Houston Radio: KKRW The Beat Plays Banned Artist

In 2009, the popular Houston rapper and philanthropist Trae The Truth was the center of controversy after one of his events ended in gunfire. Houston Hip Hop station KBXX 97.9 FM The Boxx blamed the rapper’s music as a reason for the violence, according to allhiphop.com.

After a publicized feud, the artist was officially banned not only from 97.9, but all Radio One stations; which specifically targets urban markets at 69 radio stations in 22 cities throughout the nation, including his hometown of Houston.

The ban itself extended beyond traditional radio play; it also included not acknowledging any event featuring Trae, including charity endeavors, and resulted in the firing of former Boxx personality DJ Brandi Garcia, after she played a track featuring the artist at at 50 Cent concert, despite the fact that it was a personal event.

In the five years since then, other stations have come onto the scene and quickly fizzled due to lack of funding and resources; but on December 31, 2013 this all changed when Clear Channel, the largest radio conglomerate in the nation, debuted KKRW 93.7 FM The Beat, seemingly ending The Boxx’s reign as Houston’s sole source for Hip Hop.

While The Boxx’s ban against the emcee still stands, Clear Channel has made it clear that it doesn’t apply to themselves, already inserting the Diddy and Jeezy assisted “Hold Up” off of Trae’s latest “I Am King” release into their regular rotation.


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