"Ghetto-lite" songs

[NORTHCOAST]

My Hot AC radio station has been going through some changes the last few months. The station has also started sending out questionnaires to listeners via email to help them tinker with their playlist. And they've been doing spots on the radio with some guy reading the feedback that they've received from listeners. Well, the other day the guy read something like "Joe wrote that he wishes we'd stop playing the ghetto-lite songs that we've been playing lately and concentrate of more alternative artists. Thanks Joe for the feedback". While I totally agree with the sentiment, I was really quite surprised that the station chose to read the "ghetto-lite" comment on the air. Sounded very derogatory of urban/r&b artists and racist. What do you think?

[Slinky]

I don't think its racist, but it is insulting and nonsensical. Calling songs like "Hips Don't Lie" and "SOS" ghetto-lite just shows off his ignorance about music in general. It's not like any Hot ACs are playing 50 Cent.

[Adonis the DemiGod!]

I think its ignorant and racist.

[🅳🅸🆂🅲🅾]

slinky said:

Calling songs like "Hips Don't Lie" and "SOS" ghetto-lite just shows off his ignorance about music in general.

I don't think of "S.O.S." as really an urban/"ghetto-lite" track. I think of it as a dance-leaning pop track. It has shades of R&B in some places, but I wouldn't go so far as labelling it as such.

[jaxxalude]

What matters here is not if Joe's comments are racist or ignorant (which, in a sense, are). What matters is that Joe clearly doesn't realize that Hot AC radio's youngest audience is not only a big part of the lion's share (and, subsequently, advertising rates). That same audience is comprised of the people who had their teenage years mostly during the 90s, and who grew up at a time when urban music was making its final and very important ascendancy to the mainstream. So it's only natural Hot AC is starting to play more of that music and less of the Adult Alternative artists they used to play, because that generation is getting older now and slowly moving to Mainstream AC radio. That, in big part, also explains why more and more artists of that genre/format are being played at "normal" AC radio (cf. Los Lonely Boys, Fray, KT Tunstall, Five For Fighting, James Blunt, Daniel Powter, Anna Nalick, Maroon 5, etc.).

[Slinky]

Jaxxalude nailed it.