Black Music Month: Mark Green

In honor of Black Music Month, Vanessa Tyler spotlights the influential yet often unsung music executive Mark Green — a behind-the-scenes force who helped shape the soundtracks of our lives.

Though his name isn’t on stage, his impact resonates through decades of iconic R&B and the early foundations of rap. From helping break some of the genre’s biggest artists to guiding careers that would go on to define eras, Mark Green’s legacy is woven into the fabric of Black music history.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
I'm Vanessa Tyler celebrating black music mom. Often we focus
on the artists Usher, Diana Ross, Shaka Khan, but few
of us know the people off stage and making it
all happen, people like music executive Mark Green.

Speaker 2 (00:18):
Mark welcome, Oh, thank you, thank you so much for
having me.

Speaker 1 (00:22):
Those names I mentioned, superstars, Usher, Diana Ross, Shaka Khan,
just a few of your clients. Talk about that collaboration,
just a part of your illustrious career.

Speaker 2 (00:34):
Well, you know, I had the opportunity to work with
Usher as his second road manager, and uh probably two
years after that, he ended up calling me back to
be his road manager again, and that was kind of
around the time we were getting ready to do the
Janet Jackson tour.

Speaker 1 (00:50):
Mark Green has done it all in the black music
biz and with just about everybody. Road manager for major shows,
and manager and agent with people like Shaka Conn.

Speaker 2 (01:03):
At one time, she signed with Prince with his record label,
so I was responsible for her promotions and marketing of
her album, taking her to the radio stations, worked with
her as an agent. Tina Marie Tina was one of
my favorite artists and it was it was such a

(01:25):
blessing that during the time, she was looking trying to
get a record deal, and I happened to again have
a deal with Warner Brothers Light Near and I signed
it to my label, and we had became friends and
we spent a lot of time talking about everything, life, music,
you name it. So I'd like to say she was
probably one of my closest friends in the industry.

Speaker 1 (01:53):
Mark Green has a part in hip hop history too.
You know.

Speaker 2 (01:57):
I kind of was introduced to hip hop or app
in nineteen seventy seven by being a DJ and performing
in the Battle of the DJs in the Bronx. That
was the first time I heard rapping. I brought it
back to New Jersey and I kind of became, I
guess hood famous in the hood. And during that time,
a guy was following me around named Guyle' Brown and

(02:17):
kept saying, what are you doing? How does that happen?
Where do you get that? From?

Speaker 1 (02:21):
The soaking up all that knowledge Mark Green was giving
about this new genre was the guy better known as
the one they call Master G the group Sugar Hill Gang,
who produced the first major hip hop song, rappers Delight.
I said, I go unforget oh do medical domester ge
Well That's one of the stories in Mark's new book

(02:42):
titled The Show Must go On.

Speaker 2 (02:44):
At the end of the day, no matter what happened
during that time, the show must go on. So my
book is my story, and I wrote the story hoping
to inspire others. You know. The whole idea was to
really to inspire others by sharing the lessons I believe
earn and the incredible stories from work with these legends
who have defined hip hop and R and B. And

(03:05):
it's really a celebration of perseverance, passion and the transformation
of power of music. Mark, thank you, thank you, thank
you for having me with us.

Speaker 1 (03:13):
Honoring the sounds that shape the culture. I'm Vanessa Tyler
and the Black Information Network. You're home for Black News
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