- Jack the Rapper with Smokey Robinson
What yall know about rap?
What yall really know about radio?
What do yall really know about black Rap
radio?
Ok Stop!
.
You don't know Jack?
.
That high yella negro could rap
So I'm finna give some dap
To the true God Father Of Rap!
JACK "THE RAPPER" GIBSON, Jr.
.
And yeah
I was blessed to have known this man and his family
Worked to make his name worth more than this post
And
I know it's impossible to tell you how much this
brother has done to make EVERYTHING
You have right now in music and black media
What it is
And
What it was
JUST BECAUSE
Jack supported his own!
His people first
From Bobby Brown to Luke Skywalker and the Too Live
Crew
From Pebbles to Puff Diddy and Jermaine Du Pre
I remember The Origional "Bill Williams"
from RCA and Jive Records who was a main chapter in DREAM GIRLS (the
book)
To Tom Joyner and the new jocks
And he did it in the ATL baby!
And we helped
*grin*
So yall chew on this knowlege and just be thankfull
that grown folks loved Rap before yall could grow up to hate it...
...
.
First exclusive
Black radio show goes on the air!
November 3
*On this date in 1929, The All-Negro Hour," premiered on American
broadcast radio. This was the first radio program to feature Black
performers exclusively.
This article is a brief summary of African-American history in Radio Broadcasting. The growth of African American radio has largely mirrored changes in American culture and in the market forces that control the radio industry. The growth of economic power among African Americans has helped change Black radio from a white-dominated advertising medium into a multimillion-dollar industry gradually more owned and operated by Blacks.
In the early days of radio, a mixture of positive and negative stereotypes characterized African Americans. Radio shows such as "Beulah" and "Amos and Andy" featured Black characters that were carefree, inarticulate, and inept, while broadcasts by bandleader Duke Ellington, singer Paul Robeson, and others exposed predominantly white radio audiences to the work of talented and refined Black artists. Such images of African Americans frequently appeared in early radio broadcasts; yet their was an empty space for Blacks in positions of management and ownership, and radio shows did not have Black announcers, actors, or masters of ceremonies.
On November 3, 1929, white owned radio station WSBC in Chicago premiered "The All-Negro Hour," the first radio program to feature black performers exclusively. The program, hosted by former vaudeville performer Jack L. Cooper, featured music, comedy, and serial dramas. "The All-Negro Hour went off the air in 1935, but Cooper continued to host and produce Black-oriented programming for WSBC. One such program was "Search for Missing Persons," a series launched in 1938 that reunited Black migrants from the south with lost friends and relatives. His success along with a general trend toward expansion in the radio industry, led to a rise of Black-oriented radio stations following World War II.
In 1949 station WDIA in Memphis, Tennessee became the first station to employ an all-Black on-air announcing staff; later that year WERD in Atlanta, Georgia began broadcasting as the first Black-owned radio station; powerful AM stations such as WLAC in Nashville, Tennessee began broadcasting Black-oriented news and "rhythm and blues" music across entire regions of the United States, drawing both Black and white audiences. However institutional racism and a shortage of capital continued to discourage Black entrepreneurs from investing in radio broadcasting; African Americans would not make substantial inroads into radio ownership and management until the 1970s. The Black radio format continued to emphasize news, public affairs, and music after World War II.
"Listen Chicago," the first news discussion program aimed at African Americans, debuted in 1946 and ran until 1952. They focused on Black issues including church and social news. Black disc jockeys developed colorful on-air personalities that mirrored changes in the Black community. "Rhythm and Blues" programs hosted by Black disc jockeys attracted more white listeners after World War II, and the exposure of white kids to Black urban music began to change American society. Black radio fueled the popularity of rock-and-roll and was instrumental in lower cultural barriers between Blacks and whites in the 1950s. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, the presence and influence of African American on-air personalities dominated Black radio.
