"I don't sleep, I'm tired, I feel wired like codeine..." JAY-Z
What's up?
I feel hopeless. It's 4:03am and I just came off a three hour conversation with Young Future... my hope for the future - discussing the future of our city. I feel hopeless. It seems like the more things change, the more they stay the same.
I'm here praying that on the 9th of September, two days before the buildings fell down, that our tallest freestyling structure can break through where none from Toronto have before. Its a lot of pressure, but the future of Toronto's hip hop community lies squarely on the hands, and albeit large shoulders of one individual - Kardinal Offishall... and that's a lot of pressure for one guy. Even when you're 6 foot plus. {His album "Not for Sale" is in stores September 9th}.
I pray that as we TRULY know the meaning of SUPPORT next Tuesday. I'll be in the store buying a few copies or at least one to start with. Please scrape together your pennies and do the same - if Kardi doesn't make it, it's a wrap for our city...
Anyway...
This is yet another sleepless night for me - and I'm going to the radio station in and hour... Speaking of which - did I mention I feel hopeless?
I've always known that you can't build a castle in someone else's kingdom. However, I've always thought that if you do something - excellently, that somewhere along the line that you MUST be given the respect that you deserve. I find that this isn't always the case - and though I've been personally blessed, I'm disgusted that after over 10 years of service to CIUT that Jester's radio show is treated with an irreverance and lack of regard that is befitting of no one - much less someone that has been one of the leaders in fundraising and one of the highest sources of ad income for the station.
If you haven't heard, Worldwide's timeslot has been changed once again. Now instead of listening to Jester and Chief from 6-9... or from the recent 5:30am - 8:30, the show - one of the few pure sources of urban and caribbean music - will now end at 8am.
As I sit here typing to "politics as usual" in the background, I contemplate the conundrum - should Jester put up a fight and potentially upset the establishment that is CIUT fm, and even more realistically lose his radio show - or should he be quiet and take the insult {that he wasn't consulted but TOLD that this was his new time slot? Keep in mind that the time change isn't so much the insult as the lack of regard is... As is the almost seeming exclusion from the familial establishment that IS the radio station. In the almost 11 years that I've been supporting Jester - as far back as Prodigy - I've NEVER seen them included in the stations celebratory processes... I've NEVER seen them granted the ability to circumvent other programming to celebrate things such as Caribana or even their 10 year anniversary... I've never seen as much as a congratulations - a mention of their successes - so much so that I'm sure that Paul has internalized and responded in kind by not wanting to be involved so much so that I wonder if CIUT even knows that Worldwide has won accolades for college radio show of the year?}. I digress.
More important than any of my thoughts above is that we talk about support a lot in our community - our musical community, or community community... I hope that in these 2 instances, that we can ACTUALLY support...
Pick up Kardi's record on Tuesday September 9th - whether you like him or not for your city.
- and -
Make your voice heard at CIUT FM. My belief is that either direction that he goes, that we, the community that call in for fundraising or spend money on advertising should not stand by idle - as though without a voice when our voice is needed the most. We talk about respect - I think this is one on the times that you - we - make our voice heard.
Coincidentally, the time change also affects King Turbo's Morning Ride - a staple for Reggae in the community as well.
I urge you, if you enjoy the shows - listen frequently or infrequently - that you send your thoughts on the shortening of the show to those who make decisions - in the most respectful and eloquent manner possible. You are a representative of a community that is marred by stereotypes - be sure not to reinforce them...
I've included the names of the people who make the decisions. Please be sure to bcc me - ( ian@amnesia.ca ). I'm curious to see your responses to this sad state of affairs...
| Station Manager: | Brian Burchell Email: b.burchell at ciut.fm |
| Program Director: | Ken Stowar Email: ken.stowar at ciut.fm |
Til next time...
I
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