1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:03,200 Speaker 1: Hey, lady, if you're like us, then you grew up 2 00:00:03,240 --> 00:00:06,280 Speaker 1: listening to black radio, whether it was in the morning 3 00:00:06,360 --> 00:00:09,119 Speaker 1: on the way to school, in the evening coming home 4 00:00:09,160 --> 00:00:11,959 Speaker 1: from work, or late at night when you were trying 5 00:00:11,960 --> 00:00:15,320 Speaker 1: to get in the move. Have you ever wondered about 6 00:00:15,360 --> 00:00:18,680 Speaker 1: how your favorite DJs and radio hosts got their start, 7 00:00:19,040 --> 00:00:23,720 Speaker 1: or maybe where they are now. Well, Amplify Color is 8 00:00:23,760 --> 00:00:27,360 Speaker 1: ready to tell their stories. Listen in each week as 9 00:00:27,440 --> 00:00:31,319 Speaker 1: host Ryan Cameron tells the history of black radio through 10 00:00:31,360 --> 00:00:35,199 Speaker 1: one of the trailblazers who made a lasting impact on 11 00:00:35,240 --> 00:00:37,800 Speaker 1: the platform we love. Today, we're about to play you 12 00:00:37,800 --> 00:00:40,959 Speaker 1: a clip from the show, so while you're listening, make 13 00:00:41,000 --> 00:00:44,559 Speaker 1: sure to follow the Amplify Color podcast wherever you get 14 00:00:44,640 --> 00:00:57,840 Speaker 1: your podcasts. 15 00:00:58,360 --> 00:01:01,120 Speaker 2: African Americans overcame trim and the challenges to have a 16 00:01:01,160 --> 00:01:04,520 Speaker 2: spot on the radio. Throughout this season of Amplified Color, 17 00:01:04,880 --> 00:01:08,200 Speaker 2: we'll be taking a deeper look into pivotal black radio figures. 18 00:01:08,680 --> 00:01:12,160 Speaker 2: Why does that change the entertainment landscape and media at large? 19 00:01:12,959 --> 00:01:17,480 Speaker 2: Pioneers like Tom Joyner, a DJ whose unconventional rise to 20 00:01:17,560 --> 00:01:21,600 Speaker 2: the top required logging thousands of frequent flower miles every week. 21 00:01:22,840 --> 00:01:25,240 Speaker 3: Yo yo yo yo, Yo Yo yo yo, y'all, get 22 00:01:25,280 --> 00:01:29,320 Speaker 3: y'all up your room straightest, time to get ready for tom. 23 00:01:31,200 --> 00:01:36,000 Speaker 2: Four fl Kathy Hughes, creator of the largest African American 24 00:01:36,040 --> 00:01:39,560 Speaker 2: broadcasting company in the United States. So I've always had 25 00:01:39,600 --> 00:01:43,240 Speaker 2: this boldness about standing up for what I believed in, 26 00:01:43,400 --> 00:01:46,760 Speaker 2: and certainly it's easier to do it when you're the box. 27 00:01:47,160 --> 00:01:50,200 Speaker 2: This is the Quiet Storm and New York City DJ 28 00:01:50,400 --> 00:01:53,520 Speaker 2: Mister Magic, the voice behind the first hip hop radio show. 29 00:01:53,560 --> 00:01:55,840 Speaker 3: Welcome once again to the world famous Mister Magic, a 30 00:01:55,920 --> 00:01:58,240 Speaker 3: rapper tacking of course, I am sur Juice, your host 31 00:01:58,320 --> 00:02:00,600 Speaker 3: for the next three hours as week kick off, thirty 32 00:02:00,600 --> 00:02:03,400 Speaker 3: minutes of non stop usage. 