radio station 101.5 and their radio show Syndicate Radio has continued to break new talent and prove that FM radio is nowhere near dead, shining a light on underground music across the world. Despite Apple Music, Spotify, Tidal and Sirius XM radio dividing listeners, Syndicate Radio is drawing a real following on FM with listeners not only in LA but across the globe as the show is also available for fans on the streaming services. New to FM radio but OG’s in the game of online Hip-Hop radio, Syndicate Radio digs deeper into the music, solidified by a motto of “no genre left behind.” While championing for artists on the rise and underground talent Syndicate Radio is a model that remains true to focusing on good music, not ads and hidden agendas backed by payola. Despite LA’s Power 106 and 92.3 dominating the Hip-Hop airwaves for years, 101.5 is making huge strides in the market for underground acts and artists that otherwise wouldn’t fit the programming model for iHeartRadio stations. Also rivaling 92.3’s KDAY as an alternative avenue for classic Rap music and deep cuts, 101.5 has carved out a niche in the L.A. market that deserves the listener’s ears. Born out of garage and first starting off as DJ class for LAUSD students in the San Fernando Valley,  Nick Ospina, Justin Muzack, Kent Mulato and Ashley Ramirez developed Syndicate Radio into one of LA’s fastest rising shows. While they are still in the early stages of their new deal with KQBH, Syndicate Radio has been in the works for nearly a decade highlighting dope music from classic rap songs to new rising underground talent. Check out more info below and follow Syndicate Radio on 101.5 to support real underground and classic rap music: AllHipHop: So talk to me about the inspiration for this show and how its developed to what it is today… Justin: I always knew Nick was naturally smart and super organized and we came together on the booking side of things. We’ve had other members that came along for the journey but the three of us have always stuck together because I think our skill sets are different but we are always able to come together – that was the first thing. Kent: It really started because I’ve been DJing since 2009 and I had a homie who was a drummer and he started teaching and he asked me to teach him how to DJ. I was a teacher at LAUSD and there was an update to this program called Traktor that I used and so on the upgrade with Traktor Pro there was this update with broadcasting and I thought it would be cool to start a show and teach people how to DJ. We always recorded the set but with the live set as a teacher you have to do everything right and I always wanted to broadcast it. Yes I was teaching them to DJ, but everyone would just hang out and it just kind of morphed into us putting a show together. As we started learning to mix sets and blend based off of that, we started a show and that’s when Justin came and he never left. He brought Nick with him, it was organic, we never tried to get on the scene, since day one it’s always been no genre left behind and then just having people come over and just hang out it’s been an open door policy since we started. AllHipHop: Seems like you guys have that family kick back vibe and then you mix in the music too. Nick I know you do a lot of admin work and you are a man of many hats, can you talk about your role? Nick: Most of it is administrative, but for the last five years, I’ve started taking over social media stuff and I do the posting and what not. The administrative stuff in the past was just booking artists and making sure everyone was ready for the sets and the venue, make sure the guys are on point and if ever there was a situation where we need a more business face and I’m usually the one that sets up and takes on that role, but mainly its been making sure these guys are all ready and we know what we are going to talk about and we have all our equipment or whatever. Kent: He’s really been the facilitator, if something goes wrong its like, “Nick can you figure this out?” Thats what it’s always been and he’s always been flexible with that. Like Justin said it’s always been a cool dynamic that the three of us have because we all three have different skills and all the boxes are checked. Nobody really has a lot of egos, nobody is worried about their spot and it’s all about how we move forward and accomplish the goals. It was always about “we” and “us” and it’s about the team. AllHipHop: You guys are definitely filling a void, LA has several radio stations but you guys seem to play lots of underground records and classic stuff that nobody else does. Who are some artists that you guys have been playing on the show that the […]