WBLS
Encyclopedia
WBLS is an urban adult contemporary
FM
radio station
in New York City
, operating on 107.5 MHz. WBLS is owned by Inner City Broadcasting Corporation
along with sister station WLIB
(1190 AM). The two stations share studios in Midtown Manhattan
, and WBLS' transmitter is located on the Empire State Building
.
ing its sister station at 1330 AM
. Within a few years, WEVD-FM moved up the dial to 97.9
, and 107.5 went silent.
On September 15, 1965, the New Broadcasting Company, then-owners of WLIB, purchased the frequency and relaunched it as WLIB-FM. As the Federal Communications Commission
recently instituted a rule prohibiting full-time AM/FM simulcasting in large markets, WLIB-FM was programmed with a jazz music format. The stations were split up in 1970, when Inner City Broadcasting purchased WLIB (AM); WLIB-FM was then renamed WBLS. Inner City reunited the pair with its purchase of WBLS in 1972. WBLS continued as a jazz station, though it would evolve into a more eclectic format that included rhythm and blues
, soul music
and vocalese
(poetry and prose, such as Nikki Giovanni
and the Last Poets). This format was called "The Total Black Experience in Sound." The evolution of this became the urban contemporary
format.
's Mutual Black Network
(now Sheridan Broadcasting's American Urban Radio Networks
).
With its distinctive on-air station ID (its call letters echoing in full left-right-left-right stereo effect), WBLS was often the number one FM station in New York from during the middle 1970s. During this time its main competition was the original WKTU (then at 92.3 FM), a dance
/disco
station whose music rosters included black artists. Afterward, though, the station's ratings fell to number three. In August 1981, group owner RKO General
went after WBLS' urban audience by reformatting adult contemporary WXLO (98.7 FM) into WRKS ("Kiss FM"). WRKS skyrocketed from the bottom of the pack to the top-five in the Arbitron
ratings in just one rating period.
WBLS, WKTU and WRKS battled fiercely for the urban audience in the early 1980s. By that time, the three stations together so thoroughly dominated the New York-area radio ratings that they sent rock-and-roll-formatted radio fleeing to the suburbs -- and drove the final nail into the coffin for music-formatted AM radio in New York, as WABC
and WNBC
each saw a sharp decline in their respective audiences. WABC, the biggest of the two and the dominant music station for a generation, eventually dropped music altogether and switched to a talk format
in May 1982.
became popular among younger urban audiences. However, WBLS was slow to embrace the genre in its musical rotation. On the other hand WRKS was not, and soon rap music was an integral device in their pulling ahead of WBLS in listenership. In response to WRKS' weekend rap shows emceed by DJ Red Alert
, WBLS hired Mr. Magic
in 1983 to conduct a weekend hip hop show and added more rap music to its own playlists.
By the late 1980s WBLS became better known as a straight-ahead R&B station, and one that was also reluctant to play rap music. Inner City Broadcasting insisted that rap—particularly the harder-edged and often profanity-laced gangsta rap
subgenre—plagued the minds of young African American
s, especially teenagers. Many hip-hop artists, most notably Chuck D
of Public Enemy, blamed the station for not reaching out to the youth and contributing to the formation of "white-owned Black radio." His comments alluded to stations such as WRKS (which by that time had been sold by RKO General to Summit Communications Group
) as being a station which catered to Black audiences but was not owned by African-Americans.
In 1993 Calvin O. Butts III, pastor of Abyssinian Baptist Church
in Harlem
, led a threat to boycott the station if they played any form of gangsta rap. Butts' protests culminated in his bulldozing a pile of hip-hop recordings during a rally. In response to the protests, WBLS excised most hip hop music from its air and carefully screened what it did play for content and language. WBLS fully reintroduced rap back on its playlists in 1997, but has flip-flopped on the decision several times since.