Working from our African oral tradition, Black disc jockeys shaped Black (and often white) musical tastes. This broader media perspective created a social grapevine that contributed largely to the empowerment of the growing civil rights movement. Southern Black stations in particular became clearinghouses for information and forums for discussion among Black communities cut off from each other by segregation and geography. Black radio personalities such as Jack "the rapper" Gibson of WERD and Tall Paul White of WEDR in Birmingham drew praise from Martin Luther King and other prominent African-American leaders for their contributions to civil rights efforts.
During this time, many Black disc jockeys became caught up in the backlash that followed the civil rights advances and cultural changes. Some also lost their job s to the "payola" scandal that implicated announcers for receiving cash payments from recording companies in exchange for playing certain records on the air. Also by the late 1950s white rock -and-roll "DJs" such as Dewey Phillips and Wolfman Jack were imitating Black styles to gain ratings. Following the scandal, station managers increasingly resorted to standardized formats and play lists that restricted the freedom and influence of disc jockeys. Yet Black radio continued to emphasize individual personalities throughout the 1960s, as DJs such as Purvis Spann in Chicago and Magnificent Montague in Los Angeles echoed the emerging militancy of Black youth and acted as peacemakers during inner-city riots.
The 1970s marked a period of dramatic change in African-American radio. Some of this change occurred as a result of industry-wide trends: formats de-emphasized the news and public affairs programming that had become a staple of Black radio; the emergence of FM radio, with its "more music, less talk" philosophy, intensified the trend away from news and discussion shows that targeted African-American audiences. During this time the most significant change in Black radio was the increase in the number of Black-owned radio stations. The number of Black-owned stations grew from sixteen to eighty-eight, closing somewhat the wide gap between Black-owned stations and stations broadcasting Black-oriented programming. The 1970s also saw the emergence of two Black-owned and operated radio networks: the Mutual Black Network (which became the Sheridan Broadcasting network in 1979) in 1972, and the National Black Network in 1973.
Black-owned networks contributed to the standardization already common in African-American radio; and critically-acclaimed news and public affairs programming. This helped the transition of Black radio into the FM medium by promoting innovative formats such as urban contemporary (UC) appealing to mass, interracial audiences. Urban Contemporary is the best proof that radio waves can cross boundaries. This format attracts substantial numbers of African-American, Hispanic and white listeners. The name Urban Contemporary was coined by the late Frankie Crocker. By the 1980s, the Sheridan and National networks claimed a combined audience of over ten million listeners, and UC stations held the top ratings shares in many major and U.S. cities. The number of Black-owned radio stations and the number of stations catering to predominantly Black audiences increased toward the end of the twentieth century.
By 1990, 206 of approximately 600 Black-oriented stations were owned by African-Americans, an ongoing disparity within the radio industry. Black radio, like American society and culture, had undergone dramatic changes since the end of World War II, but continued to rely largely upon the music, news, and talk programming that popularized the format in its early years. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration's August 1998 survey of minority ownership of full power commercial radio and television stations in the United States indicates that Black radio and television ownership is around 1.7 percent.
Blacks own about 168 of 10,315 commercial AM and FM radio stations in the United States. These stations are concentrated in the southern region of the country and are distributed among 30 states. The largest number of Black-owned stations is located in Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. Blacks own about 100 (2.1%) of 4,724 commercial AM radio stations in the United States. Blacks currently own 68 (1.2%) of 5,591 commercial FM radio stations in the United States. Ownership of Black-owned FM radio stations had its greatest losses in Indiana and South Carolina and its greatest gains in Louisiana.
Black broadcast medium ownership has historically been a challenge for equity as minorities have never owned more than 3 percent of U.S. media. Today, minorities own just 1.8 percent of broadcasting — and that includes white women! The Black radio station, locally owned and responsive to local activists, is all but extinct, as are stand-alone stations in general.
A breath of fresh entrepreneurial air though is Cathy Hughes, CEO of Radio One, Inc. This African-American woman is the nation's seventh largest radio broadcasting company (based on 2003 net broadcast revenue) and the largest company that primarily targets African-American and urban listeners. Radio One owns and/or operates 69 radio stations located in 22 urban markets in the United States and reaches approximately 13 million listeners every week. Black Radio continues to Tell It Like It Is.
