Mr. Magic, hip-hop producer, dies of heart attack

A well-known, super rockin' Mr. Magic, who helped almost single handedly bring hip-hop into the mainstream, has died of a heart attack recently.

Mr.Magic, whose real name was John Rivas, co-founded WBLS-FM's Rap Attack radio show in 1983 and helped inspire budding stars like Notorious B.I.G. and Nas with early East Coast rhymes. Rap Attack went off the air in 1989, but Magic remained influential.

He was featured as a DJ for one of the in-game radio stations of the 2002 video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, exposing him to a new audience. Magic's WBLS radio show can also be heard during a scene in "Notorious," the story of B.I.G.'s life.

When not lending his voice to those projects, Magic worked as a hip-hop producer and released a series of greatest hits from Rap Attack.