Long Island Is Getting Hip-Hop.

[kevinsealy]

New York City has two Hip Hop stations, and now Long Island has WBEA 101.7 "The Beat" is the Island's version of Hot 97 (WQHT) and Power 1051 (WWPR-FM).

This is proof that as far as Rap music is concerned, it has gone mainstream. Amagansett which is where WBEA is located is a town that has a minuscule Black population.

Is this a first for any suburban market getting a Hip Hop station?

Has anyone listened to "The Beat' (since their signal doesn't come into Queens where I'm posting) and do they sound any different than New York's Hip Hop stations?





Thanks,
Kevin L. Sealy

 

[herethere]

The beat is an interesting blip nobody's talking about! I just looked at their website and I recognize Ballistic Bob and Nikki, formerly of Party105.

I haven't heard the station yet, but I am very curious.

 

[neo11]

Except, for some reason I am trying to figure out...why do people think this is a *new* station? They've been on the air for well over a year, and before that, were Blaze 101.7 which also featured hip-hop. Nothing new.

They're not a bad hip-hop station but their audio chain and sound processing is absolutely awful...worst I've ever heard.

 

[Big T LI]

I couldn't agree more with neo about the processing. It is terrible.

I see BEA as a lame hip-hop station. The playlist depth pales in comparison to a Hot 97.

Haven't tuned in to 101.7 in months, but I recall them playing Kelly Clarkson and Gwen Stefani . . . actually anything with a *BEAT*.

 

[neo11]

I don't think they play pop acts like Gwen Stefani anymore, but I could be wrong. Every time I tune in I hear straight-up hip-hop through that awful, awful processing. Even pirate stations sound better than that, but I digress.

What I can't understand is why so many people here and on the dentist's board seem to think this is a brand new station.

 

[Ted Russell]

New York City has two Hip Hop stations, and now Long Island has WBEA 101.7 "The Beat" is the Island's version of Hot 97 (WQHT) and Power 1051 (WWPR-FM).

This is proof that as far as Rap music is concerned, it has gone mainstream. Amagansett which is where WBEA is located is a town that has a minuscule Black population.

City Slickers...

Anyone familiar with the East End knows that there are towns that do more closely match the demographic of the Hip-Hop audience. The obvious towns being Bridgehampton, Riverhead and Greenport just to name a few. Plus, Hip-Hop is big among the party/club crowd. The party/club crowd likes to hang in the hamptons. There are also quite a few rappers that reside, at least part time, out in the hamptons.

I believe AAA followed by Cherry Creek radio knows what they are doing, at least from a programming perspective. But as others have said, Man, the Audio is "Totes Attroch".

But yes, urban and spanish formats are very popular. Even out in the middle of cornbread country USA, I guarantee that you'll likely find an urban and or spanish station of some sort.

 

[herethere]

Being that I'm awake, I should post my experience.

I'm in Southampton this weekend, and I've had a chance to sample 101.7 The Beat.

At 8:20 Friday morning, I heard Ballistic Bob on the air. I've heard Party105 airchecks of him, and he has certainly grown as a personality. Now he sounds like a jock. I called in and he actually answered the phone. We spoke for about 5 minutes, and he must be one of the friendliest DJ's I've ever met.

I didn't hear another voice until about 3:30. The website has him as "DJ Hepcat". Very mellow and very simple. Bob had aired two phoners within a 15 minute span, but I didn't hear any in the afternoon.

I heard Nikki at Night at about 7:10pm. She sounds like a fairly polished personality, very energetic and bouncy. I listened for 20 minutes, and heard one more break. This is obviously a music-intensive radio station.

The music I heard was mostly hip-hop, with the exception of a Christina Aquilera song. The sound quality is as bad as previous posters have indicated. It really is the worst I can recall. The jocks are solid though, and they definitely fit the format. If hip-hop is the music young people are listening to, this station will do well, as I don't think kids are worried about the audio. All in all, the Beat is a solid station.

 

[neo11]

Interesting that so many former Party 105 jocks are there while Party is mostly jock-less. That said, I still can't understand why people are just finding out about this station for the first time, it's been around for well over a year.

DJ Hepcat is, I believe, also The Beat's program director. He used to have a reggae show on a well-known local college radio station.

 

[Big T LI]

I had the chance to speak to a 101.7 employee this past week.

In addition to the ex-party people on-air, it turns out that a nice portion of the station's management has come from either party or BLI.

As for the terrible processing, they chalk it up to both equipment and engineering flaws. Something has to be done about that!

I agree with herethere . . . 101.7's target demo is probably not concerned with audio quality.

I also monitored the station for an hour or so, and heard music from Pink and a Kelly Clarkson remix. IN my book this can't be considered a strictly hip-hop station at all. Especially when they call themselves "TODAY'S HOTTEST MUSIC"

again, they're spinning anything with a "beat", . . . but nothing with a guitar.

 

[Strong Island]

I listen to the Beat all the time and I think that they changed the name from Blaze to the Beat in Jan. of this year. The difference between Blaze and the Beat is that the Beat sounds like it has direction, and Blaze was garbage. David Hinckley of the Daily News wrote a little blurb about the station on 8/28/06 titled Hip hop beats a path to L.I. I read in the article that the station is being consulted by Steve Smith veteran programmer of Power 105, and Hot 97 fame. I thought that to be very interesting. I understand that they are doing well in the ratings too, beating out Party and giving BLI a run for there money. That's probably why BLI is playing more Hip Hop music. I also the feel that the jocks on the Beat are pretty solid even the weekend jocks. One jock stood out on the weekend while listening to the Beat on a Sun. around 7 PM. This guy WildMan Steve was pretty entertaining his voice is very strong and bassy it could also be the compression on the mic. But he was upbeat and entertaining had me laughing a few times with some of his antics. I think that the Beat with a few adjustments could be here to stay which would be good.