The 2014 holiday season gifted Indianapolis radio listeners with a very pleasant treat in the form of old school hip-hop. It seemed you couldn’t go anywhere without hearing people rave about i94’s rotation of jams from Notorious B.I.G to Rakim, Salt n Pepa, and more.
Social media exploded as fans begged to make this groove last forever. Recently, in an official announcement from Cumulus, WRWM-FM/i94 launched as 93.9 The Beat, an Indianapolis’ Classic Hip-Hop station.
Jay Michaels, program director for 93.9 The Beat and 104.5 WJJK, has been with Cumulus for two and a half years under the station’s previous format.
“We were an adult Top 40 previously so we were playing a lot of Maroon 5, Taylor Swift, that kind of stuff,” he said. “It’s a very crowded market competing against other Top 40 stations. I think we had a huge hole and a huge underserved population in this market.”
Although the classic hip-hop format is new to Indianapolis, places like Jacksonville, Fla., Detroit, and Chicago have been successfully exploring and experimenting the genre for years.
In October of 2014, Radio One introduced a classic hip-hop option in Houston with Boom 92, replacing a poorly performing news station. Within a month, Boom, whose personalities include Jay Rio, formerly of 96.3 FM in Indianapolis saw its ratings skyrocket.
“We are not changing, this is here for good,” said Michaels. “We have a lot of fun things planned, like our launch show on Feb. 7 at the Vogue starring (rapper) Nelly. That’s really where we’re going to kick it off.”
He also revealed that radio personalities are on the way. Although he couldn’t say how many, he shared some of them will be familiar faces and others will be new kids on the block.
Michaels said the response from both advertisers and listeners has been amazing. “We knew this would be big but I don’t think we expected it to grow so quickly,” he said. “This is music everybody knows and it crosses every gender, age, race barrier and I think it’s our generations answer to what classic rock is to rock fans. I hate to call this music oldies or classic, this is stuff I grew up with and it invokes memories of high school and college.”
The station plans to create new memories with listeners by getting involved in community engagement initiatives. They have already committed to participating in the multiple sclerosis walk as well as the Indiana Aids Walk. Utilizing its growing social media following, 93.9 has pledged to use the hashtag #939Cares to spread information about not for profit organizations and will also partner with them to run Public Service Announcements on the air.
“That’s the most exciting thing to me,” he said. “Our logo has the skyline of Indy in it and we want to embed ourselves in the community and the city.”
Top 10 Hip-Hop Songs of the 90s
10. Eazy-E – “Boyz N’ Tha Hood”
9. Naughty by Nature – “Hip-Hop Hooray”
8. Busta Rhymes – “Gimme Some More”
7. Eminem – “My Name Is”
6. Beastie Boys – “Sabotage”
5. Wu Tang Clan – “C.R.E.A.M.”
4. Snoop Dogg – “Who Am I (What’s My Name)?”
3. Jay-Z – “Big Pimpin’”
2. Notorious B.I.G. – “Hypnotize”
1. 2Pac – “California Love”
Source: Thoughtcatalog.com.
