Ebro Darden is responding after Fat Joe accused him of acting like a "dictator" during the height of the rivalry between New York's Hot 97 and Power 105.1.
Speaking on a recent episode of The Ebro & Laura Rosenberg Show, Ebro acknowledged that he took an aggressive stance at the time, responding directly to Fat Joe's claim that he acted like a "dictator" by pressuring artists to show loyalty to Hot 97 and prioritize the station over its rival Power 105.1, which is backed by the larger iHeartMedia network. Ebro said his actions were driven by loyalty and competition, not control.
"I was on that type of time," Ebro admitted. "We was up against a behemoth and we was always there first for artists… 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?"
He continued, making it clear he has no regrets about defending his station: "I definitely was on my BS 1,000%. Had to be. Had to protect my team. I had to ride for my team. You guys thought we was just going to gladhand, be happy to be here while y'all just run around with these corporate behemoths."
Ebro also emphasized what he sees as a key difference between the two stations, noting that Hot 97 operates on a smaller scale compared to its corporate-backed competitor.
"A lot of people don't even know Hot 97 is really an independent small flagship," he said. "It's one station. There's no partners all across the globe."
Fat Joe's original comments came during a recent interview on Joe & Jada, where he described the difficult position artists faced choosing between loyalty and broader exposure. He credited Hot 97 for helping launch his career, but said the reach of Power 105.1's parent company created pressure to support them as well.
"You got dictators like Ebro on Hot 97," Joe said. "'You don't come here, we running the show.'"
Joe also pointed out that Power 105's ownership structure meant artists risked losing airplay nationwide if they didn't maintain that relationship.
"What they didn't realize is that that station came with 40 other stations," he said. "So it was like, do you want to be the hottest on Hot 97… or you want to get played in 40 other stations?"