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The Future of Hip-Hop & WQHT (Hot 97)

K

kevinsealy

One of the biggest questions, is Rap as a music dieing? It seems today there are less rap songs hitting the pop charts. And the ratings for Hot 97 WQHT and (Power 105.1) WWPR-FM are down from what they were 10 years ago.

Or is Hip -Hop evolving like other genres of music. We've seen this with rock. Rock 'N' Roll of the mid 50s to 63 is different from Rock 'N' Roll after the British Invasion. Then there was Soft Rock, Hard Rock, New Wave and Alternative Rock. There are also sub-genres of Heavy Metal.

Is Rap going through the same evolution? If so, what are the changes? And is there any room for another Hip-Hop station to compete against Power 105.1 and Hot 97?






Thanks,
Kevin L. Sealy
 
Kevin L. Sealy said:
And is there any room for another Hip-Hop station to compete against Power 105.1 and Hot 97?
Click to expand...

Absolutely not. 3 stations running the same format in any market is far too many. The NYC market is already way too over-homogenized. It has been discussed how Hot 97 has been declining in the ratings, so I don't see how or why competition would be needed.
 
No room for competition. Power 105.1 will fade into a soft A/C and just quietly blend into the airwaves.
Hot 97 will go Country and hold that format for about 3 1/2 years before going NewsTalk 97.
 
Re: The Future of Hip-Hop

I couldn't wait for disco to die. Rap started as a novelty song in 1979. It's been pure hype ever since.
 
Hip hop isn't going anywhere. I still hear it loud and clear in young peoples cars. I think the problem with Hot 97 is that they create so much unnecessary drama that they alienate a lot of would be listeners. Power 105 is just a plain cookie cutter CC urban.
 
Rap is still is by far the sound of the inner city youth.Most of the teens who parents grew up on Rap are listening to it.Mainly the teen boys. But it is definitely has lost it's crown on the pop charts. I do see one of the Hip Hop stations going away unless a new crop of artists reinvent the sound.

Country on Hot 97? I wouldn't bet my house on that happening.
 
If Rap music is dieing, then it will be trouble for Hot 97 and Power 105.1. It could be hope for a return for Country music in NYC.

What also could be leading to a decline in the popularity of rap music is the delcining Black demographics in New York.



Thanks,
Kevin L. Sealy
 
Kevin L. Sealy said:
If Rap music is dieing, then it will be trouble for Hot 97 and Power 105.1. It could be hope for a return for Country music in NYC.

What also could be leading to a decline in the popularity of rap music is the delcining Black demographics in New York.



Thanks,
Kevin L. Sealy
Click to expand...

Hot 97's coverage area is strongest in the five boroughs where the population is still favorable for a Hip Hop station or dare I even say a Dance leaning CHR type of station. Also look at stations like WPAT were despite continuous low ratings they remain committed for the most part to their target audience. Of course you could never say never.However,WQHT increase .4 in June's PPM. I would not start circling the wagons around it just yet.Unless their billing starts to take a hit.
 
Morpheux said:
Hot 97's coverage area is strongest in the five boroughs where the population is still favorable for a Hip Hop station or dare I even say a Dance leaning CHR type of station.
Click to expand...

Take four FMs... WCBS-FM, WPLJ, WHTZ and WQHT. They have identical coverage areas. Yet one of them, WPLJ, focuses on the suburbs and another more on the City and Boroughs and close-in suburbs.

In fact, give a mile or two, all the full B's licensed to be on the ESB cover identically (WPAT is on a special exception). So the decision to program one format or another on any of them is based on the market, not the signal.
 
Kevin L. Sealy said:
What also could be leading to a decline in the popularity of rap music is the delcining Black demographics in New York.
Click to expand...

1997 October Arbitron 12+ population update had Blacks at 16.8% of the population, and the October 2011 6+ update has the group at 17.1%. Given a small difference for the different age spread, what we have is a group that as grown a tiny bit in percentage of the market, not declined.

In sheer numbers, there are about 350,000 more 12+ Blacks in NY than 15 years ago.
 
Every genre of music has its ups and downs, in general.

In the 90's, hip-hop was riding VERY high while dance music was at a low. Music was still produced but since a lot of the dance stations flipped over to hip-hop formats, our music took a hit then. Also, rock with the advent of grunge was riding high at the time as well. Basically, what's going on right on is just a cycle.

