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  • » Name: Amanda Bassa
  • » Location: VA
  • » Member Since: 09/21/07
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The Undisputed Truth

Hope for the Radio?


August 30, 2008 | Tags: none

In case you forgot, I just got back from California recently. One thing I’ve come to learn about that state is that even after I know what I’m getting into when I plan a trip there, something still manages to surprise me. The most notable surprise of my trip this time around came way out of left field.

I listened to the radio.

Yeah, I listened to the radio while I was stuck in the rental car in rush hour traffic in Oakland. I’m not sure what possessed me to do this, considering that I am 100% sure that I had CD’s (and decent ones at that) in the car at the time, but I’m glad that I did. I was scanning through channels and stopped upon 89.3, whatever that is. I’ve actually tried to figure out what exactly it is and have come to the conclusion that it’s either a college radio station or an “educational”-type radio station run out of Berkeley. Anyway, I stopped on this station because I heard a voice that sounded rather familiar. And lo and behold, it was Dead Prez being interviewed on the air. The station was even playing their music between interview questions.

My jaw dropped, and I immediately looked at my mother who was traveling with me and said, “Do you hear this?!” She didn’t seem to be as taken aback as I was about the fact that two people who are known for saying, “turn off the radio, turn off that bullshit” were having their songs played on FM radio. On top of this, they were going off on a tangent about their perceptions of neocolonialism during the interview. Potential hypocrisy of using a media tool you complain about to get your message to the public aside, hearing some serious talk about politics and the presidential campaign, social issues, and neocolonialism from the hip hop community on the radio was rather refreshing. Soon enough I was crossing the Bay Bridge into downtown San Francisco and the radio station faded into static quickly enough to make me wonder if I had merely imagined the whole thing.

Just that one instant on the radio got me wondering about the condition of our airwaves. Was this merely something characteristic of that particular Bay Area station? That area of the West Coast is fairly well-known for its leftist thinking. Has the radio scene across the country stepped their game up and deviated from the Top-40 hits? I really don’t listen to the radio enough to know. The skeptical side of me tells me that I am still probably wasting my time by listening to the radio when I have a pretty damn good catalogue of music in mp3 form (playing now: “Push Up Ya Lighter” off of Illadelph Halflife circa 1996 courtesy of The Roots). But the small remnant of an optimist that still lies within my rampantly cynical soul is making me wonder if I may have been missing some good things lately.

I have heard that WPGC has started a “Crank Radio” HD radio station that is strictly local music, and they also have the “Home Jamz” show that airs Sundays at 9pm that spotlights local talent, hosted by DJ Dirty Rico and DJ Heat. And in an unfortunate turn of events that led me to listening to the radio on an early-morning commute to class the other day, I noticed that the lively political discussions that should be far more present on hip hop stations in an area of DC’s political status are still present – even if only in the mornings when most people are asleep. Locally, that’s a good start.

The radio airwaves are a great tool for promotion, communication, discussion, education, and the timely spread of information. Have we been using this technology to the best of its ability? I’m not so sure. Is there concrete hope that we can better utilize this tool in the future? I surely think that there is, and I’m ready to see it happen. Now if only I had some sort of formal training in that sort of thing…

One step at a time.

 

Bonus: Footage of Dead Prez at the San Bernardino Rock the Bells on August 9th.

And a couple shots from the San Francisco show...

 


The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of the writer and not necessarily those of HipHopDX.com or Cheri Media Group.

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