Jammin’ No Mo: Glad to See it Go?
Portland’s only full-time rap and r&b station, Jammin’ 95.5, is flipping over to sports on June 12. The Oregonian’s blog framed the switch with the introductory sentence: “Ready for a second sports talk radio station in town?” Not, mind you, “Ready for one less mainstream rap station?” Priorities, I guess.
Now I’m not saying losing Jammin’ is a tragedy. I’ll leave that up to you to decide. But there are certainly folks with jobs at the station whose lives will be flip-turned upside down in less than two weeks, and you also have to decide whether to hate or appreciate those djs, MCs, hosts and paper-pushers. Some are kinda skeezy, to be sure (cough, the Playhouse crew, cough), and then there are the not-so-skeezy: DJ O.G. One, for example, has consistently used his position as a Jammin’ personality to heighten his visibility as a community activist (he’s running a clothing drive as we speak) and legit performer. Even DJ Wicked, who dedicates a good portion of his existence to spreading “Fuck the Radio” gospel, appeared—ok, if not smiling, snarling anyway—with O.G. when the two were co-awarded custom Adidas kicks back in ‘06.
So where then, does Wicked come down on this? The outspoken turntablist is none too broken up about 95.5’s fizzle. “Apparently the scumbags over at Portland’s nescient [sic] radio station (better known as “KXJM Jammin’ 95.5″) will no longer be spewing their ignorant, watered-down, mainstream pop/rap garbage over the airwaves any longer!” Wicked wrote via a MySpace bulletin last night. “GOOD RIDDANCE YOU DOUCHEBAGS!!! Don’t let the door hit you in the back on the way out!” Comments on Wicked’s site, JustPlainTerror.com, had a largely similar slant.
That’s to be expected. With occasional exception, Jammin’ does (understatement alert) little to support Portland’s own hip-hop scene, and the attempts that are made—Starchile’s Jammin’ Underground/Hood Radio program on Sunday nights was one of the few Jammin’ shows to feature local beats and rhymes—comes under fire from local artists who feel excluded (again, to be expected).
This is a conversation that’s going on elsewhere on the web. On the Lifesavas’ blog, on pdxradio dot com’s forums and on Wicked’s own Just Plain Terror site. (I’m also trying to get a conversation started at Superhappywax—which is probably the best resource out there for local hip-hop, if ya haven’t heard—as well).
But despite of its disregard for much of Portland’s homegrown scene, is no dedicated rap station better than a mainstream one? The kids will miss it, right? Whaddya think? Good riddance or cause for concern? Are we gentrifying the radio waves or was Jammin’ just some dude in a suit’s idea of what was hot out on the streets? Has Jammin’ been downhill since ‘Sheed and the Family? And, lastly, to rock fans: if we lost KNRK to a talk station, would you be bummed?
Endnote: Rumblings on the various blogs indicate that tastemakers from Jammin’ may be headed over to 107.5 (currently Movin’, which plays a little of everything that is cheesy and the occasional jam) for a format change-up.
Links:
95.5 (old)
95.5 (new)
Graphic: Jammin’s web header
Peter R. Walters
says:“…lives will be flip-turned upside down…”
Casey, you white-boy!
Posted @ May 2nd, 2008 at 2:12 pm (May 2nd, 2008) | Flag this Comment | permalinkCASEY JARMAN
(post author) says:you don’t know how happy it makes me that someone caught that. but seriously, people, can we talk about this?
Posted @ May 2nd, 2008 at 2:53 pm (May 2nd, 2008) | Flag this Comment | permalinkTravel Light
says:Cause for concern.
Posted @ May 2nd, 2008 at 3:01 pm (May 2nd, 2008) | Flag this Comment | permalinkTravel Light
says:Not even a question of it, actually. Jammin’ played its fair share of crap, but implying that everything in mainstream rap and pop is in that category doesn’t fly at all.
Posted @ May 2nd, 2008 at 3:11 pm (May 2nd, 2008) | Flag this Comment | permalinkStatutory Ray
says:Whoa… NOW how are we supposed to get our CDs into the hands of Paul Allen’s white nephews from Lake Oswego!? This is bullshit. If I want to hear Lolipop ten times a day, then so be it
Actually, on a real, from Womb to Wicked from Jamin to LocalCut… there’s still TOO MANY GODDAMN WHITE KIDS in the scene. There, I said it.
So if the sports station pays more attention to and gives more jobs out to non-white people, then onward baseball soldiers.
Posted @ May 2nd, 2008 at 3:21 pm (May 2nd, 2008) | Flag this Comment | permalinkJelo
says:Thank God, no more annoying, badly imitated, black ghetto accents…
Posted @ May 4th, 2008 at 8:50 am (May 2nd, 2008) | Flag this Comment | permalinktraviswiggins
says:thank god, no more inciting violence against cyclists!!!!