33 00:02:03,800 --> 00:02:06,640 Speaker 2: These black voices on the radio lay the groundwork for 34 00:02:06,760 --> 00:02:10,560 Speaker 2: modern day icons like Robin Quivers, long running co host 35 00:02:10,639 --> 00:02:12,720 Speaker 2: of the controversial Howard Stern Show. 36 00:02:13,160 --> 00:02:14,080 Speaker 4: You don't want to listen. 37 00:02:14,160 --> 00:02:16,320 Speaker 5: You don't like that kind of radio, You don't have 38 00:02:16,400 --> 00:02:18,800 Speaker 5: to listen. There are other stations. There's a whole dial. 39 00:02:19,919 --> 00:02:26,520 Speaker 2: Big Boy, undisputed King of the Los Angeles Airwaves, Blazing 40 00:02:28,720 --> 00:02:32,240 Speaker 2: and Sway, a DJ who transcended radio to become a 41 00:02:32,280 --> 00:02:36,760 Speaker 2: news correspondent for MTV. Be yourself in this game and 42 00:02:36,919 --> 00:02:39,959 Speaker 2: understand that this mic is a tool. 43 00:02:40,880 --> 00:02:42,720 Speaker 1: You know it's a tool. It could be used for 44 00:02:42,800 --> 00:02:43,880 Speaker 1: a couple of reasons. 45 00:02:44,600 --> 00:02:47,960 Speaker 2: Black DJs have been synonymous with the radio for generations. 46 00:02:48,520 --> 00:02:52,960 Speaker 2: Speaking directly to the community. Black radio has always represented 47 00:02:53,000 --> 00:02:58,399 Speaker 2: the oral tradition of storytelling. But black radio moguls, DJs 48 00:02:58,440 --> 00:03:00,840 Speaker 2: and hosts, the ones who are they kept out of 49 00:03:00,840 --> 00:03:04,000 Speaker 2: the industry were the ones who elevated the field. You 50 00:03:04,080 --> 00:03:10,480 Speaker 2: might even say it became amplified. I'm your host, Ryan Cameron, 51 00:03:10,680 --> 00:03:13,560 Speaker 2: and with each episode of Amplified Color, We're gonna go 52 00:03:13,600 --> 00:03:16,200 Speaker 2: through the history of black radio and hear the stories 53 00:03:16,240 --> 00:03:20,080 Speaker 2: of trailblazers who made a lasting impact on the medium 54 00:03:20,160 --> 00:03:28,320 Speaker 2: that we love today. The pioneers of black radio came 55 00:03:28,320 --> 00:03:31,360 Speaker 2: from all walks of life. Some came from the stages 56 00:03:31,400 --> 00:03:35,160 Speaker 2: of vaudeville, and some were integral to the civil rights movement. 57 00:03:35,840 --> 00:03:38,360 Speaker 2: Six years prior to becoming the voice of Washington, d C. 58 00:03:39,000 --> 00:03:41,880 Speaker 2: PD Green served a stint in prison for armed robbery. 59 00:03:42,560 --> 00:03:45,480 Speaker 2: It was a mistake that actually strengthened his career focus. 60 00:03:46,240 --> 00:03:49,920 Speaker 2: Once released, he went to urban talkstation WL to host 61 00:03:49,960 --> 00:03:51,920 Speaker 2: his own show, Rapping with P. D. 62 00:03:52,040 --> 00:03:52,280 Speaker 5: Green. 63 00:03:52,960 --> 00:03:55,560 Speaker 2: See they told me they make you think you ain't nothing. 