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Angela Martinez (born January 9, 1971 in The Bronx, New York, USA) is an American radio and television personality, hip-hop recording artist, actress, and model. She is of Puerto Rican descent. She also has a son with Tamir "Nokio" Ruffin of Dru Hill.
******* RADIO SUCCESS *******
Martinez got her first break in radio at the age of 16 answering hot lines at the urban radio station Hot 97. There she met popular DJ Funkmaster Flex, and began working as his protégé. Martinez quickly picked up on the craft of running a successful radio program. Executives at the station decided to give her a chance, even though she lacked on-air experience. After only 3 months working over nights, Angie was offered the 6-10pm time slot Monday-Fridays, following the stations headlining talent Wendy Williams. She quickly gained a large fan following, and the popularity of her radio show quickly began to surpass Williams in the ratings. Williams became very competitive and a silent rivalry between the ladies quickly ensued. The tension between them made afternoons at the station very uncomfortable. One night as Williams was delivering her trademark celebrity gossip, she announced that Martinez had been secretly dating rapper Q-Tip, and then questioned her position at the station insinuating that her famous boyfriend had played a role in her promotion. Angie had been in the studio preparing for her own show, and grew infuriated. She stormed into Williams studio and the two ladies began hurling insults back and forth, which led to a physical altercation on-air. Producers and security attempted to break up the fight between the two women. The entire altercation had been broadcasted all over New York City.
Station producers and executives of Emmis Broadcasting began reviewing their options. Since she had started the feud, Williams was released from her contract with the station and Martinez was given her 2-6pm time slot, the most desired time in all of radio. The Angie Martinez Show quickly became the most popular show in all of New York.[citation needed] Talks ensued for Martinez`s show to become nationally syndicated. From 1996-2002, Martinez radio show was ranked #1 in the Arbitron Ratings. The time slot had only fallen from the top position three times, twice while Martinez was promoting her music, and once while she was on maternity leave. During the course of her program, she has had such high profile guests as Eminem, Tupac Shakur, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Mary J. Blige, 50 Cent, Jennifer Lopez, Oprah Winfrey, Jay-Z, Lil` Kim, Larry King, Dr. Phil, Naomi Campbell, Foxy Brown and Aaliyah. Because of her radio success she has been dubbed "The Voice of New York".
In 2002 Martinez was hired by HBO to host a late night talk show entitled "Stretch". All guests would ride in the back of a stretch limo on their way to an event, and Angie would interview them about their latest project, what they did to prepare for the event and then they would show up at the event and the pair would go inside together. It gave a very intimate look into a celebrity preparation. The show was successful and caught the attention of television producer Simon Fuller. Fuller thought that Martinez would become an excellent addition to American Idol. Martinez signed a contract to be the fourth judge alongside Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul and Simon Cowell for the 2, 3 and 4 seasons of the FOX networks ratings giant. After only four days on the audition trial,
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I ran into Snoop one night. I was in the studio later, and I got this beat and thought he would sound great on it. I called him and he came right through that night.
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