Posted @ May 4th, 2008 at 11:18 am (May 2nd, 2008) | Flag this Comment | permalinkDj Wicked
says:We’re throwing a “Good Riddance” party on Monday, May 12th at the Greek Cusina!
Come out and hear all of your favorite Underground and OldSchool HipHop classics! You know, all of the good stuff that you NEVER heard on Jammin’ 95.5! Also, witness live performances by a number of talented local artists! You know, all of the local artists that Jammin’ 95.5 NEVER played or supported!
Monday, May 12th 2008.
At the Greek Cusina!
Located in downtown Portland
On the corner of SW 4th & Washington.
Music Starts at 10PM.
21 & Over only.
This is a FREE event.
-DJ Wicked
Posted @ May 4th, 2008 at 7:51 pm (May 2nd, 2008) | Flag this Comment | permalinkwww.JustPlainTerror.com
Deejay Wels
says:Sorry Ray, but this has nothing to do with supplying employment to people on a race or non-race basis. That’s kind of ridiculous and I really hope it was a joke. It has EVERYTHING to do with the end of a worthless radio station that never did ANYTHING to support the town in which it existed. That station was the broadcast equivalent of your local pusher. It could be found at any time of day on any street corner, deteriorating it’s society’s constituents bit by precious bit. Proliferating filth that was an absolute slap in the face to the culture that birthed it, it was concerned only with it’s own profit margin (which, thank god, apparently thinned down so far that we are now at the brink of its demise). As far as the personalities there are concerned, they will all find new jobs in due time so I’m not really compelled to feel bad for them (please see radio personalities like Tony Martinez). They had some time in the spotlight and hopefully that has made them happy for a time. To answer your question Casey (in my opinion of course)..yes, having no terrible mainstream rap station is FAR better than having one. I like the idea you put forth on the JPT forum about doing house party shows and bringing hip hop back from the underground up as it were. So with that in mind, if anyone out there is thinking about organizing such an event you can hit me for involvement at ww.myspace.com/djwels!
Cheers!
Posted @ May 4th, 2008 at 10:26 pm (May 2nd, 2008) | Flag this Comment | permalink~Wels
Jelo
says:I’ve never been to a house party where someone wasn’t either killed, raped, robbed or all three.
Posted @ May 4th, 2008 at 11:08 pm (May 2nd, 2008) | Flag this Comment | permalinkCASEY JARMAN
(post author) says:Hey Wels, thanks for the thoughtfulness on this. I really appreciate hearing more than just a knee-jerk reaction and I feel like I have a better understanding of where you guys are coming from on hating it so hard. I don’t do any booking or anything, but if anyone books some hip-hop into house venues I’d love to check it out and see how the experiment goes.
Hopefully no one gets killed, raped or robbed. Man, that’s one of the scarier and more confusing comments I’ve ever seen on LC. Sounds like a rough part of town!
Posted @ May 5th, 2008 at 12:42 am (May 2nd, 2008) | Flag this Comment | permalinkdjfrresh
says:jammin was ok radio station they was open up the doors local rappers
Posted @ May 5th, 2008 at 6:42 pm (May 2nd, 2008) | Flag this Comment | permalinkdjfrresh
says:whats if moving dont switch what radio u tune in to
Posted @ May 5th, 2008 at 6:46 pm (May 2nd, 2008) | Flag this Comment | permalinkdjfrresh
says:also i did a interview with hood radio host starchile check interview out at our webite www.kpsu.org/archive browse downfor the freshconnection airdate 5-3-2008
Posted @ May 5th, 2008 at 6:50 pm (May 2nd, 2008) | Flag this Comment | permalinkDeejay Wels
says:Word up Casey, I’m glad that my thoughts are well received!
Posted @ May 5th, 2008 at 11:19 pm (May 2nd, 2008) | Flag this Comment | permalinkJason S.
says:So much for your “Good Riddance” party, Jammin is just moving over to 107.5
Posted @ May 11th, 2008 at 12:38 pm (May 2nd, 2008) | Flag this Comment | permalinkTravel Light
says:This was impressive:
http://www.oregonlive.com/music/index.ssf/2008/05/reflections_on_the_importance.html
Posted @ May 12th, 2008 at 5:35 pm (May 2nd, 2008) | Flag this Comment | permalinkDj Wicked
says:Actually, the party is still happening as planned, thanks.
You’ll still be able to come down and hear some real HipHop that you’d never heard being played on Jammin’ 95.5. And you’ll still get to witness a number of talented local HipHop acts that Jammin’ 95.5 never played nor supported.
