Hot 97 Explains Why They Don’t Play Underground Artists
When you consider the amount of bubbling underground talent in New York today, every rapper is trying to get heard on a larger scale. One of those outlets is mainstream radio that has the power to break new artists to their listeners during primetime hours. A question was raised earlier this week by Rap Radar’s Brian “B. Dot” Miller about Hot 97’s role in supporting up-and-coming New York rappers. Ebro Darden, who is the station’s program director, gets the idea of backing them up. But he also argues many of those artists are still in their development stages.
“Yeah, we support those records. But those records are for the minor leagues right now. They still on the come up. We put them on Rosenberg’s real late show until they make it to prime time. Let me explain something. Hot 97 is like the NFL. It’s like the NBA. You don’t just get a slot. You earn a slot."
The clip has already sparked a conversation over Twitter, namely by El-P who gave his own opinion about the state of radio influence. You can check out some tweets from El Producto, and head over to his Twitter to read the rest of it. Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
if you're a radio station that doesn't break new great records because they haven't "earned their slot" you might be forgetting the point.
— el-p (@therealelp) December 9, 2012
unless of course you are talking payola.then i get it. — el-p (@therealelp) December 9, 2012
not to state the obvious but that's kinda why radio is dying.the internet lets you listen to ANYTHING ANYTIME. its a simple truth.
— el-p (@therealelp) December 9, 2012
being the gatekeepers of what people hear only works if they actually have to get by you in order to hear it, and thats just not the case. — el-p (@therealelp) December 9, 2012
therefore in order to be competitive with the new paradigm radio programmers need to re-examine their whole approach or what it all die.
— el-p (@therealelp) December 9, 2012
personally i feel like radio dj's should have more autonomy to play what they like/not have to choose from pre approved content. might help. — el-p (@therealelp) December 9, 2012
one more thought: music is a representation of human consciousness, and like human consciousness it is expansive and varying.
— el-p (@therealelp) December 9, 2012
UPDATE: Sean Price responds to Ebro's claim.
Ok ok ok I just saw that clip with Ebro talking his shit its cool but if u mean I'm minor league because I'm not being played on on his
— DUNBAR OLEGBA (@SeanMandela) December 9, 2012
know what It was disrespectful@rosenbergradio see what I was talking boutand now you turned into one of em FAM I'm done no more TALK
— DUNBAR OLEGBA (@SeanMandela) December 9, 2012
Red and meth don't get radio play are they minor leaguers?
— DUNBAR OLEGBA (@SeanMandela) December 9, 2012
Memphis Bleek don't get radio play is hea minor leaguer
— DUNBAR OLEGBA (@SeanMandela) December 9, 2012
Yeah that shit was disrespectfulFuck it they got that I'm done with itGod bless em
— DUNBAR OLEGBA (@SeanMandela) December 9, 2012
Fuck it man I got a song or 2 in rotation on shade 45 I appreciate that and I appreciate Ebro 2 at least he's honest even tho it was a dis
— DUNBAR OLEGBA (@SeanMandela) December 9, 2012