Ebro on the Combat Jack Show

[TLR Is Mental Poison]

It's AMAZING how many people in this thread CLEARLY DID NOT listen to the whole interview-

Either that or n-ggas comprehension skills have decreased greatly in these A.D.D. and revisionist historian times....

wow

There are SO MANY gems dropped in this interview, PAY ATTENTION!!!!
Of course he ain't gonna keep it all 100%, he has a JOB and would like to keep it, he even said such in the beginning of the interview.

That being said; this interview is prolly the best you gonna get from a Program Director of a Urban Radio Station that didn't grow up mountain climbing and playing electric guitar.

carry-on

EXACTLY.

If you came away from this and didn't have your mind changed about how radio works you weren't paying attn

 

[submarine1]

of course he can't speak on PAYOLA either- he works for a CORPORATE ENTITY
don't be naive

 

[TLR Is Mental Poison]

of course he can't speak on PAYOLA either- he works for a CORPORATE ENTITY
don't be naive

Even w/o payola there are a million things driving the narrow selection of music on Hot 97- the largest being what songs make people keep their radios on vs make them change the channel

Did you listen to the damn interview

 

[submarine1]

I wasnt speaking on PAYOLA per the interview but Mainstream Radio in general mayne.
stay focused.

 

[Newark88]

If any of ya'll were the PD at Hot 97, how would you incorporate underground artists into the programming? And mind you, the only two underground shows Hot already have are Kay Slay's show on Thursday nights and Rosenberg's show on Sunday nights.

 

[submarine1]

If any of ya'll were the PD at Hot 97, how would you incorporate underground artists into the programming? And mind you, the only two underground shows Hot already have are Kay Slay's show on Thursday nights and Rosenberg's show on Sunday nights.

THIS.

Hot97 has their lane/slots filled on playing "underground hiphop".
A lot of this still has to do with the changing definition of RADIO in today's environment- but Hot97 is chillin like "nah we good" on that one.
Dude already said-
"anybody anywhere can make music now aint no more regions and social media has changed it all....the kids are talking about only GOOD or BAD music now"

 

[Busby]

It's AMAZING how many people in this thread CLEARLY DID NOT listen to the whole interview-

Either that or n-ggas comprehension skills have decreased greatly in these A.D.D. and revisionist historian times....

wow

There are SO MANY gems dropped in this interview, PAY ATTENTION!!!!
Of course he ain't gonna keep it all 100%, he has a JOB and would like to keep it, he even said such in the beginning of the interview.

That being said; this interview is prolly the best you gonna get from a Program Director of a Urban Radio Station that didn't grow up mountain climbing and playing electric guitar.

carry-on

This the internet breh..nikkas are lazy and like just to be funny

 

[TLR Is Mental Poison]

I wasnt speaking on PAYOLA per the interview but Mainstream Radio in general mayne.
stay focused.

I mean he was speaking on Hot 97, and again, payola can only go so far

 

[Tetris v2.0]

THIS.

Hot97 has their lane/slots filled on playing "underground hiphop".
A lot of this still has to do with the changing definition of RADIO in today's environment- but Hot97 is chillin like "nah we good" on that one.
Dude already said-
"anybody anywhere can make music now aint no more regions and social media has changed it all....the kids are talking about only GOOD or BAD music now"

Its not so much "underground hiphop" as it is music with substance. Its just hilarious that Ebro only fukks with that music personally, but does not make any effort to incorporate that music into the mix. As PD, hes in a position to dictate what becomes popular, if hes not willing to ever take a chance, then obviously nothing will change. It seems like his job requires less "expertise" and creative opinion/insight than you'd think. It seems like he just watches where the numbers rise and fall and then reacts, like an app or software program could do

I dont blame Ebro, hes doing what is expected of him and probably doing it well. His job doesnt require a "social responsibility" just a responsibility to shareholders and advertisers. Some of you are acting like your eyes have been opened, but we didnt need him to tell us that.

Hip-hop aint getting special treatment, its the same principle as other genres, films, video games, news, food/diet....Theres a corporate agenda for everything. Better question: How do you sway people away from corporate interests and trash products and teach them to appreciate quality, things that foster their health and mind? Most people are too damn shallow, busy or careless to put in the time or expect more of their entertainment...

The best thing Ebro could do, is either a) resign b) say "fukk it" play the music he feels is good and get fired or c) tell people NOT to listen to his shytty station

 

[submarine1]

....It seems like he just watches where the numbers rise and fall and then reacts, like an app or software program could do....
....Hip-hop aint getting special treatment, its the same principle as other genres, films, video games, news, food/diet....Theres a corporate agenda for everything. Better question: How do you sway people away from corporate interests and trash products and teach them to appreciate quality, things that foster their health and mind?.....
....The best thing Ebro could do, is either a) resign b) say "fukk it" play the music he feels is good and get fired or c) tell people NOT to listen to his shytty station

All great points but I believe Ebro did what he was supposed to in that situation, in the sense of clearly distinguishing "Radio" from "Rap Career" and "Record Sales" without getting super arrogant or disrespectful to the culture of hiphop to which he clearly contributes and profits off of, regardless of how pioneering he is or isnt as a program director.

