Classic hip-hop is a music radio format focusing primarily on hip-hop 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.
Format and targeting 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 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.
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". 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."
History 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.
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.
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. 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.
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's 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. Some stations, over the 2014 holiday season, shifted towards classic hip-hop as a temporary format.
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.
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.
List of stations airing the format Station name Brand Location Ref K242CE "Throwback 96.3" New Orleans, Louisiana KDAY/KDEY-FM "93.5 KDAY" Redondo Beach, California-Ontario, California KHYL "V101" Sacramento, California KJMP "Jump 104.5" Pierce, Colorado K276EX "V103" Oklahoma City, Oklahoma KNEV "95.5 The Vibe" Reno, Nevada KWCQ "107.3 The Beat" Kennewick, Washington KRBQ "102 Jams" San Francisco, California KSZR "97.5 The Vibe" Tucson, Arizona KUBT-HD2 "Jamz Hawaii" Honolulu, Hawaii KVBH "Vibe 107.5" San Antonio, Texas KVGQ "106.9 Da Bomb" Las Vegas, Nevada KZFS "Hooptown 101.5" Spokane, Washington KZCE "101.1 The Bounce" Phoenix, Arizona WWWQ-HD3 "OG 97.9" Atlanta, Georgia WCHZ-FM ""Hot 95.5/93.1" Augusta, Georgia WFQY "BDay 99.1" Jackson, Mississippi WGBL "G96.7" Gulfport, Mississippi WHBT-FM "92.1 The Beat" Norfolk, Virginia WHJA "Power 101.1" Hattiesburg, Mississippi WJNI-HD2 "Old Skool 92.1" Charleston, South Carolina WKCN-HD3 "Hip Hop 106.5" Columbus, Georgia WKXD-HD2 "93.3 The Dawg" Monterey, Tennessee WJMP "Jump 103.7" Plattsburgh, New York WLLY-HD3 "Yo! 107.1" West Palm Beach, Florida WMGC-FM "105.1 The Bounce" Detroit, Michigan WMIB-HD3 "Throwback 105.5" Miami, Florida W239BT/W240CP "95.9 The Vibe" Glasgow, Kentucky-Bowling Green, Kentucky WPOW-FM "Power 96" Miami, Florida WQKI-FM "Jamz 95.7" Orangeburg, South Carolina WQKS-HD2 "Yo! 100.5" Montgomery, Alabama WSIM-HD2 "Jamz 107.5" Florence, South Carolina WUKS "107.7 The Bounce" St. Pauls, North Carolina WXBK "94.7 The Block" New York, New York WXGI/ WDCJ/ WCDX-HD2 "99.5 & 102.7 The Box" Richmond, Virginia-Petersburg, Virginia-Mechanicsville, Virginia WMMS-HD3 "Throwback 99.1" Cleveland, Ohio WXKC-HD2 "104.3 The Vibe" Erie, Pennsylvania WMQZ "ICON 104.1" Colchester, Illinois WZOE-FM "ICON 98.1" Princeton, Illinois WJHM "102 JAMZ" Daytona Beach-Greater Orlando-Central Florida
Satellite radio stations LL Cool J's Rock the Bells Radio - SiriusXM
Networks Classic Hip-Hop - operated by Westwood One
List of former stations airing the format 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 Red dirt/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 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)
See also List of music radio formats Old-school hip-hop Golden age hip-hop Urban Contemporary Urban Adult Contemporary Rhythmic AC
References