It has been a rough couple of years for one of New York’s elite hip hop radio stations, Hot 97. The station has had quite the share of controversy among its listeners – and the media industry. One underground radio station actually called for people to picket Hot 97 in response to program director Ebro’s jab at unsigned NYC rap artists and their difficulty getting radio airplay on high-profile stations such as his.
New York artists had even more to say about the Dirty South sound taking over the airwaves. Artists like the L.O.X.,Maino and others challenged Ebro’s opinion on what the problem was with the NY rap music scene, citing issues with continued support for up and coming, as well as established artists seeking radio airplay. Long Island native and hip hop pioneer Chuck D of Public Enemy became very vocal about his disgust of Hot 97 allowing the use of the N-word during Summer Jam. Chuck also had issues with the station’s playlist, accusing songs of promoting sex, drugs, materialism and violence on a daily basis. This is a sentiment also shared Conscious rap star KRS-One agreed with Chuck D, stating Hot 97 does not have “enough balance” in the music being played.
The DJs of Hot 97 are no strangers to scandal either. Ten year veteran DJ Mister Cee resigned from the radio station in September 2013 following an alleged incident of soliciting male cross dressers for prostitution. Earlier that year, Morning Show cohost K. Foxx was fired suddenly after responding defensively to Ebro’s slanderous accusations about how she rose to fame. The most recent blow to Hot 97 came when Angie Martinez announced her sudden migration to rival hip hop station Power 105.
Blogs and online comments clearly insinuate the feelings of hip hop fans everywhere. Hot 97 has very possibly lost it’s touch with the hip hop audience it once helped cultivate. What’s your opinion? Do you think Hot 97 is losing its touch?