Reference:
Legendary Pioneers of Black Radio
by Gilbert A. Williams,
Praeger Publishers, 1998
ISBN: 0275958884.
Michael H. Burchett,
The Smithsonian
P.O. Box 23293
Washington, D.C. 20026-3293
Radio One
.gif) |
This article is a brief summary of African-American history in Radio Broadcasting. The growth of African American radio has largely mirrored changes in American culture and in the market forces that control the radio industry. The growth of economic power among African Americans has helped change Black radio from a white-dominated advertising medium into a multimillion-dollar industry gradually more owned and operated by Blacks.
In the early days of radio, a mixture of positive and negative stereotypes characterized African Americans. Radio shows such as "Beulah" and "Amos and Andy" featured Black characters that were carefree, inarticulate, and inept, while broadcasts by bandleader Duke Ellington, singer Paul Robeson, and others exposed predominantly white radio audiences to the work of talented and refined Black artists. Such images of African Americans frequently appeared in early radio broadcasts; yet their was an empty space for Blacks in positions of management and ownership, and radio shows did not have Black announcers, actors, or masters of ceremonies.
On November 3, 1929, white owned radio station WSBC in Chicago premiered "The All-Negro Hour," the first radio program to feature black performers exclusively. The program, hosted by former vaudeville performer Jack L. Cooper, featured music, comedy, and serial dramas. "The All-Negro Hour went off the air in 1935, but Cooper continued to host and produce Black-oriented programming for WSBC. One such program was "Search for Missing Persons," a series launched in 1938 that reunited Black migrants from the south with lost friends and relatives. His success along with a general trend toward expansion in the radio industry, led to a rise of Black-oriented radio stations following World War II.
In 1949 station WDIA in Memphis, Tennessee became the first station to employ an all-Black on-air announcing staff; later that year WERD in Atlanta, Georgia began broadcasting as the first Black-owned radio station; powerful AM stations such as WLAC in Nashville, Tennessee began broadcasting Black-oriented news and "rhythm and blues" music across entire regions of the United States, drawing both Black and white audiences. However institutional racism and a shortage of capital continued to discourage Black entrepreneurs from investing in radio broadcasting; African Americans would not make substantial inroads into radio ownership and management until the 1970s. The Black radio format continued to emphasize news, public affairs, and music after World War II.
"Listen Chicago," the first news discussion program aimed at African Americans, debuted in 1946 and ran until 1952. They focused on Black issues including church and social news. Black disc jockeys developed colorful on-air personalities that mirrored changes in the Black community. "Rhythm and Blues" programs hosted by Black disc jockeys attracted more white listeners after World War II, and the exposure of white kids to Black urban music began to change American society. Black radio fueled the popularity of rock-and-roll and was instrumental in lower cultural barriers between Blacks and whites in the 1950s. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, the presence and influence of African American on-air personalities dominated Black radio.
Working from our African oral tradition, Black disc jockeys shaped Black (and often white) musical tastes. This broader media perspective created a social grapevine that contributed largely to the empowerment of the growing civil rights movement. Southern Black stations in particular became clearinghouses for information and forums for discussion among Black communities cut off from each other by segregation and geography. Black radio personalities such as Jack "the rapper" Gibson of WERD and Tall Paul White of WEDR in Birmingham drew praise from Martin Luther King and other prominent African-American leaders for their contributions to civil rights efforts.
 Jack L. Cooper |
During this time, many Black disc jockeys became caught up in the backlash that followed the civil rights advances and cultural changes. Some also lost their job s to the "payola" scandal that implicated announcers for receiving cash payments from recording companies in exchange for playing certain records on the air. Also by the late 1950s white rock -and-roll "DJs" such as Dewey Phillips and Wolfman Jack were imitating Black styles to gain ratings. Following the scandal, station managers increasingly resorted to standardized formats and play lists that restricted the freedom and influence of disc jockeys. Yet Black radio continued to emphasize individual personalities throughout the 1960s, as DJs such as Purvis Spann in Chicago and Magnificent Montague in Los Angeles echoed the emerging militancy of Black youth and acted as peacemakers during inner-city riots.