Though mostly fought in the Arbitron books, the battle between the two stations has also spilled out over the airwaves at times. Each station's resident hip-hop "mixmasters" were key figures in the Bridge Wars
of the mid-1980s. In 1994, WBLS introduced the market's first Urban Adult Contemporary
format. But in 1995, after WRKS was purchased by Emmis Communications
and dropped all hip-hop music in favor of an adult R&B format, WBLS countered with a controversial advertising campaign labelling WRKS as a "plantation
station." WBLS shortly reverted to urban contemporary
, only to exit again in 2004
, when WBLS switched from urban contemporary
to urban adult contemporary
.
WKTU dropped out of the Urban audience race in 1985, when it was sold to Infinity Broadcasting and became rock-formatted WXRK. In 1986, Emmis Communications converted rock-formatted WAPP (103.5 FM) into WQHT (now at 97.1 FM), whose original dance-heavy format drew listeners away from numerous radio stations around the city. WQHT's early success forced WBLS to incorporate dance music to its playlists again.
WBLS is presently one of five urban-formatted FM stations in the New York City market. The others include its traditional rival WRKS and two hip-hop outlets, WQHT and Clear Channel
-owned WWPR-FM
(105.1 FM), although WQHT is a rhythmic contemporary
. WWPR's sister station WKTU
, revived in 1996 at 103.5 FM as a Rhythmic adult contemporary
station, is also considered as a competitor.
's syndicated morning show, and was previously the flagship of Wendy Williams
' syndicated afternoon drive program, which ended in August 2009. The station also features Hal Jackson
, a pioneering Black radio personality and co-founder of parent company Inner City Broadcasting, whose Sunday Classics program has aired weekly since the station's inception. Longtime New York urban radio personality Jeff Foxx replaced Williams as afternoon host in January 2010.
During its heyday in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Frankie Crocker
was WBLS' program director and afternoon disc jockey, and is credited with defining what became the station's signature Urban Contemporary sound. Crocker served three stints at WBLS during his career.
Other notable personalities who have appeared on WBLS include: Chuck Leonard
, Ken "Spider" Webb, Vy Higgensen, Vaughan Harper, Champagne, G. Keith Alexander, Yvonne Mobley, Lamarr Renee, Carlos DeJesus, Doug Banks
, Paul Mooney, Egypt
, Loni Love
and MC Lyte
, amongst many.
Urban Adult Contemporary
Urban adult contemporary is the name for a format of radio music, similar to an urban contemporary format. Radio stations using this format usually would not have rap music on their playlists. The format was designed by Barry Mayo when he, Lee S. Simonson and Bill Pearson organized Broadcast...
FM
FM broadcasting
FM broadcasting is a broadcasting technology pioneered by Edwin Howard Armstrong which uses frequency modulation to provide high-fidelity sound over broadcast radio. The term "FM band" describes the "frequency band in which FM is used for broadcasting"...
radio station
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, operating on 107.5 MHz. WBLS is owned by Inner City Broadcasting Corporation
Inner City Broadcasting Corporation
The Inner City Broadcasting Corporation is an American media company based in New York City. ICBC is notable for being one of the first broadcasting companies wholly owned by black people...
along with sister station WLIB
WLIB
WLIB is an urban contemporary gospel AM radio station located in New York City. WLIB is owned by Inner City Broadcasting Corporation along with sister station WBLS...
(1190 AM). The two stations share studios in Midtown Manhattan
Midtown Manhattan
Midtown Manhattan, or simply Midtown, is an area of Manhattan, New York City home to world-famous commercial zones such as Rockefeller Center, Broadway, and Times Square...
, and WBLS' transmitter is located on the Empire State Building
Empire State Building
The Empire State Building is a 102-story landmark skyscraper and American cultural icon in New York City at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and West 34th Street. It has a roof height of 1,250 feet , and with its antenna spire included, it stands a total of 1,454 ft high. Its name is derived...
.
Early history
The 107.5 frequency in New York City signed on in July 1951 as WEVD-FM, simulcastSimulcast
Simulcast, shorthand for "simultaneous broadcast", refers to programs or events broadcast across more than one medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at the same time. For example, Absolute Radio is simulcast on both AM and on satellite radio, and the BBC's Prom concerts are often...
ing its sister station at 1330 AM
WWRV
WWRV 1330 is a Spanish Christian music and teaching station and serves the New York area. It is owned by Radio Vision Cristiana Management.For years 1330 was WEVD, named after Eugene V. Debs, which ran mostly Jewish programming and owned by The Forward. By the '60s they also had 97.9 WEVD-FM...
