Is Black Radio Worth Saving?

"As a new mother, with a two-month old, I refuse to let these companies, these corporations, call my daughter a 'bitch,' a 'hoe,' a 'nigger.' It's over. It's not about 'free speech.' It's about you're peddling drugs into the mind of our community. What you do is addicting our children to violence."

--Rosa Clemente, Hot 97 protest, 2005.

"Turn off the radio!/
Turn off that bullsh**!/
... What's on the radio--propaganda, mind control/
And turnin' it on is like puttin' on a blindfold/"

--Dead Prez, "Turn off the Radio," Turn off the Radio: The Mixtape Vol. 1, 2002.

"Can you get down, can you talk trash, can you get funky, can you get nasty? You got the job! Now look, Brother, that's the basis upon which they hire you... Don't you know why Black people are not productive--it's because their minds are being controlled. And you are the agent that they're using. You--in Black music."

--Hon. Min. Louis Farrakhan.

The bill passed last Wednesday in the House, but not before a rally organized by Ms. Hughes, herself, outside Conyers' office.

It should be duly noted that H.R. 848 didn't just spring up like a thief in the night. For months it had been in the works, and for months, faithful public servants like award-winning Hip-Hop journalist, Davey D, had been raising their voices against the dangers it could cause--to Black radio.

As early as January 27, 2009, Davey D had begun sounding the alarm. By February 24, he was convinced that if Conyers greased the wheels for the passage of the bill, "He and his collogues will be regretting their shortsightedness... Conyers and his ilk will one day sadly discover that those outlets will not be able to accommodate them in an effective way because many outlets like mine play music with our talk." At the time, Davey D speculated that perhaps the "esteemed Congressman has been duped and bamboozled. Someone on his staff has given him bad information"; but many of Conyers' opponents aren't so willing to give him that much credit anymore.

Davey D explained, in plain English, the content and character of Conyers' handiwork. It's worth quoting at-length:

If this goes through, what will essentially happen is that we will find ourselves in a situation where it will become real costly to play music. This new coalition is really the same outfit that went and gutted internet radio making it so it costs 18 cent a song per listener. Do the math and ask yourself why we don't have more stations? It's too damn expensive after you reach a certain amount of listeners. The rate is scheduled to go up to 25 cent a song per listener in 3 years.. This means if you have something cracking and you get even half a million listeners it will be impossible for you to pay for it, even with advertising.<

But as much as we've been alerted to the danger involved in a potential loss of this vibrant part of our culture, we must be just as willing to question if this effort, on the part of executives like Cathy Hughes, is even worth it. We should also demand from them what their true motive, in this fight, is. After all, Cathy Hughes, as founder and CEO of Radio One, hasn't been so beneficial to the younger Black community.

In 2007, Jahi, the California-based Hip-Hop artist, asked a timely question: "When will Radio One be held accountable for the music they are feeding to our kids, matter of fact, all of us?" Jahi railed against Radio One and Cathy Hughes for promoting a Spring Fest Miami concert series, with artists whose only prerogatives seem to be the pursuit of material wealth and other self-destructive acquisitions. Jahi felt that as much as Don Imus, the disgrace radio jock, was tossed into the lion's den for his "nappy-headed hoes" comment, and justly so, the Black Imus-lites on the airwaves should be met with equal amounts of antagonism, from an irate community: "The date after the controversy broke, I heard an artist say "beautiful hoe's" on the radio (RADIO ONE). Yeah they bleeped out "hoes" but we all know what was said. What does Radio One and Kathy Hughes have to say about that?"

Jahi has a valid point; but the question, in my view, should be broadened and more inclusive: "What do WE, as a people, as a generation, as a culture, have to say about that?"

If we'll be frank, and I certainly hope we can, most of what is played on Black or "urban" radio stations across the country is unadulterated bullsh**! Bullsh** in perpetuity.. The same hedonistic, materialistic, misogynistic set of 5 - 10 songs is rotated by slow-witted DJ's, whose sole claim to fame is the ability to read scripts--pre-written by record label executives--about how "ill," "hot," "siccckkk," "phat," "dope," and "crack," a select few of commercial artists are.

These fu**ed-up "on-air personalities" couldn't care less what impact their role is having on the collective psyche of the Hip-Hop community. They take pride and joy in a job which trained-robots and machines can do effortlessly and, dare I add, more eloquently. These backbone-less puppets have no depth into which their integrity refuses to dive--as long as the promise of financial solvency abounds. Anyone who doubts the verity of my contention need only switch their radio frequencies to any station with the title "Hot" or "Power" before it.

Another experiment for the non-believers and doubting-Thomases out there: Here are 10 well-known, fairly successful artists who, for sake of their political audacity alone, are less likely, if not totally unexpected, to be heard on Black terrestrial radio:

1.     Jasiri X

2.     Amir Sulaiman

3.     NYOIL

4.     Immortal Technique

5.     Invincible

6.     K'Naan

7.     Rebel Diaz

8.     Paris

9.     Kam

10.   The Conscious Daughters

If by now you remain unconvinced, you're probably one--or an avid fan--of the DJ's I'm referring to. To make it plain: Black talk/music radio is just not where it used to be. To be sure, some evolvement has taken place, but the greater differentiator appears to be deterioration of morality--dialogical morality. Gone are the days of Herb Kent, Richard Pegue, Eddie O'Jay, Frankie Crocker, and Hal Jackson Jr.

Last year, when Black folks would rather go watch "Who's Your Caddy?" than "Talk to Me," a movie based on the life of radio legend, Ralph "Petey" Greene, the truth became plain too see. We could no longer deny our acquiescence to the festival of drivel that now passes for commentary on Black radio stations. The proverbial genie had popped out of the bottle, and very few seemed concerned--at all.

Blame it on the i-i-i-i-i-ignorance?!

We're left with the last of a dying breed--Davey D (KPFA), Mark Thompson (Sirius / XM), Dr. Jared Ball (WPFW), Harry Allen (WBAI), Bev Smith (WAOK), Cedric Muhammad (Black Coffee Channel), Santita Jackson (WVON), Rip Daniels (WJZD), etc.--but the reality and severity of this crisis might be escaping us--judging by our apparent nonchalance.

The future of Black radio depends on what Dr. King described, in 1967, as "the role which the radio announcer plays in the life of our people--for better or for worse." The better we assess this "role," the better the likelihood of success we attain, and the better a strategic plan we map-out to secure the future of Black mass media. Most importantly, we will come to concede that Black radio might be worth saving, but many of the announcers and executives, on-air personalities and DJ's, probably aren't. THEY GOT TO GO!