FUNK FLEX VS. INTERSCOPE: Hot 97 DJ announced boycott of label; station downplayed it as 'entertaining radio that went too far.'

       On his April 21 show, Flex called out Interscope executive Nino Cuccinello, saying, "New York I am talking to a person who makes decisions who does things up there, moving funny style. Nino is moving so bad. If you are anywhere in the tri-state area, I’m talking about people New York that control the music business and they control certain artists that they do not want you to see, but they want the pop stations to have. This is where I come in.”       

       According to Allhiphop.com, that’s when Flex apologized to Interscope executive Step Johnson and stated that he would not be playing any Eminem or Dr. Dre records.       

       But, Hot 97 Program Director E-Bro Darden said Flex’s statements were simply entertaining radio that had gone too far.       

       "We've never held back on a whole label's music," Darden told The New York Daily News. "And we won't.”       

       Darden stated that Hot 97 maintained good relationships with various labels and joked: “we had to muzzle Flex, ... people know a lot of what he says is showmanship, but that went too far."