That’s TONIGHT…Monday, May 12th 2008.
Featuring: DJ Wicked, DLUX the Light, Gen.Erik, and more!
At the Greek Cusina!
Located in downtown Portland
(On the corner of SW 4th & Washington).
Music Starts at 10PM.
21 & Over.
This is a FREE event!
To think that the idiocy you heard on Jammin’ 95.5 wasn’t going to continue broadcasting in some form or fashion would be assnine. The reality is that there are just way too many naive adolescents out here with low musical standards and low intelligence levels to match. Thus the call for simple-minded music by simple-minded people is eminent, and unfortunately in greater demand than anyone should want to admit.
It comes as no surprise that the farcical format at Jammin’ 95.5 is in fact moving over to Movin’ 107.5.
Whether it was a simple frequency change, or had it been a brand new station playing watered-down, commercialized, pop/rap music, it was only going to be a matter of time before some other collective of corporate, robot slaves would have stepped up to fill the void of mainstream “garbage rap” on the Portland airwaves. Afterall, what would all the flocks of Jammin’ 95.5 sheep do if there was truly no longer a station in Portland where they could tune in to hear Lollipop, Soldier Boy, Laffy Taffy, and Get Silly, all rotated back to back every 10 minutes, 24 hours a day?!?!
I mean, how devestating would that be?!?!
Again, it’s not the least bit shocking that 95.5 found a new home over at 107.5, however it did happen quicker than expected, and from what I understand, the transition was sort of a last minute arrangement that almost fell through a number of times.
I find it interesting how most major cities have a “party station” similar to that of Portland’s 95.5, and they all boast to provide a HipHop and R&B format, yet none of them ever give a shit about preserving the HipHop culture that in fact spawned the station’s musical format? Oh the irony!?
I’ve never been a listener nor a supporter during the 9 years of ignorance that Jammin’ 95.5 has provided Portland with….in fact, I’ve always been an outspoken opponent of their verbal vomit since day one. So despite the fact that they may not officially be dead, they’ve always been dead to me…
See you at the party tonight!
-DJ Wicked
Posted @ May 12th, 2008 at 7:51 pm (May 2nd, 2008) | Flag this Comment | permalinkwww.JustPlainTerror.com
Statutory Ray
says:DJ Fresh!
Now *THAT* is radio worth listening to!
Holla at ya boy Kronik.
Anyways, Wicked is making some extremely decent points, but the fact of the matter remains: So-called “idiocy” sells to the masses. Even underground music is now becoming watered-down for the frat boys and stripper chicks. Case in point was tonight at the Crystal (Atmosphere). What was once decent and non-polluted is now watered-down and radio-friendly.
Portland DOES have extremely good radio options (KBOO, KPSU, KMHD) but until the ten percent of decent DJs teach the remaining ninety to use a mixer and to destroy dead air (i.e. have something to say other than the call letters or phone number), the fact remains: 95.whatever (100.3, 101.1, etc) will remain, in some form or another, due to the fact that advertisers and big money refuse to back poorly-produced tree-hugging media.
What Portland needs is something equivalent to what nrk *USED* to be (circa 970am pre-talk radio when it was actually “alternative”), i.e. a major-backed advertiser-driven station that uses CMJ charts for programming. I fucking love KBOO and KPSU, but one can only take so much “umm… and.. .uhh… this is like… uhh… umm…”
Also, it’s sad to see hip-hop DJs like Wicked busting their ass promoting for half the crowd that alt-indie-folk-etc DJs at the Tube draw on a tuesday. If this town gave a flying fuck about supporting hip-hop, we’d be off the chain.
Oh, and to DJ Wells; of course there was humor in my previous comment, but the simple fact is that Portland IS the WHITEST fucking city on the face of the planet, and it IS about race here, most gatekeepers being racist as hell. I’ve been booking a talentless, gimmick-driven “rap” act to venues, ninety-percent of which say they “don’t do ‘rap’ crowds” before realizing that our group is white, at which point we’re given full access to do anything we want. It sickens me, no joking or sarcasm. Cabaret, downtown’s “premiere” strip club, won’t let two Black girls dance at the same time (three stage club). With all due respect, I don’t believe WW has ever had a Black hip-hop columnist. There are no “Black clubs” and regardless of what D3vils@dvocate@hotmail.com has to say, hip-hop is, by more than one definition, a Black cultural relic. It IS about race, and it will continue to be until P-town starts talking about (and making steps toward correcting) it’s racial (and hence cultural) imbalance.
Posted @ May 13th, 2008 at 4:13 am (May 2nd, 2008) | Flag this Comment | permalink