There used to be several great things about New Haven: Pizza (specifically Modern Apizza), quick access to NYC (well, 100 min train ride), and listening to Hot 97 in my car. The signal comes in clearest on I-95 or Route 15, both of which I have been using with unprecedented regularity over the past week. I have driven to and from New York at least 5 times this week; almost double the number of times I've done it in the last 8 years. So, after almost an entire 24 hours worth of drive-listening, I felt it necessary to compose the following missive.
Dear Hot 97,
As a recently returned New England-expat, I was very excited to listen to Hot 97 in my car again. I remember how you brought the heat, musically speaking, and kept me up to date on hiphop. Without a doubt, Hot 97 was the only radio station qualified to serenade my ears. Hot 97 was a shining oasis in a sea of Prophet, Clear Channel, and short playlists.
You may notice my use of the past tense above; it is intentional. The Hot 97 of today, is rather different from the one I used to listen too in high school and during college breaks. Apparently today's playlist was a unending loop of 3 Drake/Young Money tracks (Best I Ever Had, Every Girl, Successful, and now That One w/ MJB). For every six times I heard Drake, I heard maybe one JayZ (D.O.A), Wale (Chillin), or even Kid Cudi (Day and Night - the techno remix no less) track. (ed note: for those of you regular readers, you may notice some similarity to/overlap with this week's Culturology. I can assure you that I drafted this at least a week before Pete last logged into WordPress)
Now, I understand Drizzy and anyone even remotely affiliated with Lil Wayne is a hot commodity these days. I also know that you have to give the people what they want. I've even begun to accept the rapid decline of hiphop thanks to youngsters like Soulja Boy and ignorant fools like Shawty Lo. I get all that. I know that radio has a lot to do with money.
But when did you allow jackass Weezy et al to outright buy your playlist? Last I checked, blatant over the counter payola was illegal. And, how on EARTH is Fab's Throw It In The Bag track your #1 on the midday countdown? Clearly the streets are not being represented. Anyone with even half a brain knows that the last track Fab did with any semblance of 'heatrock'ness was Breathe. Additionally, does Miss Info provide anything that her blog does not? I don't want to hear celebrity news during my midday forays into the city, all I want is hiphop! And another thing, how about a little old school RnB in the morning - give the kids a little taste of where some of these killer samples came from. I don't mean the 90's, I mean Chaka Khan's Through The Fire and Robert Flack's Killing Me Softly. There is (was?) an independent station in Rochester (whose name I don't recall since it's been 5 years) that does this amazingly well. Seriously, drive your asses to Rochester for some dope ass radio.
Obviously, I can get my musical fix via alternate methods, but I maintain that radio is the purest form of in-car entertainment. Additionally, my iPod was stolen the week and my car can't handle XM, so throw me a frickin' bone here. Moreover, I want to like Hot 97, it has a storied history of world premiers and exclusives. I value that and good programming. As they say, variety is the spice of the life. So let's put the heat back in Hot 97!
Sincerely,
Neal - AudioShocker.com
Granted, radio is hardly relevant beyond one's car, what with the internet and all. But you get what I'm trying to say right? On another note, I'll be out of blog range until the 21st. Peace!
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