The 1970s marked a period of dramatic change in African-American radio. Some of this change occurred as a result of industry-wide trends: formats de-emphasized the news and public affairs programming that had become a staple of Black radio; the emergence of FM radio, with its "more music, less talk" philosophy, intensified the trend away from news and discussion shows that targeted African-American audiences. During this time the most significant change in Black radio was the increase in the number of Black-owned radio stations. The number of Black-owned stations grew from sixteen to eighty-eight, closing somewhat the wide gap between Black-owned stations and stations broadcasting Black-oriented programming. The 1970s also saw the emergence of two Black-owned and operated radio networks: the Mutual Black Network (which became the Sheridan Broadcasting network in 1979) in 1972, and the National Black Network in 1973.
Black-owned networks contributed to the standardization already common in African-American radio; and critically-acclaimed news and public affairs programming. This helped the transition of Black radio into the FM medium by promoting innovative formats such as urban contemporary (UC) appealing to mass, interracial audiences. Urban Contemporary is the best proof that radio waves can cross boundaries. This format attracts substantial numbers of African-American, Hispanic and white listeners. The name Urban Contemporary was coined by the late Frankie Crocker. By the 1980s, the Sheridan and National networks claimed a combined audience of over ten million listeners, and UC stations held the top ratings shares in many major and U.S. cities. The number of Black-owned radio stations and the number of stations catering to predominantly Black audiences increased toward the end of the twentieth century.
By 1990, 206 of approximately 600 Black-oriented stations were owned by African-Americans, an ongoing disparity within the radio industry. Black radio, like American society and culture, had undergone dramatic changes since the end of World War II, but continued to rely largely upon the music, news, and talk programming that popularized the format in its early years. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration's August 1998 survey of minority ownership of full power commercial radio and television stations in the United States indicates that Black radio and television ownership is around 1.7 percent.
Blacks own about 168 of 10,315 commercial AM and FM radio stations in the United States. These stations are concentrated in the southern region of the country and are distributed among 30 states. The largest number of Black-owned stations is located in Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. Blacks own about 100 (2.1%) of 4,724 commercial AM radio stations in the United States. Blacks currently own 68 (1.2%) of 5,591 commercial FM radio stations in the United States. Ownership of Black-owned FM radio stations had its greatest losses in Indiana and South Carolina and its greatest gains in Louisiana.
Black broadcast medium ownership has historically been a challenge for equity as minorities have never owned more than 3 percent of U.S. media. Today, minorities own just 1.8 percent of broadcasting — and that includes white women! The Black radio station, locally owned and responsive to local activists, is all but extinct, as are stand-alone stations in general.
A breath of fresh entrepreneurial air though is Cathy Hughes, CEO of Radio One, Inc. This African-American woman is the nation's seventh largest radio broadcasting company (based on 2003 net broadcast revenue) and the largest company that primarily targets African-American and urban listeners. Radio One owns and/or operates 69 radio stations located in 22 urban markets in the United States and reaches approximately 13 million listeners every week. Black Radio continues to Tell It Like It Is.
Reference:
Legendary Pioneers of Black Radio
by Gilbert A. Williams,
Praeger Publishers, 1998
ISBN: 0275958884.
Michael H. Burchett,
The Smithsonian
P.O. Box 23293
Washington, D.C. 20026-3293
Radio One
.
Back in October ‘99 he made one of the most
positive comments I have heard in a person facing death. He said
‘Well, I’m in the home stretch but I cannot complain. It’s been a
great run.’
So long MR JACK.
.
"Live
Life every Golden Moment for there's no promises for tomorrow.
And
that's the truth Ruth and I ain't lyin' I' ther "
The Late Great JACK "THE RAPPER" GIBSON
When he was Recording at PICKI MUSIC PRODUCTIONS
JACK "THE RAPPER" GIBSON
He was truly an original and his style of "INFOTAINMENT" Radio Broadcasting was both entertaining and educational at the same time.
