Detroit Station: No More Kanye

Hip-hop station launches boycott over slavery remarks
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted May 4, 2018 6:33 AM CDT
Detroit Radio Station Launches Kanye Boycott
Kanye West appears at the MTV Video Music Awards at Madison Square Garden in New York.   (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, File)

Slavery was not a choice—but playing the music of Kanye West is, and at least one radio station is choosing not to after his controversial remarks. Hosts Shay Shay and Bigg at Detroit's 105.1 The Bounce declared Thursday that they were boycotting West because of his statements that slavery "sounds like a choice" and figures like Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. are "too far in the past and not relatable," CNN reports. "We are over it. We don't want to hear Kanye’s music, we don't want to play Kanye on our show, we don't want to talk about Kanye anymore," said the hosts, promising to avoid any music that features West.

The duo brought on a producer at the hip-hop station, who promised to ban West's music from the entire station if there was a strong enough listener response, reports the Washington Post—and there apparently was. A majority of callers strongly agreed with the move, with one accusing West of "polluting the minds of young people." Bigg tells the Detroit News that it was one of the largest responses he has seen in 20 years in radio. "It's very overwhelming right now," he says. At least one radio host, Hot 97's Ebro Darden in New York, says he is also boycotting West. Sponsor Adidas, however, has rejected a call to dump the artist, with CEO Kasper Rorsted telling Bloomberg he has been a "fantastic creator." (Click for some of the harshest responses to Kanye's remarks.)

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