The Inside of My Brain

Opinion: What Is Going On In Hip-Hop Radio?

Troi Torain is a man whose career has been made by being as crude as possible on radio. Now his latest attempt may end up taking away his freedom. Torain, who is known as Power 105's DJ Star of Star and Buckwild, decided to make beef with a rival DJ who also plays in New York at Hot 97; he was suspended for his remarks. Now normally, beefs like this usually warm over as being "just good business" to keep ratings high and paychecks continuous. What you are about to read, however, makes his firing a bit more justifiable:

Star: Let me see now, uh, DJ Benji attention! In case you didn't hearme, I said, I want to put some mayonnaise in between your baby girl'sass crack and take a bite.

The DJ he refers to as "Benji" is DJ Envy. The baby girl he disrespects is DJ Envy's 4-Year-Old Daughter. You can read the rest of the transcript that The New York Council has at the Follow the Leader website - that is if you have a good stomach. Whether he was being crude for the ratings or being completely serious, no one has the right to put a 4-year-old in the middle of a beef between two grown ass adults. Before someone starts to say the words "Howard Stern" let me say this - you never hear Howard Stern using children younger than 10 in his disputes with the people of the world. Suspension isn't enough; he needs to be fired - completely.

Some folks have already started saying that because this is a hip-hop radio station, this should be expected. Hip-Hop was never created around the theme of violence. That was developed by the less intelligent group of street culture - the type of men who pretend to be so by the physical harm they do to one another and their communities. The smarter version of the street culture got silenced by the new generation and the record sales that have grown due to their newfound fascination with the gangsta side of rap music.

Mr. Torain will no doubt find work elsewhere - he may even go satellite and/or hit the net for another radio outlet. If my ideas about human nature are right, people are going to find they don't want to pay money to hear a loudmouth, and in his case, a loudmouth with a mind that can stoop to pedophilia. Then again, we still have love for Maury, which unfortunately leaves some space in the world for Mr. Torain.

If people cannot make money in a media based career without subjecting harm to another person, they should consider another field. The glue of radio entertainment has become the replacement for old fashion life lessons. No, I don't want radio to be safe - I just want radio to be able to say what it wants without involving people who have nothing to do with the topics at hand.

Posted by Matthew at May 12, 2006 03:33 PM | TrackBack