HOW BLACK RADIO IS KILLING ITS ARTISTS

What if Prince released his first album in 2008 instead of 1978? Chances are, the man known in many circles as a genius may never have had the opportunity to be heard by the masses. He would have a cult following due to word of mouth and constant touring, but nowhere near the iconic status he enjoys today. Scary isn't it?

The fact of the matter is today, he would get zero radio airplay because of the inability to label him or put him in a box. But certainly Prince as a black artist would get played onnot so fast. Unless you are tried and true Hip-Hop or have T-Pain singing the hook on your song, chances of getting on Black radio is minimal.
Today there are many black artists who cannot be defined or who cross genres, but they are deserted by Black radio, actually you have to picked up before you can be deserted. While artists such as Meshell Ndegeocello and Macy Gray enjoyed brushes with commercial success, this was as a result of little or no airplay on Black radio stations(Ndegeocello with a duet with John Mellencamp and Gray with "I Try", a song my very Caucasian best friend would sing during a late night at the magazine where he was working). Even producer Will I Am could not get Gray back on Black radio.
The impetus for this article is Atlanta based artist Van Hunt, whom none other than Alicia Keys called one of her favorite songwriters. Hunt after releasing two critically acclaimed, if commercially underwhelming albums, he moved to independent Blue Note records, where they could not(or were unwilling)to promote his album properly. Blue Note, then, kept the master recordings and refused to sell them back to Hunt at a price he could afford. Now, the Grammy award winning artist is back at square one with his career. Two things are for certain: 1) If black radio had given him any spins at all, he probably would still be with a major label and 2) If he had released his first album 20 years ago, he may have been as huge as Lenny Kravitz, if not bigger.
Success should not be based on time; it should be based on talent. Black radio has been doing its listeners a disservice for at least the last 15 years. Radio is a business; the most popular artists have to be played for the sake of advertising and ratings that is understood. Black music, generation after generation, has defined diversity, and Black radio has slowly but surely taken that away. The problem can be rectified. All it takes is one forward thinking, independent program director in an influential market to take a timeslot, say Sunday night 10 Pm when not a lot of people are listening, one program director to take a chance and play these artists that deserve to get played. Rome was not built in a day, results may not be immediate, but if it works, who knows, as Prince said we may just see another golden age.

Learn more about this author, Jamal Bruton.
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