CHR Vs Hip Hop

[Jay F]

Those of you who have always hated hip hop are probably too biased to answer this. So I address this to those who have liked it. Would you agree that the quality gap between CHR and Urban/Hip Hop has never been greater than it is today?

For much (if not most) of the past 20 years I thought that the urban/hip hop product was better than most pop music and that CHR needed to play tons of rhythmic crossovers to sound good. Today the roles have reversed. CHR sounds great. The dance-pop sound is so fresh. The songs are catchy , hook filled, and put you in a good mood.

On the other hand Hip Hop has never sounded so stale to me both musically and lyrically. For the first time in my life I think the worst music of any format is coming from the Urban genre. One example of many currents would be Birdman-Money To Blow . Songs like that sound shockingly bad and stale to me. Also the subject matter is played out to the max and somewhat offensive considering the severe economic situaton (if not transformation) our nation is experiencing.

Now there are some exceptions and many of those do end up getting CHR airplay. Knock You Down was a wonderful song earlier this year, Mario-Break Up sounds fresh and innovative. I also personally love Esther Dean-Drop It Low. Even if it didn't get much pop play that song has a lot of the spirit of what's good about CHR today.

The recent ratings would agree that in most markets CHR is hot and Urban is not, although that could be a reflection of PPM more than anything. I know it's a subjective question but does anyone else agree (or not) that the music on CHR has never been better compared to Hip Hop than it is today?

 

[CHRles]

It's ironic that in the early to mid 90s there were so many great Hip Hop hits around that CHR was afraid to play (since CHR radio was in trouble at the time), and even many Rhythmics and Urbans were at times cautious about which Rap records to add.

I think it's kinda hot that in the past year or two a lot of stations have rediscovered Da Luniz mid 90s hit "I Got 5 On It"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJzIYv_mE04

Or songs like Duice "Daisey Duks" and Dr. Dre's "Nothing but A G Thang"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhDwfkwhL6s&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yw1F-Lxk134

 

[wxman76]

It's ironic that in the early to mid 90s there were so many great Hip Hop hits around that CHR was afraid to play (since CHR radio was in trouble at the time), and even many Rhythmics and Urbans were at times cautious about which Rap records to add.

I think it's kinda hot that in the past year or two a lot of stations have rediscovered Da Luniz mid 90s hit "I Got 5 On It"

Or songs like Duice "Daisey Duks" and Dr. Dre's "Nothing but A G Thang"

Notorious B.I.G. is another good example. "Hypnotize" gets some gold airplay, even today. Some of heritage CHR stations play it more as a gold today than it did as a current back in 1997. Amazingly, it didn't even crack the R&R CHR/Pop Top 50.

http://www2.uta.edu/hunt/charts/notorious_b.htm

Even "Mo Money Mo Problems" only made it to #29. If that record was made today in todays CHR's landscape, it would probably be top 10 on the pop chart.

 

[Jay F]

and there were even several Urban stations that feared hip hop in the 90s when it sounded so good, For example WCDX/Richmond was very conservative with hip hop (while across state WOWI/Norfolk was playing tons of hip hop).

So that truly is an irony. When hip hop was at it's best much of radio (both CHR and Urban) was filled with fear over it. Today there is no fear yet maybe there should be.

 

[Mid West Clubber]

K 92 here in VA plays most those songs alot during their all request drive at 5.. Whats missing from CHR radio here is daily mixshows.. I do miss Radio Now 100.9 from Indy,,, I stream it,,, as well as several others,,, cause despite having alot of chrs here,, they are conservative,, 105.7 hit music now is too rhythmic, but yet too conservative on new rap songs,, Wish they were more like Nashvilles Party..., 102 Jamz is good, but its a full blown Urban.. 107.5 KZL leans too adult,, ... Hot 100.7 Blacksburg is good, but I cant get it when I get to the bottom of the mountain... K-92 is okay,, but has a slight punk rock lean.. Z103.5 Marion is great in overnights when Jackson Blue is on,, but I think they could drop some of the 80s titles... Wish I could get Electric 94.9 here,,, but they are directional away from Hillsville,,, I get Star Country on 94.9 here....

 

[CHRles]

Clubber, dude quit whining - you're in CHR heaven with 4-5 CHRs that all sound different. Between them and Hip Hop station 102 Jams (Gucci!) you're exposed to just about every record out there.

 

[Mid West Clubber]

Yeah there are alot here,,, We also have a 97.3 and we have a good rock station in 100.3 The Buzz,,, Do you get WUHU 107.1 in Nashville, or is their too much overload from 107.5.... Its a pretty good chr.

 

[CHRles]

In my car I get both Wuhu 107 out of Bowling Green and Magic 98.5 Cookeville. What I hate about Wuhu these days is that they air Dawson Mcallister's show every night at 7 PM. Way too early for such a depressing show. I mean seriously, I realize he's doing some good, but if you're in trouble why would you call a national radio show - why not call a local PRIVATE hotline instead?

 

[Mid West Clubber]

Yeah Dawson is okay, but every night at 7 pm is pushing it.... Keep him on Sundays,,, He's alright.. Keep a good chr night show.....

 

[acesup]

Back to the original question, yes, the gap between CHR/Pop and the Urban format is huge today, in terms of quality. A few years ago, you were seeing more records hit the Urban formats that you could see yourself, as a programmer, playing as a gold in the future than you saw in CHR/Pop. Today, it's the complete opposite. The Urban formats are VERY disposable these days.