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Urban SpinHot 107.1 celebrates two years of bringing Memphis "hip-hop and R&B flava."by Pat Mitchell
Two years ago, Flinn launched Hot 107.1 KXHT-FM, boasting a "hip-hop and R&B flava" format that combined the commercial sounds of Brandy and R. Kelly against the more hard-core articulations of Wu Tang Clan and Ice Cube. And things haven't been the same since.
"The entire staff has an ear to the street," says afternoon jock Devin Steel. "We have hired club deejays. I am a deejay. I spin records and mix records. I just took what I do to the radio. The fact that Hot 107.1 has club deejays on the air gives us an advantage. The street credibility of the station is large. We are a tangible staff, you can see us out on the streets and in the clubs." This Saturday the station will celebrate its second anniversary with a birthday bash at the New Daisy. The celebration is well-timed. In last quarter's Arbitron ratings book, Hot 107.1 scored a 5.9 share overall, putting the station a few skips from the third-place spot on local radio. Dubbed "Hot Night Memphis," the party at the New Daisy is open to the public, but you can only get tickets by listening to the station and calling in. The lineup is worth sitting by the radio for, however. Scheduled to perform are some of the hottest emerging names in hip-hop: J.T. Money, who has been burning up the urban charts and urban radio with his hit "Who Dat?"; Florida's notorious 2 Live Crew; New York favorite Cam'ron, who just released his debut effort Confessions Under Fire; Krazie Bone, who comes to Memphis on his solo outing after the multi-platinum success of Bone Thugs and Harmony. Tear Tha Club Up Thugs feature members of local favorites Three 6 Mafia. And then there's Gangsta Boo, the Three 6 Mafia princess whose solo release has been a huge urban hit. And in Hot 107.1's tradition of breaking new bands, the opening slot will be filled by an undetermined up-and-coming local act. The promotion goes back to the old-school ways of rap-offs and deejay competitions, a precursor to the modern convention showcase. Exposing listeners to new music is the mantra of the station. "There is some music out there that other stations around town were afraid to play before we came along," Steel says. "Acts like Jay Z, Cam'ron, Silk the Shocker, Master P, music from the whole No Limit Records camp, even Three 6 Mafia made it into heavy rotation on Memphis radio because of us." Tear Da Club Up Thugs are tearing up the charts as well as the clubs.
Once rival deejays, DJ Paul and Juicy J teamed together to establish their own record label, Hypnotize Minds, in 1993. Almost immediately the pair began to tap Memphis' hidden fount of rap talent. They recruited some of the most promising talents for their group Three 6 Mafia. That group's success culminated in Hypnotize Minds landing a distribution deal with national label Relativity. Since then, Hypnotize Minds has put out a number of releases by Three 6 Mafia members (notably, Gangsta Boo's Enquiring Minds) and associates (DJ Squeeky, Indo G). But this latest project returns Hypnotize Minds' masterminds to the forefront. Like Three 6 Mafia, Tear Da Club Up Thugs are based in Hypnotize Minds' trademark cookie-cutter sound. However, CrazyNDaLazDayz raises the stakes with 30 solid tracks of chunky party beats complemented by succulent lyrics. And the group seamlessly transfers that record's combustible energy to the stage. "What we do is create buck-like music that keeps the party moving, the people dancing, and the deejays spinning," says DJ Paul. "We are the third group to come out major. And, honestly, we didn't believe it was gonna happen. But after putting it down for so long throughout the underground scene, major record labels started calling. We knew we wanted some videos and some extra exposure, so we decided to give it a shot." The album has surged to the top of the rap charts largely on the strength of the first single, "Push 'Em Off," an aggressive groove piece that the group felt would have wide appeal beyond fans of the Memphis rap style. "When we pick out singles, we all go to the studio and listen to the whole album," says Juicy J. "The ones that hit us hard we go with. Like we came out with "Push 'Em Off" first because it had that Trigger Man beat which blew up fiercely from Memphis to New Orleans. We felt like since there was a popular sound in the song, people would instantly feel it." Tear Da Club Up Thugs recently filmed a video for their new single "Hypnotize Cash Money" with Cash Money/Universal Records artist Juvenile and those Cash Money boys. "The filming was a lot of fun. It was like a big party, but it was a video," says Juicy J. "We decided to film in the Hurt Village area and invited a few friends on set and some local news teams to witness our history. We got the Memphis Police Department to come down to the set to help maintain control," says Juicy J. Adds DJ Paul: "It was so funny to see how security reacted to our enthusiastic fans. See, we make buck music, so it's our intention to make our listeners feel and act wild when they hear the music that's the point. On set everyone was having fun and fully participating with one another on and off cue. It shook up security so much that they shut down the video shoot. They, in turn, caused us to go into our files and gather up some previously shot video and edit it into our newly released video. And to top it all off, it started raining that night and all the equipment blew out. But we didn't stress, we just kept on moving and did our thing anyway." While still promoting the Tear Da Club Up Thugs album, Juicy J, Lord Infamous, and DJ Paul have a number of new Hypnotize Minds projects in line, including a movie to be called Choices and the new Project Pat album Ghetty Green, featuring rap favorites Krazie Bone, BG, Noreaga, Three 6 Mafia, Juvenile, Hot Boys, and Gangsta Boo. For more information on Tear Da Club Up Thugs, check out their Web site at www.triplesix.com. — Echo Hattix |
or years, K-97 WHRK-FM held the monopoly on contemporary urban
music on the Memphis dial. But then radio maverick Dr. George
Flinn shook things up. 
