Jayson Rodriguez

Brooklyn

Jayson Rodriguez

Brooklyn

Covering hip-hop, R&B and popular culture for over a decade, Jayson Rodriguez, former senior writer for MTV News, has interviewed some of the biggest names in music during his career, including Drake, Alicia Keys, Kanye West, Katy Perry, Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre, among others.

In 2007, his sit down with Jay-Z earned him recognition by MTV as one of the 10 best interviews of the year, where his work was highlighted among peers Sway Calloway, John Norris and Suchin Pak.

Rodriguez also exercised his talents beyond news gathering, writing for television (2009's "Chris Brown: The Interview") and various media outlets, including Billboard, Complex and Rolling Stone ("Drake's Big Break").

From May 2011 to December 2012, he served on the staff of XXL magazine as its executive editor, where across 12 issues he penned four cover stories, supervised the editorial, art and online staff and contributed to the company's digital strategy.

Last year, Rodriguez was appointed editorial director at REVOLT Media & TV, where he oversees the network's EDM, indie and hip-hop coverage online and contributes to social media and broadcast news coverage strategy.

An avid social media enthusiast, Complex named him one of the 25 must follow music writers on Twitter.

Rodriguez graduated from the University of Delaware with a B.A. in English and obtained his master's in journalism from N.Y.U.

He currently resides in Brooklyn, New York and still thinks Biggie Smalls is the illest.

  • Education
    • NYU, University of Delaware