. Within a few years, WEVD-FM moved up the dial to 97.9
WSKQ-FM
WSKQ-FM, known on-air as Mega 97.9, is a radio station in New York City owned by Spanish Broadcasting System . Currently located at 97.9 FM, the station has a tropical format, which consists of such musical styles as Bachata, salsa, merengue, and Reggaeton.-History:The 97.9 FM facility's heritage...
, and 107.5 went silent.
On September 15, 1965, the New Broadcasting Company, then-owners of WLIB, purchased the frequency and relaunched it as WLIB-FM. As the Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
recently instituted a rule prohibiting full-time AM/FM simulcasting in large markets, WLIB-FM was programmed with a jazz music format. The stations were split up in 1970, when Inner City Broadcasting purchased WLIB (AM); WLIB-FM was then renamed WBLS. Inner City reunited the pair with its purchase of WBLS in 1972. WBLS continued as a jazz station, though it would evolve into a more eclectic format that included rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
, soul music
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
and vocalese
Vocalese
Vocalese is a style or genre of jazz singing wherein lyrics are written for melodies that were originally part of an all-instrumental composition or improvisation. Whereas scat singing uses improvised nonsense syllables, such as "bap ba dee dot bwee dee" in solos, vocalese uses lyrics, either...
(poetry and prose, such as Nikki Giovanni
Nikki Giovanni
Yolande Cornelia "Nikki" Giovanni is an American poet, writer, commentator, activist, and educator. Her primary focus is on the individual and the power one has to make a difference in oneself and in the lives of others. Giovanni’s poetry expresses strong racial pride, respect for family, and her...
and the Last Poets). This format was called "The Total Black Experience in Sound." The evolution of this became the urban contemporary
Urban contemporary
Urban contemporary is a music radio format. The term was coined by the late New York DJ Frankie Crocker in the mid 1970s. Urban contemporary radio stations feature a playlist made up entirely of hip hop/rap, contemporary R&B, pop, electronica such as dubstep and drum and bass and Caribbean music...
format.
Urban radio pioneer
Early in 1975 WBLS made the first shift towards its present-day format—which was derived from its "Total Black Experience in Sound" moniker—by becoming the flagship station of the Mutual Broadcasting SystemMutual Broadcasting System
The Mutual Broadcasting System was an American radio network, in operation from 1934 to 1999. In the golden age of U.S. radio drama, MBS was best known as the original network home of The Lone Ranger and The Adventures of Superman and as the long-time radio residence of The Shadow...
's Mutual Black Network
Mutual Black Network
The Mutual Black Network or MBN was founded by the Mutual Broadcasting System in 1972, this was the first national full-service radio network aimed at African Americans. It broadcast an hourly 5 minute newscast at 50 minutes past the hour...
(now Sheridan Broadcasting's American Urban Radio Networks
American Urban Radio Networks
American Urban Radio Networks is the result of a merger between the National Black Network, founded by Unity Broadcasting in 1973, and the Sheridan Broadcasting Network, founded in 1972 as the Mutual Black Network. The merger took place in the late 1980s. American Urban Radio Networks is an African...
).
With its distinctive on-air station ID (its call letters echoing in full left-right-left-right stereo effect), WBLS was often the number one FM station in New York from during the middle 1970s. During this time its main competition was the original WKTU (then at 92.3 FM), a dance
Dance music
Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement...
/disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
station whose music rosters included black artists. Afterward, though, the station's ratings fell to number three. In August 1981, group owner RKO General
RKO General
RKO General was the main holding company through 1991 for the noncore businesses of the General Tire and Rubber Company and, after General Tire's reorganization in the 1980s, GenCorp. The business was based around the consolidation of its parent company's broadcasting interests, dating to 1943, and...
went after WBLS' urban audience by reformatting adult contemporary WXLO (98.7 FM) into WRKS ("Kiss FM"). WRKS skyrocketed from the bottom of the pack to the top-five in the Arbitron
Arbitron
Arbitron is a consumer research company in the United States that collects listener data on radio audiences. It was founded as American Research Bureau by Jim Seiler in 1949 and became national by merging with L.A. based Coffin, Cooper and Clay in the early 1950s...
ratings in just one rating period.
WBLS, WKTU and WRKS battled fiercely for the urban audience in the early 1980s. By that time, the three stations together so thoroughly dominated the New York-area radio ratings that they sent rock-and-roll-formatted radio fleeing to the suburbs -- and drove the final nail into the coffin for music-formatted AM radio in New York, as WABC
WABC (AM)
WABC , known as "NewsTalkRadio 77 WABC" is a radio station in New York City. Owned by the broadcasting division of Cumulus Media, the station broadcasts on a clear channel and is the flagship station of Cumulus Media Networks...
and WNBC
WNBC (AM)
WNBC was a radio station that operated in New York City from 1922 to 1988. For most of its history, it was the flagship station of the NBC Radio Network...
each saw a sharp decline in their respective audiences. WABC, the biggest of the two and the dominant music station for a generation, eventually dropped music altogether and switched to a talk format
Talk radio
Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often feature interviews with a number of different guests. Talk radio typically includes an element of listener participation, usually by broadcasting live...
in May 1982.
Response to rap
In the early 1980s, early forms of hip hop musicHip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
became popular among younger urban audiences. However, WBLS was slow to embrace the genre in its musical rotation. On the other hand WRKS was not, and soon rap music was an integral device in their pulling ahead of WBLS in listenership. In response to WRKS' weekend rap shows emceed by DJ Red Alert
DJ Red Alert
DJ Red Alert is a disc jockey on 98.7 Kiss-FM, N.Y.C., and has been recognized as a hip hop pioneer...
, WBLS hired Mr. Magic
Mr. Magic
John "Mr. Magic" Rivas, was an important figure in the world of hip hop radio.-Biography:Mr. Magic debuted in 1981 on WHBI-FM in New York City with the first exclusive rap radio show to be aired on a major station...
in 1983 to conduct a weekend hip hop show and added more rap music to its own playlists.
By the late 1980s WBLS became better known as a straight-ahead R&B station, and one that was also reluctant to play rap music. Inner City Broadcasting insisted that rap—particularly the harder-edged and often profanity-laced gangsta rap
Gangsta rap
Gangsta Rap is a subgenre of hip hop music that evolved from hardcore hip hop and purports to reflect urban crime and the violent lifestyles of inner-city youths. Lyrics in gangsta rap have varied from accurate reflections to fictionalized accounts. Gangsta is a non-rhotic pronunciation of the word...
subgenre—plagued the minds of young African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
s, especially teenagers. Many hip-hop artists, most notably Chuck D
Chuck D
Carlton Douglas Ridenhour , better known by his stage name, Chuck D, is an American rapper, author, and producer. He helped create politically and socially conscious rap music in the mid-1980s as the leader of the rap group Public Enemy.- Early life :Ridenhour was born in Queens, New York...
of Public Enemy, blamed the station for not reaching out to the youth and contributing to the formation of "white-owned Black radio." His comments alluded to stations such as WRKS (which by that time had been sold by RKO General to Summit Communications Group
Summit Communications Group
The Summit Communications Group is an Atlanta-based communications company which once owned 16 radio stations around the United States. The company now concentrates on technology and internet services....
) as being a station which catered to Black audiences but was not owned by African-Americans.
In 1993 Calvin O. Butts III, pastor of Abyssinian Baptist Church
Abyssinian Baptist Church
The Abyssinian Baptist Church is among the most famous of the many prominent and activist churches in the Harlem section of New York City.- History :...
in Harlem
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
, led a threat to boycott the station if they played any form of gangsta rap. Butts' protests culminated in his bulldozing a pile of hip-hop recordings during a rally. In response to the protests, WBLS excised most hip hop music from its air and carefully screened what it did play for content and language. WBLS fully reintroduced rap back on its playlists in 1997, but has flip-flopped on the decision several times since.
