"Attn: All Vegas Radio DJs ... This letter is a formal declaration of war. Until you cats start recognizing and embracing hip-hop from the city you guys are residing in, we will continue to make you targets of scrutiny, whether it's through songs, blogs, videos, albums, letters, publications, etc."
Lou Collins is a proud Las Vegan. Proud enough to return after matriculating at Louisiana's Grambling State University and get a job working with youth. Proud enough to open an entertainment company on 6th Street in reviving-but-chancy Downtown. Proud enough to throw old-school parties celebrating the graduating classes (from the '80s and early-'90s) of schools like Chaparral, Rancho, Eldorado, Western and Basic. And he's proud enough—mad enough, really—to deride urban-oriented radio stations for dissing local acts, even if it harms his company and artists.
"This is a respect thing," Collins says.
His gripes cut across the local music scene. Radio is unsupportive. Vegas isn't a locals' music kind of town—gigs are rare (sustainable ones even rarer). Casinos don't care. Non-casino venues only care about keeping the beer and video-poker crowd happy. The difference between Collins' anger and that of, say, a frustrated rocker, is that urban radio beefs often carry overtones of violence. A businessman/entertainer/activist, Collins says he's only after respect: "It's not about violence."
It clearly is for some. Several artists told the Weekly that people are ready to get physical with Bay Area transplant DJ Franzen at Hot 97.5 and KCEP 88.1 Program Director Billy Thompson. They claim Franzen plays Bay Area music exclusively and that Thompson incessantly babbles about his native Detroit. "I've talked artists out of putting hands on him [Thompson]," Collins says.
Seeping into this potentially combustible mix, several rappers say, is the deadly regionalism playing out here between Vegas gangs and California thugs. Things could get hot, they say, between locals and crews from Miami and the Bay Area, particularly the latter. Local artists say if anybody should empathize with their plight, their northern Cali counterparts should. Bay Area artists pioneered hip-hop's independent music ethos out of necessity: local radio dissed them.
If things don't improve, rapper James Allen and other locals fear drama could pop off. "I hope it doesn't go there because that hurts everybody." Says another emcee who declined to be identified: "Most everybody from elsewhere shows us love. But you got cats from elsewhere who come to Vegas, claim Vegas and say they're the real artists here, and not us who were born and raised here."
That's part of the reason for rap group 2 Sense's Vegas-centric "What You Know About," a hometown pride track that highlights 'hoods you wouldn't know about unless you've spent considerable time here.
Portions of UNLV film student and rapper Brandon Reese's short documentary on rap chronicle his anger with urban radio. Reese (rap name Prolyphek, pronounced "prolific") wrote a scathing letter to Hot 97.5 management, recorded an anti-radio song and even dueled Franzen via e-mail earlier this year. A sample of the banter:
Franzen: "They [artists] need to worry about gettin' their material on the streets. The radio is the last thing niggas should worry about. Streets is always first. They ain't doing their job cuz I haven't heard of them. And they'll never get played on our station dissing us. Tell 'em to step it up. Just to let you know, we are starting a local show on HOT 97.5 in a couple of months."
Reese: "You probably never heard of a lot people. A lot of cats out here have never heard of some of the Bay Area cats that you played, but you play them. Why don't you guys show the same love to cats from here? .... Why do you have to have a major deal to get played at home? Nelly didn't have a deal when he got played in the Lou [St. Louis], Ludacris and T.I. got played in the A [Atlanta], etc."
Franzen didn't return repeated calls for comment. But you hear the concern in Hot 97.5 Program Manager Sherita Saulsberry's voice as she edits her comments: "I have to walk to my car alone." Saulsberry says the station supports local artists and wants to help someone blow up. But it's hard. Franzen and Music Director J-Noise get two to three new local CDs each week. They review each one. Everybody gets a fair shake, but only the good ones get support.
"We get so much local music in here it's insane and we can't play all of it," says Saulsberry, who questions why urban-oriented KLUC 98.5 isn't also a target. "We do support local artists who are very serious about their craft and are doing what needs to be done with regard to artwork, vinyl, a national plan, press releases. We support Chopper, Johnny Boy, Qadeer, X-One from Dynasty Records. These are people that have come in, sat down with us and we listened to their product. They're going about it the right way. We're not going to be able to please everybody."
Collins says 98.5 escapes criticism because it's part of a conglomerate, Infinity Broadcasting, and not truly local. Nor is Hot 97.5 homegrown, he says, so a privately owned station gets half a pass. Half because he, too, is concerned that Franzen had made Hot 97.5 in a Bay Area station.
"I understand what's going on with this 'hyphy' thing," says Collins, referencing the energetic Bay Area music movement. "But the same things need to happen at 88.1 with regard to hyping local artists."
KCEP needs to clean house, Collins says, starting with Program Director Billy Thompson (Billy T). Collins is tired of Thompson talking about Detroit. If he misses it, he says, he should go back home.
"He's not allowing anyone from this town to have representation. King J—who was one of the first local artists signed here with Profile, before it became Def Jam—Billy T hasn't trained him and they've been together for two years. King J just walked off," says Collins, criticizing the reactionary "Hometown Love" segment recognizing local artists. "I've talked to [Thompson] personally, have invited him down to my company, called his personal cell phone and left messages and he blows me off. This used to be a great radio station with the live remotes and good music. Now it's just Billy T and he talks and talks about Detroit."