Hot 97 is thriving right now. I know it doesn’t look that way as it deals with an underwhelming Summer Jam, Peter Rosenberg deciding he wants to beef with Chuck D, and Funkmaster Flex dedicating valuable airtime to decades-old industry beef. For anyone with a longer view, the station’s decline from the epicenter of New York rap to just another player in the game is especially grim. But we’re talking about Hot 97, and we’re talking about what happens on the air. That’s something very few radio stations can say in 2014.Terrestrial radio is dealing with a world that no longer has any need for terrestrial radio. For all the corporate chirping about the potential of HD Radio or whatever other snake oil is being pitched to shareholders, the internet ruined their business model. Broadcasting companies spent the 90’s consolidating, buying up radio stations and formatting them to target specific demographics. You only heard what they wanted you to hear, which was what was being sold to you and people like you at that moment. It was a very effective machine that made a lot of people very rich, but it relied on throttling alternative music. Then Napster came along and blew everything up.Rap radio stations have weathered this storm better than most. Stations like “The X: (Insert City Here)’s Home for Alternative Rock” fell the fuck off super quick because indie rock had spent decades uniting generations of fans against the corporate limitations of rock radio. Rap radio, while still corrupt, provincial and thoroughly tied into the interests of labels and corporations, has always had a better track record of giving the people what they want. The same DJ’s manning the decks on the radio are also in the clubs. If you were a DJ in New Orleans in 1995 and you could get shot for not playing “Bout It Bout It” at night, that was going to impact what you did on the air. And so rap radio continues to be a reasonably accurate reflection of its city’s music tastes: Power 99 in Philly really does play Philly and Jersey Club joints straight off the Soundcloud, not to mention deep Meek Mill mixtape cuts.Even so, rap radio is still coping with a defunct business model, searching for a way to add value to replace its lost monopoly. Hot 97 faces an especially large deficit. At the height of its power, it was the gatekeeper for so much of hip-hop, often able to single-handedly dictate an artist’s fate. The station has coped by doubling down on what they still have: on-air personalities, a huge audience, and an extensive rolodex. Rosenberg’s interviews, Funk Flex’s rant-filled, Dadaesque DJ sets, and Miss Info’s wit and charm are all woven into the hip-hop mediascape in a way little on radio (or TV!) is. A lot of rap stations have Summer Jams, but its location and its history make Hot 97’s annual concert especially notable. Where else is G-Unit going to reunite? And while my perspective is obviously skewed by living in Brooklyn, it’s still the biggest market in the country—big enough to make that point somewhat moot. I don’t have the numbers but Hot 97 has managed to stay very relevant even after losing its outsized tastemaking power.But Hot 97 is a media company. Such enterprises live and die by the amount of attention they attract. They once had the unfathomable power of “being the only place to hear a brand new Big Pun single in 2001.” When radio was king and Hot 97 was THE radio station for hip-hop in New York, where the entire industry was based, this was HUGE. No amount of “insightful conversation with Nas” and “Flex premiering ”Otis“ for 20 minutes straight” can replace that. You know what can? Trolling.Now, let me be clear: I love Hot 97 for the most part. I love turning on the radio at all hours and hearing dudes like Mista Cee, Flex, Cipha, Camilo, and Big Ben doing what they do. I love that there’s three hours of Bobby Konders and Jabba flying the dancehall flag per week. And I respect Rosenberg and Ebro for sticking to their guns. The station’s grumpy New York exceptionalism is real “New York” in a way many things in this city no longer are (I say, as a transplant with a dad from Flatbush). But why would Peter Rosenberg question the credentials of invincible hip-hop legend Chuck D? Because it will piss people off and they’ll talk about it. After all, nobody is easier to piss off than rap fans, especially those who hold “the culture” dear. This shit doesn’t have to make sense because it makes money.We live in an era where there is no such thing as bad press and a lot of people are cashing in on the ignorance of that fact. If it’s not a politician saying something batshit crazy to rile up his base, it’s a publication decontextualizing a politician’s totally sensible statement to make a clickbaity headline. Hot 97 has pivoted remarkably well in a changing media landscape but they’ve done so by adopting some talk-radio strategies. So next time Rosenberg or Ebro says something outrageous, save yourself the trouble of asking “why” because you already know.Skinny Friedman want to bring serial radio shows back. He's on Twitter - @skinny412--Want more? We interviewed Ebro, 50 Cent, and Coolio.
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