Cipha Sounds (born Luis Diaz; on April 19, 1976) is an American DJ, comedian, and radio and television personality of Puerto Rican[1] descent.
[2] After he returned to the U.S., Hot 97's Funkmaster Flex asked Sounds to join his Big Dawg Pitbulls crew.
On Sirius Satellite Radio's Shade 45 channel, he hosted a show called The Cipha Sounds Effect along with Angela Yee, DJ Wonder and the Emoticon Farragut Foster.
Before moving on from Shade 45, Sounds started The Juan Epstein Podcast [4] which became the weekend morning show on Hot 97 with Peter Rosenberg.
After months of growing tension, and less than 24 hours after he had criticized management on a podcast regarding his removal as interim host of the afternoon show, Cipha was fired from Hot 97.
[7] These remarks also drew criticism from other radio personalities namely Charlamagne Tha God, co-host of The Breakfast Club Power 105.1, in which he responded on-air by nominating Cipha Sounds for the show's "Donkey of the Day" (but instead for the "Year") and said: "I'm from the south, so I know about hatred toward ethnic groups.
[9] In April 2006, he became the host of MTV's urban music video program Direct Effect which later became Sucker Free.
[15] The show features hip hop artists telling true life stories, which then inspire scenes performed by a cast of improvisors known as "A Tribe Called YES".