Dealing with competition
WBLS' long battle with WRKS over the New York City area's urban audience has been a hard-fought one, with each station trading places in the ratings. WBLS has always used its heritage as an African-American owned station as its main selling point. Since the middle 1980s, however, WBLS has usually been the number-two station behind WRKS, who has always benefitted from ownership with greater financial resources.Though mostly fought in the Arbitron books, the battle between the two stations has also spilled out over the airwaves at times. Each station's resident hip-hop "mixmasters" were key figures in the Bridge Wars
The Bridge Wars
The Bridge Wars was a hip hop rivalry during the mid-to-late 1980s and early 1990s, that arose from a dispute over the true birthplace of hip hop music and retaliation over the rejecting of a record for airplay. The Bridge Wars originally involved The South Bronx's Boogie Down Productions, led by...
of the mid-1980s. In 1994, WBLS introduced the market's first Urban Adult Contemporary
Urban Adult Contemporary
Urban adult contemporary is the name for a format of radio music, similar to an urban contemporary format. Radio stations using this format usually would not have rap music on their playlists. The format was designed by Barry Mayo when he, Lee S. Simonson and Bill Pearson organized Broadcast...
format. But in 1995, after WRKS was purchased by Emmis Communications
Emmis Communications
Emmis Communications is a media conglomerate based in Indianapolis, Indiana. The company owns radio stations and magazines in the United States, Hungary, Slovakia and Bulgaria.-History:...
and dropped all hip-hop music in favor of an adult R&B format, WBLS countered with a controversial advertising campaign labelling WRKS as a "plantation
Plantations in the American South
Plantations were an important aspect of the history of the American South, particularly the antebellum .-Planter :The owner of a plantation was called a planter...
station." WBLS shortly reverted to urban contemporary
Urban contemporary
Urban contemporary is a music radio format. The term was coined by the late New York DJ Frankie Crocker in the mid 1970s. Urban contemporary radio stations feature a playlist made up entirely of hip hop/rap, contemporary R&B, pop, electronica such as dubstep and drum and bass and Caribbean music...
, only to exit again in 2004
2004 in radio
The year 2004 saw a number of significant events in radio broadcasting history.-Events:*30 October - In the UK a 163-metre-high radio mast at Peterborough collapses in a fire.-Debuts:...
, when WBLS switched from urban contemporary
Urban contemporary
Urban contemporary is a music radio format. The term was coined by the late New York DJ Frankie Crocker in the mid 1970s. Urban contemporary radio stations feature a playlist made up entirely of hip hop/rap, contemporary R&B, pop, electronica such as dubstep and drum and bass and Caribbean music...
to urban adult contemporary
Urban Adult Contemporary
Urban adult contemporary is the name for a format of radio music, similar to an urban contemporary format. Radio stations using this format usually would not have rap music on their playlists. The format was designed by Barry Mayo when he, Lee S. Simonson and Bill Pearson organized Broadcast...
.
WKTU dropped out of the Urban audience race in 1985, when it was sold to Infinity Broadcasting and became rock-formatted WXRK. In 1986, Emmis Communications converted rock-formatted WAPP (103.5 FM) into WQHT (now at 97.1 FM), whose original dance-heavy format drew listeners away from numerous radio stations around the city. WQHT's early success forced WBLS to incorporate dance music to its playlists again.
WBLS is presently one of five urban-formatted FM stations in the New York City market. The others include its traditional rival WRKS and two hip-hop outlets, WQHT and Clear Channel
Clear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications, Inc. is an American media conglomerate company headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It was founded in 1972 by Lowry Mays and Red McCombs, and was taken private by Bain Capital LLC and Thomas H. Lee Partners LP in a leveraged buyout in 2008...
-owned WWPR-FM
WWPR-FM
WWPR-FM, also known as "Power 105.1", is an urban contemporary radio station that features hip hop and R&B licensed to New York City that serves the Greater New York area....