64 00:03:55,720 --> 00:03:57,960 Speaker 1: They told me, I'll be going back to penitentia all 65 00:03:58,040 --> 00:03:58,440 Speaker 1: my life. 66 00:03:58,440 --> 00:03:59,240 Speaker 2: But I didn't fail them. 67 00:03:59,240 --> 00:04:01,320 Speaker 4: No, man, the same thing real when I say, my 68 00:04:01,360 --> 00:04:03,200 Speaker 4: grandmother used to tell me all the time. 69 00:04:03,360 --> 00:04:05,640 Speaker 2: I said, Grandma, why don't you save money for a 70 00:04:05,760 --> 00:04:07,360 Speaker 2: rain to day? She said, money to buy I'm a 71 00:04:07,440 --> 00:04:09,200 Speaker 2: rally with boy. Money ain't for no rain to day. 72 00:04:09,240 --> 00:04:13,400 Speaker 2: You can believe that PD's fourth right humor and job 73 00:04:13,480 --> 00:04:17,200 Speaker 2: talk mannerisms made him a saving grace of DC literally, 74 00:04:17,800 --> 00:04:22,040 Speaker 2: but radio positions didn't always belong to men. Take Deanna Williams, 75 00:04:22,200 --> 00:04:26,000 Speaker 2: a radio host and freelance entertainment reporter. She elevated the 76 00:04:26,040 --> 00:04:29,599 Speaker 2: sound of Philadelphia and black music by partaking in a 77 00:04:29,760 --> 00:04:32,080 Speaker 2: massive grassroots movement for the cause. 78 00:04:32,600 --> 00:04:35,440 Speaker 5: Like to send a very mellow vibe to everybody in 79 00:04:35,520 --> 00:04:39,360 Speaker 5: Baltimore and Virginia because those listeners are as special as 80 00:04:39,360 --> 00:04:41,720 Speaker 5: the ones we have here in Chocolate City, all right. 81 00:04:41,760 --> 00:04:43,720 Speaker 5: Don't want to let nobody feel like they're left out, 82 00:04:43,839 --> 00:04:44,280 Speaker 5: not love. 83 00:04:44,880 --> 00:04:48,279 Speaker 2: Without Deanna Williams, Black Music Month wouldn't have been created 84 00:04:48,320 --> 00:04:51,599 Speaker 2: by former President Jimmy Carter in nineteen seventy nine or 85 00:04:51,720 --> 00:04:55,800 Speaker 2: become a fishly observed in two thousand two of the 86 00:04:55,880 --> 00:04:59,120 Speaker 2: most surprising contributors to black radio were a Jewish and 87 00:04:59,200 --> 00:05:03,599 Speaker 2: Puerto Rican do who turned Columbia University's college radio station 88 00:05:03,920 --> 00:05:07,479 Speaker 2: into a hip hop sanctuary. Stretch Armstrong and but Beato 89 00:05:07,560 --> 00:05:10,640 Speaker 2: Garcia hosted a late night show where up and coming 90 00:05:10,720 --> 00:05:14,839 Speaker 2: rappers like nas Eminem, Woo, Tang Clan, and Big l 91 00:05:15,200 --> 00:05:18,720 Speaker 2: played their latest records or showed off their lyrical freestyles. 92 00:05:19,160 --> 00:05:22,000 Speaker 2: In the process, a format was born that hip hop 93 00:05:22,080 --> 00:05:23,920 Speaker 2: shows imitated for years to come. 94 00:05:24,240 --> 00:05:33,039 Speaker 4: Queens Bronx Brooklyn, Stanton, Allen Manhattan, Long, Allen Loop, Jersey, Connecticut, Worldwide, 95 00:05:33,160 --> 00:05:37,800 Speaker 4: from the Basement to the Penthouse. My Kickos be repping Worldwide. 96 00:05:38,080 --> 00:05:41,800 Speaker 4: Stretch Off Strong on Bobido every Sunday, twelve to two 97 00:05:41,839 --> 00:05:43,720 Speaker 4: one Hot ninety seven. 98 00:05:43,839 --> 00:05:44,400 Speaker 5: Go Stretch. 