Kanye West (Wikimedia photo by Dave Shankbone)
Metro Detroit radio station WMGC-FM (105.1 the Bounce) is taking a political stand against Kanye West, a Donald Trump fan who made a controversial comment about slavery:
"When you hear about slavery for 400 years ... for 400 years? That sounds like a choice,” West told the TMZ crew. “Like, you were there for 400 years, and it was all of y’all? It’s like we’re mentally in prison. I like the word ‘prison,’ because ‘slavery’ goes too direct to the idea of blacks.”
On-air personalities BIGG and Shay Shay at the Ferndale hip-hop station announced Thursday morning they’ll no longer spin songs featuring the lightning-rod rapper. They're apparently the first U.S. broadcasters to support a social media call to #MuteKanye.
Brian McCollum of the Detroit Free Press writes:
After what they called an “overwhelming response” from listeners, the “Morning Bounce” pair went on to convince program director John Candelaria to apply the ban across the entire classic hip-hop station.
That includes West’s own songs along with tracks he has produced or is featured on with others, including material by Jay-Z and Rihanna. There are up to 18 such songs in the station’s library, BIGG told the Free Press.
“Kanye is one of the core artists in our format,” he said. This is “a significant chunk of songs that we’ve played that we’re not going to play right now.”
West says he admires Trump as a fellow polarizing figure who defies norms and expectations.
