Daniel Louis Charnas (born August 30, 1967) is an American author, radio host and record company executive. He is considered to have played a role in the creation of

hip-hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...

journalism. A native of

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, Charnas graduated with honors from

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

in 1989 with a bachelor's degree in communications. In 2007, Charnas earned a master's degree from the

Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism The Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism is located in Pulitzer Hall on the university's Morningside Heights campus in New York City. Founded in 1912 by Joseph Pulitzer, Columbia Journalism School is one of the oldest journalism sch ...

. His master's thesis was titled ''Shocked: Birthright Unplugged challenges Birthright Israel in an epic battle for the hearts and minds of American Jews''. As a radio personality, Charnas hosted a segment on

KPWR KPWR (105.9 FM broadcasting, FM) – branded as ''Power 106'' – is a commercial radio station in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, broadcasting to the Greater Los Angeles area. KPWR is owned and operated by Alex Meruelo's Meruelo Group, t ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. As a journalist he was a writer for the hip-hop magazine ''

The Source The Source may refer to: Film and television * ''The Source'' (1918 film), 1918 American drama directed by George Melford * ''The Source'' (1999 film), a 1999 documentary film about the Beat generation * ''The Source'' (2002 film), a 2002 scienc ...

''. He became a talent scout for

Profile Records Profile Records was one of the earliest hip hop labels. As well as hip-hop they released disco, dance, and electro records. History In 1980, Cory Robbins, who was 23 at the time and had worked briefly for MCA, wanted to start a record label ...

and later ran the rap division of American Recordings in a joint venture with

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (known as Warner Bros. Records Inc. until 2019) is an American record label. A subsidiary of Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division ...

. In 2010 he wrote the book '' The Big Payback'' about the history of the hip-hop business. In 2022 his book ''

Dilla Time ''Dilla Time: The Life and Afterlife of J Dilla, the Hip-Hop Producer Who Reinvented Rhythm'' is a 2022 biography of hip hop producer J Dilla written by Dan Charnas. It chronicles the life of J Dilla until his death in 2006, as well as his posthu ...

'', on the life and works of hip-hop producer

J Dilla James Dewitt Yancey (February 7, 1974 – February 10, 2006), better known by the stage names J Dilla and Jay Dee, was an American record producer, composer and rapper. He emerged from the mid-1990s underground hip hop scene in Detroit, Michiga ...

, was published. Charnas is an associate professor at the

Tisch School of the Arts The New York University Tisch School of the Arts (commonly referred to as Tisch) is the performing, cinematic, and media arts school of New York University. Founded on August 17, 1965, as the School of the Arts at New York University, Tisch ...

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

and has been a thesis advisor at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Charnas, Dan 1967 births Living people American music journalists Hip-hop people American radio journalists American music industry executives Journalists from New York City Boston University College of Communication alumni Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism alumni Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism faculty Tisch School of the Arts faculty Jewish American journalists