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Classic hip hop is a music radio format focusing primarily on hip hop music from the 1980s, 1990s, and the early to mid-2000s.
Although stations with such a format date back as far as 2004, the format was first popularized in October 2014, after Radio One dropped a poorly performing news radio format from its Houston station KROI in favor of classic hip-hop. After attracting a dramatic increase in ratings, Radio One began to emulate the station's format and branding in other markets. At the same time, other major radio broadcasters began to introduce classic hip-hop stations in selected markets.
Doug Abernethy, general manager of Radio One's Houston stations, described the classic hip hop format as a parallel to the classic rock and classic country formats: these stations focus primarily on hip hop music from the 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s, featuring artists such as 2Pac, De La Soul, Mike Jones, LL Cool J, Ludacris, The Notorious B.I.G., Queen Latifah, and Salt-N-Pepa. Some stations may include small amounts of R&B in their playlists as well.[1][2]
Classic hip-hop stations are aimed primarily at listeners between the ages of 25 and 44; Tommy Boy Records founder Tom Silverman explained that hip hop had "entered the realm of credible nostalgia", going on to say that "I'm sure there are kids now who think 3 Feet High and Rising by De La Soul is a rite of passage, just like Led Zeppelin is".[1][2] The format also appeals to listeners who may not enjoy contemporary hip-hop: iHeartMedia senior vice president Doc Wynter explained that "hip-hop back then was about telling a story about your struggle and your family's struggle. Now the reigning hip-hop king is a multiracial guy from Toronto who did not struggle."[1][2]
Origins
The classic hip-hop format dates back to 2004, when KZAB, a Spanish-language FM station serving the Los Angeles area, was re-launched as KDAY. The re-launched station served to capitalize on the heritage of the original KDAY on the AM dial (now KBLA), which in the 1980s was the first radio station in the United States to play hip-hop music on a full-time basis. After the station's sale to Fred Sands in 1991, the station dropped hip-hop and switched to business news. The new KDAY originally focused primarily on classic hip-hop music: over the following years, it backtracked on its gold-based format, before reinstating it in 2009. The station's initial success was hampered primarily by its signal, which did not cover all of Greater Los Angeles (a rebroadcaster, KDEY-FM, was also established to improve the station's reach in the Inland Empire), along with the music itself, as hip-hop music from the 1990s was not yet nostalgic to listeners.[3][4]
However, the new KDAY still enjoyed a cult following: after it was announced that KDAY would be acquired by the Meruelo Group, owners of Spanish-language television station KWHY-TV, it was speculated that the station would drop hip-hop and revert to a Spanish-language format to complement KWHY-TV. Following the establishment of a "Save KDAY" campaign on Facebook led by Dr. Dre (who was among the artists popularized by the original KDAY), the station's new owners confirmed that they would maintain the hip-hop format, citing the "value" of the KDAY brand, along with plans to broaden the station's audience to include Hispanic listeners.[3][5][4]
Mainstream adoption
On October 13, 2014, after having dropped a low-rated all-news radio format five days prior in favor of all-Beyoncé music as a stunt, the Houston radio station KROI, owned by the urban-oriented radio group Radio One, launched a classic hip-hop format branded as "Boom 92". Radio One stated that the format was the first of its kind among major-market stations in the United States, and would serve to complement its other urban-oriented music stations in the market.[1] Listenership of the new format saw a dramatic improvement over its previous all-news format: the following month, KROI improved its audience share of 0.9, 26th place among Houston stations, to 3.2, 14th place in the market.[6]
In response to its success, Radio One began to flip further stations to the Boom format and brand, including Philadelphia's WPHI-FM and Dallas' KSOC. At the same time, other station groups, including iHeartMedia, Cumulus Media, Univision Radio, and Cox Media Group, began to slowly introduce classic hip-hop formats of their own. In November 2014, WTZA became the first station in the Atlanta market to adopt classic hip-hop; a few days later, both Cumulus Media's W250BC and Radio One's W275BK flipped as well, with the latter using the Boom branding.[2][7][8] Some stations, over the 2014 holiday season, shifted towards classic hip-hop as a temporary format.[2]