Jack was Berry Gordy's right hand man at Motown in the very beginning on West Grand Avenue in Detroit. He was the first NATIONAL DIRECTOR of PROMOTIONS and also responsible for some of Motown's then youngest future Superstars.
Jack has received the ROCK and ROLL HALL OF FAME AWARD, BET JADE CRYSTAL IN BLACK MUSIC AWARD, and many other awards and acknowledgements, too numerous to mention.
A true legend.......
.
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Atlanta Hiphop Film
Festival Honors Rapper
|
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|
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The Atlanta HipHop Film Festival will award the HipHop Pioneer Award to the legendary Jack 'The Rapper' Gibson. The festival committee is honored to once again rename the award to this phenomenal entertainment icon. This year's recipient of the newly named Jack 'The Rapper' Award is Ice T. 'It's an extreme pleasure to honor Ice T with our first Jack the Rapper Award. Ice T has proven the ability to be an exceptional actor as well as being one of HipHop legends,' Gumbs shares. This award will be presented April 30, 2006 during the 2nd Annual Atlanta HipHop Film Festival. Mr. Jack Gibson has been very instrumental in the careers of some musical icons and allowing unsigned talent a voice to be heard among the masses with the historical Jack the Rapper Conventions.' stated Shameka Gumbs, Founder. Awards Show Producer, Dee Dee Cocheta adds, 'Without Jack 'The Rapper" Gibson, Atlanta and the nation, for that matter, wouldn't know the essence of the element 'rap' or what it means to the culture. Jack was pure in his form of rap and beyond just being the father of black radio, he is one of the godfathers to our HipHop world.' |
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Jack The Rapper Honored By Atlanta Hip Hop Film Festival
The Atlanta Hip Hop Film
Festival will be honoring Jack"THE RAPPER"Gibson,
former Atlanta radio
legend by renaming its Hip Hop Pioneer Award to "The Jack The
Rapper" Award.
Gibson was instrumental in the careers of several musical icons by
allowing unsigned talent a voice to be heard with his hosting of the
historical Jack
the Rapper Conventions in Atlanta.
The first recipient of the "Jack The Rapper" award will be
hip hop icon and actor
Ice. T.
"My father would be proud to see Ice T honored as the first Jack "The Rapper" Gibson Hip Hop Pioneer Award recipient. Jack was friends with Ice. T and knows he is more than deserving of this award." said Jack the Rapper's daughter, Jill Bell.
Many can remember that Jack The Rapper was all you had as an aspiring artist or producer in the 90's. It was a networking tool that has yet to be rivaled in southern hip hop. Atlantans, especially know how deserving Mr. Gibson is of this award.
The 2nd Annual Atlanta HipHop Film Festival takes place April 28-30, 2006. This year honorees are: Lauryn Hill, LL Cool J, Ice.T, and F. Gary Gray.
.
Jack Gibson in Louisville. (Courtesy Jack Gibson Collection)
Jack "The Rapper" Gibson Collection (SC 14)
A collection documenting the career of Black radio pioneer "Jockey Jack" Gibson. Includes a complete set of Mello Yello, the oldest black trade magazine targeted to Black radio and the music industry, published by Gibson from 1976-1996. Also included are original air-check tapes, an unreleased video documentary about Gibson, audio and video interviews with Jack Gibson and various colleagues, souvenir programs from "The Family Affair" (the oldest black radio and black music convention hosted by Jack Gibson), and photographs of radio personalities and rhythm & blues artists.
.
Radio pioneer disc jockey Jack "The Rapper" Gibson, who was
born 75 years ago in Chicago to a schoolteacher mother Lillian Schwiech
Gibson and a physician father Joseph Jack Gibson, is celebrating 50
years as the first Black radio D.J.
