Charlie Stettler

Charlie Stettler and his partner Lynda West manage and developed the career of JR, star of the “JRSportBrief Show on CBS Sports Radio.” The JRSportBrief brand has now become one of the fastest growing and most popular sports properties on the airwaves and internet.

Charlie and Lynda also managed and developed the Fat Boys, Ed Lover & Doctor Dré (YO!MTV RAPS and HOT 97 Radio), Leslie “Big Lez” Segar (BET’s Rap City), Run (of Run DMC), Michael Monroe (Hanoi Rocks), DJ Skribble, Emmanuel “Tiny” Yarbrough, Latin Rascals, as well as Fatman Scoop and wife Shanda of MTV’s Man and Wife.

They created, negotiated, and produced numerous successful projects including The YO! MTV Raps 30th Anniversary Experience at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, Krush Groove, introduced Swatch Watch to America, The Disorderlies, and secured the first corporate sponsorship of a Hip-Hop event in the USA. Video and links below.

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NY TIMES : The Swiss School of Rap – Charlie Stettler is a PT Barnum who helped transport an inner city black idiom to suburban rec rooms. 

  • Producer: YO! MTV Raps 30th Anniversary Experience, Barclays Center
    • Over 9000 in attendance
    • Livestream surpassing over 800,000 streams
    • Legendary artists performed on the same page together for the first time, including Big Daddy Kane & the Juice Crew, Brand Nubian, Beatnuts, DAS EFX, Doug E Fresh, EPMD, Eric B & Rakim, Flava Flav, KRS ONE, Large Professor, MC Lyte, Nice & Smooth, Onyx, Pharcyde, YBT, Black Sheep, Kurtis Blow, Fushnickens, ED OG, Roxanne Shante, Fat Joe and DJ’s Chuck Chillout, DJ Scratch, Kid Capri, Marley Marl, Red Alert,  hosted by: Ed Lover, Doctor Dre, Fab Five Freddy, T-Money and DJ Skribble
    • The show generated millions of impressions pre, during, and post show. Deemed “one of the greatest classic hip hop shows of all time.”
  • JRSportBrief Co-Founder
  • MTV “Man and Wife” franchise, starring Fatman Scoop and Shanda
  •  “Ambassadors of Hoops” – A film detailing the history of Americans’ involvement in European basketball, showcasing the nearly 40-year history of African American players.
  •  “Who’s the Man”–A film produced by Stettler for New Line Cinema, starring Ed Lover and Doctor Dré and directed by Ted Demme.  Co-starring Salt ‘n’ Pepa, Denis Leary, with 50 hip hop cameos including: Queen Latifah, Ice-T, Naughty by Nature, Heavy D, Cypress Hill, Flava Flav, and featuring Bill Bellamy, Bernie Mac and Colin Quinn. Opened number one comedy in the U.S. with two thumbs up from Siskel and Ebert.  MTV, as marketing partner, produced a one-hour special and extensive coverage during Spring Break.
  • “Naked Under Our Clothes” – Dré & Ed’s biographical fun for Simon & Schuster.
  • “Phat Comedy” Series – Caroline’s Comedy Club with Ed Loverand Doctor Dre
  • “It’s Like That” – a spiritual memoir by Reverend Run.
  • DJ Skribble – most popular DJ on MTV.  Skribble’s banner presence on MTV includes six years on the “Spring Break” shows (highest-rated every year), Jerry Springer’s “Springer Breaks,” “TRL,” “MTV Jams” with Tyrese, “The Grind,” Sisqo’s “Shakedown,” “Fly 2K,” DJ Skribble’s “Essential Mix DJ Skribble” was one of the first American DJ doing an Essential Mix for Atlantic Records/Warner.  His follow-up, “Essential Spring Break 2001,” debuted #1 on Billboard’s “Heatseekers”named DJ Skribble “Best DJ” in their annual Readers Poll –became Official NFL DJ, co-hosting the NFL Kickoff Party 2002in Times Square in front of 500,000 people and performing during the Super Bowl and Pro Bowl.
  • First person to get Corporate America to sponsor a Hip Hop Event
  • February, ’83:  Stettler and West organized the Tin Pan Apple Rap & Breakdance Contest, (the first major hip hop event) raising capital for a five-week event with free-admission finals at Radio City Music Hall for 6000 inner city kids sponsored by Coca-Cola and WBLS.  History was made: WBLS took the Arbitron book for the quarter, the show was the first urban format at Radio City, and three chubby Brooklyn teenagers calling themselves the Disco 3 were the rap winners. Stettler renamed them the “Fat Boys”, a name and concept he and West created and trademarked.
  • Branding the Fat Boys–For six years, the Fat Boys remained the only rap/pop group with five gold and platinum albums and two motion pictures to their credit.

– First Hip Hop group wearing tour jackets (logo designed by West); – only Hip Hop group performing in Wembley Stadium in front of 100,000 people for Nelson Mandela’s 70th Birthday Tribute; – first Hip Hop group visiting East Germany while still under Soviet control; – first Hip Hop group appearing in a TV commercial, Swatch Watch; – first Hip Hop group starring in their own motion picture,  “Disorderlies”

– First Hip Hop group appearing during Super Bowl halftime show: “Chillin’ with William “The Refrigerator” Perry; – two-time Nickelodeon Kids Choice Award nominees: 1988 and 1989; – “Wipeout” was the most requested video on MTV during the summer of 1988 and topped the charts for 18 weeks.

  • Stettler appeared in all Fat Boys Videos  Sample: “The Twist” with Chubby Checker
  • The Fat Boys receive deluxe reissue treatment 
  • Breaking Swatch Watch in America
  • 1984 – 1988,  Stettler secured $300k sponsorship from Swatch Watch to sponsor the first “New York City Fresh Fest”,  5 years of  40-50 city annual sold-out tours with the Fat Boys, Run DMC, Salt ‘n Pepa, L.L. Cool J, Kurtis Blow, Grandmaster Flash & the Furious 5,Whodini, Heavy D and many others. Other Sponsors: Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Sprite and Mountain Dew.
  • 92KTU BIG BREAK DANCE CONTEST @ the world famous ROXY, hosted for WABC TV by Leslie Uggams and Carlos de Jesus, with performances by Afrika Bambaataa, The Commodores, Love Bug Starksi and Shannon.
  • By the end of the year, Tin Pan Apple noise became the hit gift for Christmas
  • ’82 at retailers like Bloomingdale’s and Bendel’s selling over 250,000 copies. They released a 12″ rap (unknown in mainstream music at that time) version of the noise in February of ‘83.  To promote it, Tin Pan Apple organized the Tin Pan Apple Rap & Break-dance Contest (see above)

A commitment to the “entertainment” in the entertainment industry enables Stettler to clothe hard work in gorilla suits, march elephants and camels through promotions, or stage an impromptu chorus line on the conference table at a McDonald’s sponsorship meeting.  Stettler believes in a policy of hands-on creative involvement with each project, but persistence and good relationships are at the root of his achievement.  Stettler is originally from Switzerland, played professional soccer and studied Business Administration.  He speaks several languages.