While everybody was speculating about Howard Stern’s still unresolved future with SiriusXM last month, WQHT (Hot 97) New York night host Funkmaster Flex was having some fun with it. On August 28, Flex teased his “last show on Hot 97 at 7 p.m.” The next day, Radioinsight reported that was because Flex’s hours were now 5-11 p.m., with afternoon host Nessa now working 1-5 p.m., and Hot’s TT Torrez and DJ Enuff exiting.
Flex’s tenure with Hot 97 goes back to its transition from dance-based Rhythmic CHR to Hip-Hop/R&B in 1993 — more than a decade before Stern moved from WXRK to SXM. (Flex is also a fondly remembered former co-worker of the author during our shared time at Profile Records in the early ’90s.)
The announcement seemed like a good time for a Fresh Listen of Hot 97, rival WWPR (Power 105.1), and throwback Hip-Hop WXBK (94.7 The Block). In the August PPM, Hot was up 3.2-3.3, Power was off 3.1-3.0, and the Block was flat at a 2.0 share.
Hot 97’s phenomenal success in the early-to-mid-’90s gave Hip-Hop a much stronger presence at radio and gave New York Hip-Hop a flagship station. Even today, that moment has echoes, especially here. Power 105.1, also the home of Charlemagne and the Breakfast Club, hired p.m. driver Angie Martinez from Hot more than a decade ago. There are former Hot morning hosts in mornings (Miss Jones), middays (Cipha Sounds, also a former Flex protege), and evenings (Audacy’s syndicated Ed Lover) on The Block.
In some markets, the presence of a Classic Hip-Hop/R&B outlet has spurred a heritage outlet to cover its bases and add more throwbacks. Hot 97 never went as heavily into throwbacks as you might expect, and at this point has only a smattering of heritage titles, leaving those to The Block and to its Adult R&B sister WBLS. (Radioinsight’s Lance Venta notes that the growth of the “Throwbacks” format did lead to Top 40 becoming much more gold-based.)
The Block’s p.m. driver is Shelley Wade, formerly of Top 40 WHTZ (Z100) New York. On Wednesday afternoon, the station was giving away tickets to Urban Legends of Comedy with Talent scheduled to call in during the 5 p.m. mix. (I’d heard Wade a week earlier interviewing Dru Hill’s Nokio.) Her “Mindful Moment” that afternoon was on a Disney survey showing that 39% of kids considered their parents to be heroic.
Here’s The Block at 4 p.m., Sept. 17:
- Terror Fabulous f/Nadine Sullivan, “Action”
- Missy Elliott, “Hot Boys”
- Ludacris, “Southern Hospitality”
- Monica, “Angel of Mine”
- Robin S, “Show Me Love”
- DMX, “Ruff Ryders Anthem”
- T.I. f/Rihanna, “Live Your Life”
- SWV, “Right Here/Human Nature”
- Snoop Dogg, “Gin and Juice”
- Usher, “Nice and Slow”
- Ice Cube, “It Was a Good Day”
Last week, I heard Power 105 p.m. driver Martinez talking about doing at a Chase Financial Foundation event for young adults that evening. The 3 p.m. hour Wednesday was devoted to her “Trending Topics” feature throughout, including Cardi B announcing her pregnancy, as well as that day being the last one with a sunset after 7 p.m. She also had tickets coming up for NBA YoungBoy.
Here’s Power 105.1 on Sept. 17, just before 3 p.m.:
- Cash Cobain, “Fisherr” — Cobain had just been announced as a guest on the Cardi B album scheduled for release Friday. The year-old “Fisherr” moved back into medium rotation at Power this week after more than 3500 spins on the station
- Kendrick Lamar & SZA, “Luther”
- Mariah the Scientist & Kali Uchis, “Is It a Crime”
- Drake, “Started From the Bottom”
- Glorilla & Sexxy Red, “Whatchu Kno About Me”
- Leon Thomas, “Mutt”
- Partynextdoor & Drake, “Somebody Loves Me”
- Kanye West f/T-Pain, “Good Life”
- Jordan Adetunji, “Kehlani”
- Summer Walker, “Heart of a Woman”
- Cardi B, “Outside”
- Cash Cobain, “Problem” — also returning to medium after 1400+ spins
Cobain also made an appearance on Flex’s show Wednesday afternoon, calling in to congratulate him on the new time slot. Flex mentioned he was on-air for six hours now. “That’s crazy,” said the rapper. Flex’s produced opener refers to the show as “the biggest daypart in America.” “They love me up here,” he added later during the hour.
There’s been a lot of discussion in recent years about the distinction between DJs and personalities. Listening now, you realize that Flex helped create a third category — MCs. Just as Hot 97 lifted the daypart on most Hip-Hop titles across the format, Flex was one of the hosts who helped the mix spread beyond noon, 5 p.m., and Friday/Saturday night, and the distinction between his 6 p.m. mix- and other hours on the show is fluid.
Flex was teasing various benchmarks for the evening — birthdays features, listener takeovers — throughout the 5 p.m.-hour show. He also teased a Thursday/Friday “New Music Hours” feature where he promised to play “the hottest joints before Spotify or Apple Music.”
In recent years, through radio’s various travails, I’ve become used to turning on some fairly prominent Hip-Hop/R&B stations and finding them unhosted, even during daytime hours. One of the gratifying aspects of New York’s battle is still hearing heavy personality.
Here’s Flex in the 5 p.m. hour. When songs were used primarily as DJ transitions, they’re asterisked:
- Rotimi, “In My Bed”*
- Drake, “Which One”
- Will Traxx, “Let Me See Some Footwork”*
- Moliy f/Silent Addy, Skillibeng, Shensee, “Shake It to the Max”
- Ding Dong, “Bad Man Forward, Bad Man Pull Up”*
- Masicka, “Whites”*
- Nas/Bravehearts, “Oochie Wally”*
- Tyla, “Push 2 Start”
- Bad Bunny, “EoO” — after a set that had been heavily Afrobeats/Caribbean, Flex declared “I’m gonna keep it international”
- Kendrick Lamar f/SZA, “Luther”
- Future, “F**k Up Some Commas”*
- I Love Makkonnen, “Tuesday”
- MGK f/Wakka Flocka, “Wild Boy”*
- Cardi B, “Outside”
- Kehlani, “Folded”
- Drake, “What Did I Miss”
- Michael Jackson, “Wanna Be Startin’ Something” — a few seconds of the “Soul Makossa” chant, no other vocal*
- Hugel, “I Adore You” — the international dance hit
- Kendrick Lamar, “TV Off”
- Mariah the Scientist, “Burning Blue”
- Bruno Mars & Cardi B, “Finesse”
- Leon Thomas, “Mutt”
- Drake, “Nokia”
This story first appeared on radioinsight.com