Hip Hop Radio Politics


b-boys.com \| the stagnation of hip-hop: radio saturation by bobby frazitta.

The Stagnation of Hip-Hop: Radio Saturation

First of all, I'd like to thank all those who wrote e-mails to me regarding my last essay. I appreciate your positive feedback and for taking the time to read it. Also, I'd like to thank Brian for allowing me to voice my opinions. Hopefully, you all feel they are relevant and substantiated with fact as well. Now that I've discussed the pollution of the industry I would like to discuss an issue we all know a lot about and that is the repetitiveness and saturation of radio. I will draw my experience from the radio in my area of Washington, D.C.

A major reason why you continue to see record labels pushing the same type of artists and the same sound is due largely to the overplay of songs on the radio. Program managers think they know what people want to hear and what will make people want to stay tuned to listen to. What it's really about is money. Radio plays the watered down music, labels collect royalties and the result is that labels see what is being pushed by radio. It's all about money. How so?

Well, the corporate entity of these radio stations predicates their airplay on ratings. They play what is catchy and what is played in clubs. As a DJ, I know that there is a time and place for certain types of hip-hop. I'm an underground fan, but if you're going to play at clubs it becomes somewhat of a catch 22 because you need to balance what you like and what others like. In clubs, people want to dance. Basically, it's difficult to drop The Last Emperor or K-Otix on a club crowd. They just won't accept it. I understand this. Yet there needs to be radio time for hip-hop that is positive in nature or even different than the status quo commercialized stuff. Stations are scared to experiment with underground music, I think. They fear listener rejection when it just isn't that way in my opinion. These stations all shoot themselves in the foot.

Let me give you an example. A local DC station promoted a stop the violence concert with DMX as the headliner. It eventually fell through, but it was quite peculiar. In fact, it was almost unbelievable. I'd bet that many stations around the country have a stop the violence theme and then play violent music. I don't know about you, but that is unfathomable. It's an ignorant message delivered to listeners and perhaps a confusing one. If you promote peace, then playing violent music makes you look stupid.

Money and ratings have gotten in the way of playing an assortment of hip-hop. Even the people I know who are fans of Cash Money, No Limit, DMX, and Jay-Z get tired of hearing the same tracks repeated throughout the day. It's done with R&B as well. It's almost as if these program managers are so stubborn that they don't care if we can't stand the repetitiveness. Still, regardless of what we think, sponsors keep these stations afloat.

It's become a double-edged sword because indeed some people do stay tuned in and do listen to what is played. This is where radio airplay has literally made people ignorant and in some ways stupid. Why? Because most of the music played on hip-hop radio stations is pushing the message of driving Benzes, rocking ice, and slapping bitches. People who listen to that over and over start believing that what they hear is representative of hip-hop when it's not. In the DC area since 1996, there has been a decline in the quality of hip-hop, mainly underground music that is played. It's non-existent except for a Reflection Eternal track here and there. What's sad is that the live DJ's that are brought in to spin are told to play particular songs or else. It's true. Any deviation from the list of songs and you're done.

The tyranny of the corporate entity is fascinating because if they knew what a lot of people listened to and appreciated, they would not continue to annoy us with the same watered down jiggy nonsense. I believe these people are out of touch with the hip-hop community. They don't know jack, period.

The bottom line is that at least where I live there is a severe misrepresentation of hip-hop culture. Well, maybe that's why it remains underground hip-hop, but I remember the days when the radio here played Show and AG, Tribe, Kane, Eric B. and Rakim, Pete Rock and CL Smooth, KRS, Special Ed, Large Professor, and all that amazing hip-hop we all love from the early to mid 90's. It was phenomenal to turn on the radio and hear that emcee shredding a mic or that DJ cutting. Now we see the pollution of record executives recreating the same sounds and artists because radio has established that they will only promote this type of music to get ratings and money. I realize I'm reiterating many of the things I said in my last essay, but I think refreshing memories can lead to action.

Let me give you an analogy. I've been educated in the field of Communication at Marymount University in Arlington, Virginia by some of the best professors in the field of journalism. A professor of mine discussed with us an alarming trend in ownership of news radio and TV stations and newspapers.

Basically, he said that journalistic integrity and objectivity are now sacrificed at times so not to offend stockholders and corporate ownership of the station or publication. Essentially, reporters now have a fear in their mind that investigating certain people or uncovering controversy might cost them their job. In the journalism field this is prevalent among corporate people whose jobs are either maintained or lost depending on quarterly ratings. I see these same problems in hip-hop radio. It's silly really. Why not play some Last Emp or K-Otix or Planet Asia on the radio? People will like it. I bet my life on it.

Stations are limiting themselves to a particular audience; people who go to clubs and like the iced out music. Those same people can be introduced to real hip-hop and underground heads can once again turn on their radios and pump some good shit in their ride or dorm rooms.

What Can Be Done? It's hard to say. I wish I had control over every hip-hop station. There are still a few who specialize in underground/independent hip-hop. I don't live in those places so I'm jealous of those who do. Adding onto my journalism analogy, there will in ten years probably be no independent radio stations. Major conglomerates or corporations will own them all. That's bad news for those who'd like to see more hip-hop on so-called hip-hop radio stations. People will play what sells.

What stations don't understand is that what sells is what they play, and if they played more pure hip-hop it would be spread to those who aren't familiar with it. That would end the saturation. This is wishful thinking. Don't expect this to happen anytime soon. As long as jobs are on the line and ratings need to be superior, radio listeners will stay ignorant and program managers will misrepresent hip-hop. It will be extremely difficult to keep corporate heads that don't know shit about hip-hop from telling people what is hip-hop and how to make it. What is more feasible is this. I'd like to see these stations back up their station mottos of stopping violence and increasing the peace. A lot of underground artists like Kweli, Mos Def, and a host of others are in the forefront of returning hip-hop back to its roots. Recreating creativity. Rocking the mic with skills not rolling in rented cars in videos. These stations better back their words because in the end they are responsible in part for contributing to the destruction of hip-hop culture, as we know it. I'm out! Peace.

Any Comments and Feedback can be sent to: Bobby Frazitta, Virginia

Bobby is a Communications major at Marymount University in Arlington, VA. He continues to contribute his thoughts and knowledge to our site and community.

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