Picture being a kid and you're driving in the car with your mother and older brother. These are the songs that you're used to hearing on the radio
Love TKO - Teddy Pendegrass
Before I Let Go - Frankie Beverly & Maze
Outstanding - The Gap Band
Human Nature - Michael Jackson
Love Come Down - Evelyn Champaign King
Sexual Healing - Marvin Gaye
That Girl - Stevie Wonder
777-9311 - The Time
Encore - Cheryl Lynn
Mama Used To Say - Junior
Cutie Pie - One Way
Are You Single - Aurra
She's A Bad Mama Jamma - Carl Carlton
^^^^^ So that's what you're used to hearing during the day.
But at night time, the college radio stations would play these songs;
The only way I can explain it is to make a R&B and Rap playlist and put those songs in random order.
In the early stages of Hip Hop/Rap Music, they used musicians to play the background music. Then it evolved into drum machines and synthesizers in the mid 80s. But the music was arranged like R&B, if you just listened to the Instrumental version, or the intro of the song you might think its an R&B song, until the person starts rapping. And that was the beauty of it, you would be expecting to hear an R&B song and all of a sudden the person starts rapping over the beat.
Now consider there's no internet, no MTV, no BET. And then imagine that the DJ doesn't announce the name of the song or the name of the group. Or if they do say the name of the song, they say it so fast that you don't have time to write it down or remember it.
So from my perspective, it was just this mysterious alternative to R&B. You'd see Rock and R&B singers/bands/artists on TV so you know what singers look like, but you have no idea what a rapper looks like, or how they perform. If you were lucky you'd see Kurtis Blow or The Sugarhill Gang on Soul Train. But otherwise there were no outlets that played Rap/Hip Hop.
But yeah, put all of those songs on a playlist and then randomize it.
Love TKO - Teddy Pendegrass
Before I Let Go - Frankie Beverly & Maze
Outstanding - The Gap Band
Human Nature - Michael Jackson
Love Come Down - Evelyn Champaign King
Sexual Healing - Marvin Gaye
That Girl - Stevie Wonder
777-9311 - The Time
Encore - Cheryl Lynn
Mama Used To Say - Junior
Cutie Pie - One Way
Are You Single - Aurra
She's A Bad Mama Jamma - Carl Carlton
^^^^^ So that's what you're used to hearing during the day.
But at night time, the college radio stations would play these songs;
The only way I can explain it is to make a R&B and Rap playlist and put those songs in random order.
In the early stages of Hip Hop/Rap Music, they used musicians to play the background music. Then it evolved into drum machines and synthesizers in the mid 80s. But the music was arranged like R&B, if you just listened to the Instrumental version, or the intro of the song you might think its an R&B song, until the person starts rapping. And that was the beauty of it, you would be expecting to hear an R&B song and all of a sudden the person starts rapping over the beat.
Now consider there's no internet, no MTV, no BET. And then imagine that the DJ doesn't announce the name of the song or the name of the group. Or if they do say the name of the song, they say it so fast that you don't have time to write it down or remember it.
So from my perspective, it was just this mysterious alternative to R&B. You'd see Rock and R&B singers/bands/artists on TV so you know what singers look like, but you have no idea what a rapper looks like, or how they perform. If you were lucky you'd see Kurtis Blow or The Sugarhill Gang on Soul Train. But otherwise there were no outlets that played Rap/Hip Hop.
But yeah, put all of those songs on a playlist and then randomize it.