Hip-Hop fans have a fairly good idea of what a rapper’s life looks like, but what about the journalists and media personalities who give those artists their big breaks?
Vh1’s new reality series “This is Hot 97”will pull back the curtain and go behind-the-scenes at the infamous New York City radio station when it premieres on March 31, and a few cast members visited on Wednesday (March 26) to give some further insight on the show.
The full cast includes the legendary Hot 97 duo Funkmaster Flex and Angie Martinez, along with journalist Miss Info, DJ Cipha Sounds, DJ Enuff, Peter Rosenberg, Laura Stylez, Karlie Hustle and program director turned host, Ebro Darden.
The show’s first episode features a major cameo from Kanye West (who normally has a strict policy against TV appearances), and now there’s plenty of talk about having Jay Z up next, but Ebro isn’t so sure it will happen.
“I doubt Hov is gonna make an appearance on this unscripted comedy show,” he told Sway on “RapFix Live.” “We’re in talks, but Hov has a persona that he wants everyone to continue to believe. Hov is the god MC, but we know Hov, and he’s a funny dude. When you start talking to him about being on a comedy show…he’s like ‘naaah.'”
But there’s still hope for an appearance on season two, right? “The secret to all Hov appearances or cameos and features, is if you get hot enough he wants to be next to you,” Miss Info chimed in, more confident that they might nab him the second time around.
The cast also explained why they felt it was so important to put their daily work environment on display, in the tricky world of reality TV.
“We felt like the music videos and the music only portray the artistry, and we wanted to show the blue collar working people,” Ebro explained. “You can see people who love the culture in the workplace, and [we were] just looking at it from the perspective of, how can we connect with our audience and the people who love the brand, in a different way than we’re already doing.”
“It’s very mundane and very relatable,” Miss Info pointed out. “We go through the same office politics that you guys deal with at MTV, everybody goes through the same thing. I know a lot of people have this image of the industry or Hot 97, like it’s all glamorous, and we’re popping bottles in the middle of the day — it’s not that at all. We’re going through the same struggles.”
“This is Hot 97” officially premieres Monday, March 31 at 10:30 p.m. ET/PT on VH1. Use the hashtag #ThisisHot97 to get in on the conversation.
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