Kevin Cruise’s broadcasting career began in his hometown of St. Louis. Then it was onto Dayton, but it’s his eight year run at KUUU (U92) where Cruise has made a name for himself working for a station that leans predominately Hip-Hop, a station that’s also enjoyed great success in Salt Lake City…yes as in Utah. Surprised? Don’t be, the station is a real player in the Hip-Hop world breaking some of today’s biggest records before they hit the mainstream. Cruise currently serves as U92’s APD/MD/afternoon host, and when he’s not busy helping to program one of the country’s leading Hip-Hop stations, he’s busy creating must see TV, turning “The Station” into a reality [show].
e-QB presents excerpts from the FMQB February Magazine Rhythm/Crossover feature on The Station: The Making of a Hip-Hop Reality Show with KUUU/Salt Lake City APD/MD Kevin Cruise
On how the concept for the show come about… The idea of creating a reality television show based on a radio station had been something I had thought about for years. Anyone who has worked in the industry knows there is a lot of detail that goes into running a radio station, and there sure is a lot of drama. I kept thinking about how many times we would have a problem with a client or personalities clashing in the hallway. I saw that drama and thought it would play well on camera. Not only that, but we have the perfect station to create a show.
I’m originally from St. Louis and when I would tell friends that I work for a Hip-Hop station in Salt Lake City, Utah they would all kind of laugh. Nobody really believes me when I say there’s a Hip-Hop station in such a conservative city, and especially a city where Mormon is the dominate religion. The truth is we’ve helped break plenty of artists and we step out on new Hip-Hop music all the time. Plus, we have a lot of respect from the artists we play. It wasn’t until this past fall that I was at a rhythm music conference and another programmer was giving me a hard time about our station. It wasn’t the first time I’ve heard there can’t be a Hip-Hop station in Salt Lake City. Plus, I was getting a lot of the “Hip-Hop heads” in Salt Lake coming up to me and complaining that we aren’t playing a song that some other city is playing. I was becoming tired of defending our station. I just didn’t understand why everyone else couldn’t see that we have a very progressive rhythm station. These events really helped drive me to create this television show with my friend TJ Bates, who helped me create the show. TJ was on the first season of The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency reality show, and currently owns his own video production company, DejaVu Productions.
On the premise of the show? The premise of the show follows an aggressive Hip-Hop station located in Salt Lake City. It will show the behind-the-scenes action and drama of running a radio station and what it takes to operate a growing station. Viewers will be able to see how decisions are made in the record and radio community. How we go about deciding what records will be added on a weekly basis and how we tie in promotional events with each artist. Viewers will see how Brian Michel, our OM, and I really step out and take chances on records before most of the country begins to play some artists. We’re very lucky in the sense that we’re not owned by a major broadcasting corporation. We have the ability to make decisions about what we play without having someone over us telling Brian and me what we should be doing.
On the feedback from the artist community from both those who have heard about or appeared on the show itself… We’ve been lucky enough to have several artists excited about the project. KUUU has built several relationships with our core artists which helped create that excitement. We have relationships with Ice Cube, WC, Grammy winning producers Play-N-Skillz, and many more. In a random conversation with WC I happened to tell him we were working on this reality television show based on the radio station and he immediately said he would love to be a part of the show. It feels good when you have artists like TQ, who is in the trailer, that come to the station and say they want to be a part of what we are doing.
On any network interest… We’re currently working out details on specific episodes, but we have over 80 hours worth of footage we can use for the show. We are continuing to film as we have artists come by the station. The trailer for the show hasn’t been out long so we’re still waiting on feedback from some people. We’re lucky enough to have friends inside the industry helping us. Through our industry connections we have contacts with MTV, NBC and several other reality producers as we continue to shop the project to the networks. There is a local production company that is willing to let us produce the show and then give it to some major networks such as MTV2.
On how management respond when you brought them the idea… The initial response from our GM, Randy Rodgers, was great. He was very excited for the show and told us to go ahead with everything. We’re very lucky we have someone who understands what we do in the programming department. I believe he saw this as an opportunity for us to promote the station in a new way. Brian Michel has been great and supported us from the beginning. In fact, Brian was our graphic designer for the shows logo. We can thank him for putting together a great logo! Everyone in our company has been behind us supporting the show and helping in any way they can.
On why Hip-Hop has been so well received in Salt Lake City…
Hip-Hop is mainstream now. We have a wide range of listeners from the white kids who love Hip-Hop to the Hispanics who identify with the Chicano rappers. Salt Lake City may not be the most diverse city in the country, but Hip-Hop culture and Hip-Hop music doesn’t live in just the most diverse cities. We’re really proving that with the level of passion our audience shows for this format. Salt Lake City is one of the most difficult markets to work in radio. We have more radio stations per capita than any city in the country. I believe the listeners love us because we aren’t like the other stations. There are so many stations in the market that play the same artists, and then there’s us. If you want to hear Ice Cube in Salt Lake City there is only one station that plays him. I also contribute the growth of this station to Brian Michel who has kept the station focused. Brian is an extremely smart programmer and has the forward thinking to take local radio into the future.
On what people should take away most after they have viewed the show… I have one goal I would love everyone to come away with after watching this show and that is to see that Hip-Hop can exist in Salt Lake City. I want people to know there is a lot of passion for Hip-Hop in Salt Lake and that we are not a station that just plays “everything” or doesn’t break hit records. We’ve been leaders in the format and several programmers and even people here in this city dismiss us as being a mediocre radio station. We will continue to lead the format and break new artists and play hit records before the majority of rhythm stations. I also want people to see that our job is not just sitting around listening to music. Programmers have a very difficult job. As a programmer you have to find the right balance of making your listeners happy and making your clients happy. We do not just put in four or five hours a day when we’re on the air. We work long hours and weekends to create a product that is cherished by both listeners and clients.
The trailer for a new reality series based on Salt Lake City Hip-Hop radio station KUUU-FM (U92) is now available for viewing at http://www.u92online.com and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqEncBu4bPI.
** QB Content by Bob Burke **
Also in the February Issue:
Street Scenes
Baby Bash in Chicago, Chris Brown in New York City, Ashanti in Sacramento, and Wu Tang Clan in San Francisco