And to all the payola issues, payola only goes so far but in smaller markets the cumulative effect of percieved "buzz" tricks many many many radio dj's into believing the hype. There have been various moments in time when I have witnessed such and three things happen.
1.FCC hems n-ggas up, staff is fired
2.Payola funding dries out(songs average at best anyways)
3.Local rap fame

it happens a lot with those 50 or so semi famous rap dudes around the USA.
And not them so-called "minor leagues" Ebro was talkin bout either.

 

[emoney]

Good Interview, but don't believe that Ebro wasn't keeping it all the way 100...he was close but not all the way

 

[emoney]

also read and digest Tetris v2.0 posts in this thread because they are excellent.

 

[emoney]

The best thing Ebro could do, is either a) resign b) say "fukk it" play the music he feels is good and get fired or c) tell people NOT to listen to his shytty station

exactly, and he already stated he likes his job and wants to keep his job so that pretty much means neither a,b, or c is going to be done.

I wholeheartly agree. We can complain about the state of Hip Hop all day until we're blue in the face but the fact of the matter is the average listener (even the so called underground head) doesn't care enough to help push the tide in what get's played on major media outlets.

why should we care tho? what is the incentive for caring?

when he is talking about call-outs and using a third party to "collect" data as to what songs are popular when deciding what to play on hot97 he is referring to payola by another name. These middle men ( "research companies") are the ones the labels pay to tell the stations their songs are hot since they cant pay the radio directly.

excellent point.

And the funny thing about it is..B. Dot, the dude from Rap Radar, was the one that called out Hot 97 on this topic when his website follows the same shyt that Ebro was talking about...

Them mainstream nikkas that site stays posting is alot of the reason why that site keeps running...and i remember Elliott Wilson said once "We ain't here to make stars.."

I'm just saying..B. Dot needs to practice what he preaches...

Everyone (especially the most influential figures) in the industry are trying to pass the buck. Nobody has, and nobody will take responsibility for why the music industry is the way it is. People will continue to justify their role in it, by claiming "it's business". This interview of Ebro on the Combat Jack Show was him trying to save face and wash his hands of the guilt.

 

[TLR Is Mental Poison]

Tetris I dig + personally feel what you are saying, but on the flip side I think you are really downplaying the impact of the preference of the listeners

Over the last couple of years media has realized people don't want substance. And they have much more feedback on what people respond positively to... and what the radio plays is what their listeners want

To keep it 130%, Ebro really doesn't even need to be there... the whole shyt is worked out by algorithms, feedback apps and dollars... if this thing did anything it showed how useless he is in the whole equation

 

[Harry B]

So why even have a hip hop station? Its a business and most people want to hear Justin Bieber, Susan Boyle and Katy Perry.

And nobody had even heard of Trinidad James a month ago, but now we're sure that he's "most people want to hear".

Radio will play a 2Chainz song, then Drake song, then a Wayne song, then Drake ft. 2Chainz, French MOntan ft. Wayne etc etc...

You think thats really what most people want to hear? Naw thats just whats easiest to market.

Why have a hiphop station? Cause there is money to be made. Now they need to figure out how to maximize their profits. And those artist you're mentioning are the ones that are selling singles, selling cds, selling out shows so of course there is a demand for their music.

I see this like being a DJ at a club or house party, you've got to cater to the crowd that adds most to the party but still keep the purist bumpin their heads in disguise. And HOT97s crowd is not a bunch of purists, they don't wanna hear music about depressing things cause their life is depressing enough, a majority are not looking for advanced bars on their way home from work, or when they're getting their shyt in order to head out and on.


And I don't know why you're mentioning Trinidad James, he's not in rotation.
If he keeps on blowing up and his song pass's the test, then he might.


This is what a commercial driven profit maximizing firm will give you, luckily enough there is satellite stations that will maximize their profit in another field which might contain the music you like, there is blogs, iTunes, Datpiff, illegal download sites, spotify and all that shyt where you can get exactly what you want. Which is the reason to why I don't listen to radio, in 2012 I've got a lot of sources that gives me exactly what I want. In the end I understand that the business model of a profit maximizing firm.

Talking straight economics, they could form an illegal cartel and play the shyt they actually like, and force people to listen to it cause any channel they switch to will only be playing relatively dope music. But over time a cartel will not hold, since there is more money to be made and it's illegal.