Right now for the current youth generation, dance/EDM is big while hip-hop has taken a hit along with rock. Country music is pretty much big everywhere, except here so in that sense, there's not really a cycle issue with that other than advertisers feeling that country music cannot work in such a large urban environment as New York City. But it isn't as if Hot 97 or Power 105.1 would suffer without it. Hip-hop has a large enough "library" in that sense and Power tends to go with that side of things while Hot 97 wants to keep it strictly current based.

But yet again, I can't help to notice the "ignorance" here regarding music by Red78 there. You know what, you don't have to like disco...whatever, but rap was by NO means a novelty. Everyone knew about Sugarhill Gang, but the FIRST rap song to make vinyl was this one. It didn't get any play on radio stations but for the sake of history, this track was it...


Fatback Band - King Tim III
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ig3313DhcB8

Eventually, the dance/EDM craze may go on that downward cycle and rock and hip-hop could make a comeback somehow. Pretty bizarre yet interesting how these cycles just come and go.
 
Yup Tony, EDM dance music is so huge today that the number one market in the country *still* doesn't have a dance-formatted station. And curiously, 92.3 NOW, with its pronounced dance lean, seems to have taken a hit in the ratings in the month of June, dropping by nearly an entire share! Oh well.
 
For the record,I have nothings against Country. I just don't see it working in an urban area like NYC. And one more thing about Hot 97 is that it was originally a dance leaning top 40 before Hip Hop took over permanently. It had different owners but people in NY still recall the original sound of HOT 97.
 
David Eduardo,

>>>1997 October Arbitron 12+ population update had Blacks at 16.8% of the population, and the October 2011 6+ update has the group at 17.1%. Given a small difference for the different age spread, what we have is a group that as grown a tiny bit in percentage of the market, not declined.

In sheer numbers, there are about 350,000 more 12+ Blacks in NY than 15 years ago.<<<

I was referring mainly to the Black population of New York City which is moving either to the suburbs, or out of the NY Metro area. Blacks are raps core audience.

There's no evidence or confirmation that White youths made up 70% of rap music consumers. And if Whites aren't making up a substantial number of CD buyers of Hip-Hop have seen its best days.

Even with Hip-Hop appealing to a younger demo 12-34 it may still see its demise, unlike Pop Standards whose audince is dying off and Classic Rock "N' which audience is slipping out of the target demo 25-54.




Thanks,

Kevin L. Sealy
 
I would have to say yes. Top 40 is responsible for killing Rap music. Today we have seen a genre merge and it has transformed it into a completely new and different entity. Hip Pop has completely watered down the entire genre. While I believe it will not die, the merging of rap music into top 40 has changed it forever.

This was a MAJOR inspiration on why I said farewell to corporate radio and created a digital broadcasting station that plays nothing but old school Hip Hop and R&B. A format that is growing in popularity. Some radio professionals argued that such a format would never work. However, look at KDAY. A radio station that is in market #2 and is highly successful.

Another blow to the genre is the fact that "Hip Hop" stations are beginning to take notice of this so-called merge and having to make the choice to go more Urban, or more pop. (The majority are taking the more pop route)

I feel it is time for an old school Hip Hop and R&B format to break away and be tested in more markets. If the cume is there, the advertisers will come.

It is either that, or make way for digital broadcasters such as myself to come on in. Now that new vehicles have the ability to listen to digital broadcasting radio stations make it anyones game.

keepinghiphopalive.com
or on the TuneIn Radio app (Search for KHHA 102.9 The Blast)
 
MarcR said:
Yup Tony, EDM dance music is so huge today that the number one market in the country *still* doesn't have a dance-formatted station. And curiously, 92.3 NOW, with its pronounced dance lean, seems to have taken a hit in the ratings in the month of June, dropping by nearly an entire share! Oh well.
Click to expand...

Thus, the example of ignorance personified......
 
Morpheux said:
For the record,I have nothings against Country. I just don't see it working in an urban area like NYC. And one more thing about Hot 97 is that it was originally a dance leaning top 40 before Hip Hop took over permanently. It had different owners but people in NY still recall the original sound of HOT 97.
Click to expand...

Actually, Emmis did own Hot103/97 back in 1986 when it was a Top 40/Urban station so it has been the same ownership since.
 
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