(105.1 FM), although WQHT is a rhythmic contemporary
Rhythmic Contemporary
Rhythmic contemporary, also known as rhythmic top 40, rhythmic contemporary hit radio or rhythmic crossover, is a music radio format that includes a mix of EDM, upbeat rhythmic pop, hip-hop and R&B hits. Rhythmic contemporary rarely uses rock music or country music in its airplay, but it may...
. WWPR's sister station WKTU
WKTU
WKTU is a radio station based in New York City that plays an upbeat, gold-based CHR format. The station's broadcast transmitter is located on the top of the Empire State Building and its city of license is Lake Success, New York, with offices formerly in the "Newport" section of Jersey City, New...
, revived in 1996 at 103.5 FM as a Rhythmic adult contemporary
Rhythmic Adult Contemporary
Rhythmic adult contemporary is a format used on stations in the United States and Canada. It usually gears toward an older audience, ages 25 to 54. Stations using this format play disco from the 1970s and early 1980s, dance/pop music, adult-friendly hip hop/old school tracks, R&B, dance/freestyle...
station, is also considered as a competitor.
Notable personalities
WBLS is currently the originating station of Steve HarveySteve Harvey
Broderick Steven "Steve" Harvey is an American actor, comedian, entertainer, television and radio personality and best-selling author. He is best known as the star of the WB sitcom The Steve Harvey Show, and as one of the four comedians featured in the Spike Lee film The Original Kings of Comedy...
's syndicated morning show, and was previously the flagship of Wendy Williams
Wendy Williams
Wendy Williams may refer to:* Wendy O. Williams, former Plasmatics singer* Wendy Williams , British actress* Wendy Williams , American radio and television personality...
' syndicated afternoon drive program, which ended in August 2009. The station also features Hal Jackson
Hal Jackson
Harold Baron Jackson is an American disk jockey and radio personality who broke a number of color barriers in American radio broadcasting.-Early years:Jackson was born in Charleston, South Carolina and grew up in Washington, D.C...
, a pioneering Black radio personality and co-founder of parent company Inner City Broadcasting, whose Sunday Classics program has aired weekly since the station's inception. Longtime New York urban radio personality Jeff Foxx replaced Williams as afternoon host in January 2010.
During its heyday in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Frankie Crocker
Frankie Crocker
Frankie "Hollywood" Crocker was a famous New York radio DJ...
was WBLS' program director and afternoon disc jockey, and is credited with defining what became the station's signature Urban Contemporary sound. Crocker served three stints at WBLS during his career.
Other notable personalities who have appeared on WBLS include: Chuck Leonard
Chuck Leonard
Charles Wesley "Chuck" Leonard was an American radio personality at WABC in New York City during the 1960s and 1970s. His deep voice and smoothness resonated across 38 states for 14 years at ABC...
, Ken "Spider" Webb, Vy Higgensen, Vaughan Harper, Champagne, G. Keith Alexander, Yvonne Mobley, Lamarr Renee, Carlos DeJesus, Doug Banks
Doug Banks
Doug Banks is an American radio personality and host of The Doug Banks Radio Show.-Career highlights:The Philadelphia-born, Detroit raised Banks began his radio career broadcasting on the high school radio station. Local station WDRQ took notice of his talent and offered him a spot as a temporary...
, Paul Mooney, Egypt
Egypt (media personality)
Egypt is a correspondent for “The Maury Show“, entertainment reporter for BET’s “The Black Carpet”, national radio personality in over 60 cities with Premiere Radio Networks, and co-host of the formerly syndicated WB daytime TV hit “Home Delivery”....
, Loni Love
Loni Love
Loni Love is an American comedian and actress. After quitting her job as an electrical engineer in 2003, Love began to pursue a career in stand up comedy...
and MC Lyte
MC Lyte
MC Lyte is an American rapper who first gained fame in the late-1980s becoming the first solo female rapper to release a full album with 1988's critically acclaimed Lyte as a Rock.-Early life:...
, amongst many.