99 00:05:44,480 --> 00:05:48,600 Speaker 2: Do it to them Baby. Not all radio programs were 100 00:05:48,680 --> 00:05:51,880 Speaker 2: just music related. Gossip made its rounds in the talk 101 00:05:52,000 --> 00:05:55,080 Speaker 2: radio circuit. No other host had to get the gap 102 00:05:55,240 --> 00:05:59,239 Speaker 2: like Wendy Williams. The New Jersey Queen of Shock stormed 103 00:05:59,279 --> 00:06:03,160 Speaker 2: airwaves in the mid nineteen eighties, bouncing around from Calypso 104 00:06:03,400 --> 00:06:07,279 Speaker 2: to oldie stations until she found her trash talk niche. 105 00:06:07,839 --> 00:06:11,119 Speaker 2: By the nineteen nineties, she became the most infamous host 106 00:06:11,160 --> 00:06:14,600 Speaker 2: in the New York City market. She offended nearly everyone 107 00:06:14,680 --> 00:06:19,960 Speaker 2: in black entertainment, Tupac Whitney, Houston, Bill Cosby, Brussel Simmons. 108 00:06:20,200 --> 00:06:23,640 Speaker 2: People couldn't stand Wendy, but ironically couldn't get enough of her. 109 00:06:23,760 --> 00:06:26,120 Speaker 3: Yeah, it seems like your image, like what you're saying 110 00:06:26,720 --> 00:06:29,120 Speaker 3: is totally different from your your you know, you seem 111 00:06:29,160 --> 00:06:30,839 Speaker 3: like a down chick, like a rod to die. You 112 00:06:30,839 --> 00:06:31,440 Speaker 3: know what I'm saying? 113 00:06:31,800 --> 00:06:35,000 Speaker 5: Hello? Hello? She must have figured out I will oh, 114 00:06:35,080 --> 00:06:35,760 Speaker 5: Wendy Williams. 115 00:06:35,880 --> 00:06:38,640 Speaker 3: We tricked her and did you hear? She was like, Wendy, who? 116 00:06:38,680 --> 00:06:39,679 Speaker 3: What's your last name? Wendy? 117 00:06:39,680 --> 00:06:40,480 Speaker 5: Who? 118 00:06:42,080 --> 00:06:45,320 Speaker 2: Beneath Wendy's wing would come a host just as verbally 119 00:06:45,360 --> 00:06:50,400 Speaker 2: insulting but hilarious. Charlemagne, the god coming straight out of Charleston, 120 00:06:50,400 --> 00:06:53,800 Speaker 2: South Carolina. The future breakfast club co host refused to 121 00:06:53,839 --> 00:06:58,080 Speaker 2: buy his tongue for anyone. Some celebrities even avoided coming 122 00:06:58,080 --> 00:07:01,200 Speaker 2: to Charlemagne's hot seat altogether, but he still has his 123 00:07:01,279 --> 00:07:03,520 Speaker 2: finger on the pulse of modern radio. 124 00:07:03,839 --> 00:07:05,640 Speaker 3: New York hated me when I first came. I remember 125 00:07:05,680 --> 00:07:07,320 Speaker 3: remember when he put a poll up one time and 126 00:07:07,320 --> 00:07:08,680 Speaker 3: it was like, should I send him back and it 127 00:07:08,720 --> 00:07:10,800 Speaker 3: was like seventy three percent of the people was like yes, 128 00:07:11,160 --> 00:07:12,840 Speaker 3: Like it was like, who is this guy coming on 129 00:07:12,880 --> 00:07:15,800 Speaker 3: our always talking crazy about our artists and just people 130 00:07:15,840 --> 00:07:16,280 Speaker 3: in general. 131 00:07:16,280 --> 00:07:16,760 Speaker 5: Who is he? 132 00:07:17,000 --> 00:07:19,200 Speaker 2: But none of these people will cover in this show 133 00:07:19,240 --> 00:07:21,760 Speaker 2: would have a path if it weren't for the foundation 134 00:07:21,880 --> 00:07:26,560 Speaker 2: of Jack L. Cooper, the undisputed patriarch of black radio. 135 00:07:27,160 --> 00:07:30,280 Speaker 2: And that is a story we'll tell you on Amplified Color.