To let New Orleans-hailing producer and DJ Mannie Fresh tell it, there would be no better time than Black History Month for him to sit down with Ebro as an esteemed guest of Apple Music’s The Message. “For me, your family life is Black music,” he says. “By my dad being a DJ, we grew up in that movement of when you saw Black music become conscious, and it gave people a sense of pride. That was a way of life for us, in my household, because my dad was big on the songs that shaped you into a better person, and had a message in them.” This Black History Month in particular, the country’s attention is on The Big Easy, host city of Super Bowl LIX. For Fresh, it’s a beautiful coincidence that has him in high demand for shows and appearances, but also finds him revisiting the music of his upbringing, much of which continues to inform who he is and what he does. “One of the songs that introduced me to hip-hop was Chic’s ‘Good Times,’” he says. “My dad was playing that. But that was also The Sugarhill Gang’s ‘Rapper’s Delight,’ but it still wasn’t my era. But when I heard Run-DMC’s ‘Sucker MC’s’ and ‘It’s Like That,’ I was like, ‘This is what I need to do.’” What he’d go on to do is launch the careers of MCs like Lil Wayne, Juvenile, and Brian “Baby” Williams—just a few of the many names who left their mark as members of Cash Money Records, the label for which Fresh was the primary producer. Cash Money’s output, powered by Fresh’s sound, was ubiquitous in hip-hop clubs across the country from the late 90’s through the mid aughts and did plenty to establish the sound of New Orleans hip-hop on the whole. For his The Message playlist, Fresh of course serves up some Cash Money Records all-timers (“Back That Azz Up,” anyone?), but also some cuts from groups as varied as Fleetwood Mac and Al Green, Rush and UGK. Fresh’s style of DJing—and also music-making—is as pure as it comes, wherein the only thing that matters to him is that what’s coming out of the speakers is speaking directly to his soul. “I think my style of music is my neighborhood,” Fresh says. “[Because] a lot of it got tried out in my neighborhood, doing block parties in my backyard, where I’m just like, ‘OK, this is the recipe. This is the one.’ I love when people are dancing, when they're having a good time, when a beat comes on and it puts a smile on your face.”