Edison Research analyst Sean Ross compared the growth of classic hip-hop to the emergence of classic rock, which came during a similar youth-oriented shift in mainstream rock towards glam metal bands and grunge.[2][4]
KROI's success was short-lived; by December 2016, it had fallen back towards a 1.4 share. In January 2017, KROI would drop its classic hip-hop format in favor of contemporary hit radio.[9][10]
Satellite radio stations
Networks
- Classic Hip-Hop - operated by Westwood One
| Station name | Brand | Location | Ended | New genre | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CFXJ-FM | "Flow 93-5" | Toronto, Ontario | February 2016 | Rhythmic AC, then rhythmic CHR | |
| K240EL | "Hot 95.9" | Austin, Texas | May 2024 | Classic country | |
| K246BR | "Hot 97.1" | Honolulu, Hawaii | August 2016 | All-80's hits | |
| K223AL | "Power 92.5" | Reno, Nevada | May 2018 | Country music | |
| K256AS | "99.1 Jamz" | Honolulu, Hawaii | November 2019 | Asian CHR | |
| K273BH | "Hot 102.5" | Minneapolis, Minnesota | February 2018 | Urban | |
| K277CX | "G103.3" | San Antonio, Texas | June 2020 | Rhythmic contemporary | |
| KENZ | "94.9 The Vibe" | Salt Lake City, Utah | January 2017 | Top 40/CHR | |
| KFVR-FM | "94.7 & 93.9 The Beat" | Pueblo, Colorado | September 2017 | Tejano music | |
| KJZN | "Rewind 105.5" | Fresno, California | January 2017 | Soft AC | |
| KKRG-FM | "Yo! 105.1 FM" | Albuquerque, New Mexico | October 2017 | Christmas music | |
| KLIF-FM | "Hot 93.3" | Dallas, Texas | 2014 | Urban contemporary, then top 40/CHR (Hot 93.3 aired for the 2014 holiday season) | |
| KMJM-FM | "100.3 The Beat" | St. Louis, Missouri | September 2016 | Urban contemporary | |
| KMYO | "Yo! 95.1" | San Antonio, Texas | April 2017 | Previous Spanish top 40/CHR format | |
| KRBQ | "Q102" | San Francisco, California | August 2019 | Rhythmic oldies | |
| KROI | "Boom 92" | Houston, Texas | January 2017 | Top 40/CHR | |
| KPPF | "Blazin 98.5" | Monument, Colorado | |||
| KRUZ | "106.3 Spin FM" | Oxnard, California | June 2019 | Top 40/CHR | [11][12] |
| KWQW | "98.3 The Vibe" | Des Moines, Iowa | May 2021 | Top 40/CHR | |
| KSOC | "Boom 94.5" | Dallas, Texas | September 2017 | Urban AC | |
| W271BN | "Power 102.1" | Birmingham, Alabama | |||
| W272BY | "102.3 The Beat" | Cincinnati, Ohio | March 2016 | Mainstream urban | |
| W275BD | "Boom 102.9" | Indianapolis, Indiana | July 2018 | Defunct; Regional Mexican | |
| W275BK | "Boom 102.9" | Atlanta, Georgia | December 2017 | Urban oldies | |
| W282CA | "G 104.3" | Richmond, Virginia | May 2021 | Country | |
| W288CX | "Throwback 105.5" | Columbia, South Carolina | February 2021 | Black-oriented news | |
| WBMO | "Boom 106.3" | Columbus, Ohio | November 2017 | Simulcast of sister station WCKX | |
| WCFB | "Star 94.5" | Daytona Beach, Florida | November 2014 | Previous Urban AC format (Classic hip hop aired for three weeks) | |
| WGHL | "G 105.1" | Louisville, Kentucky | August 2018 | Modern rock | |
| WGVX | "105 The Vibe" | Minneapolis, Minnesota | November 2018 | Christmas music, then soft AC | |
| WIVG | "Bumpin' 96" (formerly "Boomin' 96") | Memphis, Tennessee | February 2016 | Alternative rock | |
| WJKS | "Kiss 104.3" | Keeseville, New York | June 2020 | Country | |
| WJMP | "Jump 97.1" | Knoxville, Tennessee | December 2021 | Urban contemporary | |
| WJXN-FM | "G100.9" | Jackson, Mississippi | February 2021 | Adult hits | |
| WKEZ | "Z98.7" | Bluefield, Virginia | November 2019 | Christmas music, then soft AC | |
| WKIM | "98.9 The Vibe" | Memphis, Tennessee | October 2017 | Christmas music | |
| WNGY | "G 102.3" | Peoria, Illinois | December 2019 | Rhythmic AC | |
| WPHI-FM | "Boom 103.9" | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | December 2019 | Urban contemporary | |
| WPHI-FM | "Boom 107.9" | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | September 2016 | Urban contemporary gospel | |
| WQKS-HD3 | "Yo! 107.1" | Montgomery, Alabama | Format revived in 2014 on sister WQKS-HD2 | ||
| WRNN (AM) | "G 105.5" | Myrtle Beach, South Carolina | May 2018 | Classic country | |
| WRWM | "93.9 The Beat" | Indianapolis, Indiana | Rhythmic AC, then top 40/CHR | ||
| WSOL-FM | "V101.5" | Jacksonville, Florida | December 2019 | Urban AC | |
| WLOR | "98.1 The Beat" | Huntsville, Alabama | June 2020 | Urban contemporary | |
| WTMP | "AM 1150" | Tampa, Florida | |||
| WTSL | "Hot 97.5" | Hanover, New Hampshire | July 2022 | Adult contemporary | |
| WTZA | "Old School 99.3" | Atlanta, Georgia | Went off air due to interference complaints from WCON-FM; later moved to WTBS-LP and flipped to urban oldies | ||
| WXYY | "G100" | Savannah, Georgia | February 2023 | Rhythmic contemporary | |
| WBBF | "98.9 The Vibe" | Buffalo, New York | July 2023 | Top 40 (CHR) |
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