When Jesse B. Blayton Sr. purchased WERD, the first Black-owned radio
station in the U.S., Gibson was picked to pilot the 1,000-watt AM
station on Auburn Ave. "Good morning, Atlanta, we are
here!" exclaimed Gibson, who founded National Assn. of
Radio Announcers (NARA), which was organized to give the original 13
Black D.J.s a voice in the broadcasting industry. When Berry Gordy
founded Motown Records in the 1960s, he helped popularize Gordy's
artists.
Founder of "Family Affair" and Jack The Rapper weekly music
magazine, published in Orlando, FL, where he now lives, Gibson was
honored recently at the "Family Affair" in Atlanta.
Gibson worked for Motown from 1962 to 1966, for Decca Records as Midwest
region director from 1966 to 1969 and for Stax Records as vice president
of promotions from 1969 to 1972.
He is survived by his wife, Elsie Harris Gibson; a son, Joseph Gibson
III; a daughter, Jamilla Gibson-Bell; a sister, six grandchildren and
eight great-grandchildren.
Joseph Deighton Gibson Jr., known to many radio listeners as Jack the
Rapper, recently died of cancer in Las Vegas, NV. He was 79.
Gibson was the first voice heard on the country's first Black-owned
radio station WERD in Atlanta.
In 1955 Gibson founded the National Association of Radio Announcers for
Black DJs. In later years, he published a radio tip sheet. Most recently
he worked for Las Vegas radio station KCEP as host of a Sunday afternoon
show, "88 Karat Gold Long Gonies".
It was because of Gibson's work in Black radio that the voice of the
Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was heard for the first time over the
airwaves.
His sterling efforts did not go unnoticed. He was inducted into the Rock
and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland and the Smithsonian Institution in
Washington, D.C. Gibson also was inducted into the Nevada Broadcasting
Hall of Fame.
.
JACK "THE RAPPER" GIBSON --
One of the pioneers of Black radio, Jack Gibson has been in the game
since before it had a board. His "Jack The Rapper" conferences
became the template for the How Can I Be Down?s and the Rap Sheets and
all the other conferences that came afterwards.
To
quote Davey
D, "Everyone who was anyone went to Jack
The Rapper during the early 90s. It was a welcome change and more
inclusive scene in terms of embracing Hip Hop as compared to other music
conventions at that time. What he was best known for was his pioneering
efforts in bringing together folks within Black music. He founded an
organization for Black Radio DJs called NARA [National Association of
Radio Announcers]. He also put out the first Black music trade magazine
called 'Jack the Rapper's Mello Yello.' He put together his first music
convention in 1977."
Founder
of Soul Magazine Regina Nickerson Jones said, "He was a
legend. He was funny, serious, well informed, caring, and just generally
a wonderful man. He was always pushing someone else up the ladder. I've
been on panels with him, attended his conventions, talked as friends,
and just basically cared about Jack. We'd lost track of one another over
the past years but I always knew that I could just pick up the phone and
he'd be there for me. That's a comfortable way to feel about anyone in
or out of the business of music."
He
died January 30, 2000 of lung cancer at the age of 79 in Las Vegas.
Anedge
hirak Jack The Rapper.
.
Joseph Deighton Gibson Jr.
Hosted the Jack the Rapper Music Convention, a showcase for Black/Urban
Music.
In 1955 he founded the National Associaton of Radio Announcers for Black
DJs.
Was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Founder of "Jack the Rapper's Mello Yello", the oldest and
largest circulated Black radio/music trade publication in America.
Opened first Black oriented radio station (WERD) in Atlanta 1949
.
.
There are some other people on 360 that can
relate to this person and this time in history
And many of us have Jack and His wife to thank
for all the love they gave to new music
And us
The youth
and now we adults who seem to only hate on what these kids are dealing
with today
So now we are the next waves of Jack Gibson's and such
But we aint doing s*** to help the current state of music and media
But watching it slip out of our childrens hands
.
And I don't think yall are ready
To know your history
His story
My story
Your Story
Yall aint ready
All yall want
Aint s*** from what we got
But yall aint ready
.
.
Mr Ez
by
MAN LAW !!!