without my radio

internet radio.

okay so maybe you're already up on this stuff. but i always come around slowly to stuff. it's not that i've never listened to music on the internet before. it's just that i never really did it at work. and when i did, i listened to regular broadcast radio stations (double u blah blah blah) that happened to have an internet broadcast. and even then, it was always the same particular station. d.c.'s howard university radio - the only radio one station that is actually worth the airtime. i never really got into listening to radio stations that existed only on the internet. i didn't really know what to look for. and sometimes i'd work somewhere where there was no way to play audio.

but recently i've been exploring the musical universe. and i am having so so much fun! who knew there were so many names for music? my favorites so far are east coast/old school hip hop, latin jazz, spoken word, and broken beat, none of which can be listened to for hours at a time on the radio anytime i want. i thought that i would like the neo-soul stuff, but they're all trying to sound like each other and it's more annoying than refreshing. i'm also realizing that i can't stand r&b as we know it. neither do i want to listen to the same 70s jams ad nauseum. oh yeah, and i'm just getting started with this internet thing... i figure i'll give all these different types of music a chance - why not?

all my independent artist friends keep telling me that internet radio is the future. they ain't never lied. and if satellite radio is anything like it? oh i'm about to be in some trouble.

'cause i HATE black radio. and i HATE black syndicated talk shows. all of them are cooning. and i don't want to hear all that talking in the morning or my evening drive. if i wanted talk, i'd turn to talk radio. if i wanted cooning, i'd put BET on in the car. when i want music, give me music. the commercials are a necessary evil, but please, miss me with all that gossip and laughing at bad jokes. playlists should be less redundant than 30 songs a day, 200 songs a month, or whatever these people are doing. there's a whole world of good sounds out here, and if we depended on black radio, major record labels, and BET for music, our brains and our ability to appreciate good music would turn just to mush. in fact, it's already happened to too many of us.

but there is hope.
internet radio.