Is This Radio Racism?

104.1 is my new favorite radio station of the summer, along with hot 93.7 and the local NPR at 90.5 it is what i listen to when i'm driving too and from work or anywhere in between (take that you metro riding, hoof striding city dwellers!). It plays a variety of rockish music, mostly milder and alternative rock from the 80s, 90s, and of more recent times. Basically, most of the time, it plays good music.

Now this station is definitely a rock station but for some reason they play an abnormal amount of Beastie Boys, which is really the only rap they play. I know some people may think Beastie Boys are not strictly rap, but they mostly are. Almost all of their songs have hip hop drums even if some of their songs have electric guitar backing. I always thought it was weird that they played Beastie Boys, an all white rap group, and not Run DMC which is a very similar sounding all black rap group (if I was more educated on the subject and could confirm with fact my suspicions I would say that the Beastie Boys just straight up jacked Run DMC's style). However, I assuaged those fears by saying to myself that while the Beastie Boys were VERY similar to Run DMC they had a softer edge to their songs and more of a party attitude which could explain why they were played by 104.1 In addition, I had known the station to play one black artist in semi-regular rotation: Bob Marley. On top of that, I'm not positive but I think i remember them playing some Gorillaz songs WAYYY back a few months ago that included Obie Trice and De La Soul on feature spots. So no biggie right? This radio station is not racist....


That is until a couple nights ago when I heard them play "Jump Around" by House of Pain. This song is by an all white rap group from the early 1990s that definitley tries to mimic the hard edge, heavy bragging rhymes of other black rappers from the same period. The song, while catchy, can definitely get annoying and there are many songs from black hip hop artists that should be getting play on this station if "Jump Around" gets played. To be sure, the station doesn't play "Jump Around" or any rap all that often but still, if they think the style of rapping in "Jump Around" which is filled with anti cop and pro violence messages is okay to play and they play Beastie Boys all the time then they should definitley be playing Run DMC. I listen to the station constantly and I am totally disatisfied with their selection of hip hop.


I know this is a very minor disagreement, I still listen to 104.1 and enjoy their music but it's weird and selective choice of hip hop music does bug me. I always am bothered when they play the Beastie Boys, whose songs are usually good, because it reminds me that they give no spins to black rappers but white seems to be okay.

PEACEEE, NANNNDHISHHHhhhhhHH