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Craig G Shares His Hip-Hop History On-Air At KWID Las Vegas

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CRAIG G

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Proung thai ilieie ts lile aftcr leing an MC, Ctaig G rccemly ntade ihe iransition froin recoidmg artist 10 on-air |K*rsoriahcy ai KWID (Wiki 102) las Vcgas

The vcicran MC, lest-kiiown foi his appcar-ancr on ilie Macicy Marł dasuc *Tlic Sniipltony," is ihc latcst artist to make ilie u.msmon from one skle ol ile m»cio|>honc to ilie oiliet an<l front one staie to anoihet

"I jusi dccitled it was time for a change," ihc iiatnc NcwYorkersayi “I pomted loa place and wound up in Vegas"

Once iii las Vcgas. Craig G hegiin workmgat ihc Houseof Blues hosting iis hip-hop sitowi as wieli as a cluh mglii, juice, on Snmlays

"When I Insi goi liere I wamed (o get into radio, so I faxed a luile stiieineitt 10 cvny sunon," Craig G %ay* Two or ihree moiuhsaiier 1 goi licie,

[piwioiiN KWID Pl)| Jannner was fi red, and ilien ihey deaied everyone oni.

"One ol ilie new niglunme jocks I Hobby U»co| came lo ihc cluh and told me ilial I i iccdrd to ani le 101lie stai iou lie acldt **1 went and lic iiuroduccd nie to T-Ski, ihestation s new II), wito l»ap|eiis lo be a DJ He diouglu ii would br good io liave a rap|>er on a hip-hopsianon and asked mc if Iwooklstan ihai weekend ijocotaughi mc liowio nm ilie Imani, and wiihin iwodays I was workmgon air"

T-Ski saki Craig Cs luckgioimd asa weteran artisi was a wrlcoiuc a<ldiiK>u io ihe KWID on-air siali.

"Craig G is hi|>-lK>p_v" T-Ski says "And Wild 102 is ilie Itonte of lii|>-hop, so ii was ilie |>crfcci lit Craig brings radio expeńetice fioin his inne in New York as wcllasa wcalth ol knowłedge regank ing ilie hi|>lK>p gamę and hfcsiwle "

RAPPER GOES TO RADIO

Craig G .mIiiiiLs ihai his iraiisloinatioit fiom anisi io jock is a process He cmliis lttsexpcncnce as an anisi unii giwiog him a loundaiion on wliich io work

"Tlie lirM tliing was Igetinig) used io lieing on ilie inicio-phone and hring in tlie sindio," lic says "Aftcr ihai, it*s morę ahoui noi being afraid io crack ihc iiiic and tioi liawing any pre-conceiwcd nonoiisot ncisousiicw 1 siill liave;i wa)i logo. Sometimcs,

I can l»e lepeiime. hecause Pm siill leainmg litu ii sacomforublc lii, and eweryone tlicie likes it up tlicie Ewerwonc itiwolwrd (willi ilie sta non) is \erv imprcvscd so lar I abo gci a couplc of arnsts io cali lilie sta-non), lis likc Tm alt nosi iloing i lic same job"

Itonically, Craig G never recched much air-play foi Ins single* Tliai sai<l, his piiot cxpcri-ences willi radio aie whai fiiclcd hisdesire io get on-air.

• li*s liiiiny, liecaitse bciween my lirst and sec-ond sitigles ("Sitom," "Trans! oni iei^-), I ittrtl to woik willi Mr. Magie ai WBLS (New York)," lie sa\s. "I uscd io |kiII carLsand answer ihe phones. so I was already exdied .iIkhii ilie radio cx|x*n cncc Then. l worked willi Marlcvon *ln Gon-uol" So u was someihing (Inn would have lieen m tlie cards anyway; hecause ii was someihing tliai I trally en jowrd. li takes me lock io wlicn I itucd io work on ihc radio liack in ihcdiiy

As a weckender ai KWID. Craig G uves his musical knowłedge and industrv aneedotes io crafi a show hc says i% tinlikc anv oihcr in tlie market.

"I know a lot ahoui die musie, so I ani surę tliai I mionu die list et ter* ahoui cen.iin songs tliai iliey heai, cspecially wlicn I pkiy a dassic." Craig G says. *1 iniglu tell a story altom sotne-thing th.it I knował x>i n ilie arusi front wlicn I was thcrc willi them. li s pmty cool Peojke aie callutg tlie sianon like, "Is iltis 'CraigG“ CraigG* From Tlie Snnpłiony** * So iliey* re roal excited. Pm blown awny by iłtai

"Wcrc also in one of ihe higgcsi radio want om licie," hc adds "We luve iwo otliei staikMtsotil herc ihai p!.«y łti|> hop (KYEGand KCEP), so it*s cooł.liecaitseii bnngsme lock to ihe clavs ol Mi Magie and Red Alen (m New York) .**

In tcnmoł ptograinnung. KWID is like mmi K&R/hip-)iop stations, bul n alsoplaysa fairshateof riiyilimic rccords "\Vt rcon lite West Coasi so play a lot ol tegioiul stiiJf," Craig G says. *|An anisi like) liabv Baslt is re.ilh big bccaiwe tliere is a lingę Mcxicait popu-Liiiotiotii heie.

"As far as ilie was* tlie station ls piogramnted, [T-Ski) is a grrat D) so hc li.ts Insear to ihe sircci as far as ihai is conCcnicd," lic .ideb *^\Ne lta\r a k)i of songs in lite log tliai aie pici ty cool Usu-ally wlicn l'm on ihe air, 1 gci io play (A Tnlie (iilled (jiiests) 'Awarri Tottr’ or someihing like ihai Tltat is wliai gcis me piimprd "

DON T CALL IT A COMEBACK

WliiIr his radio career is just liegutiiing io llourish, Craig C liasn^vt gueii up all Im anisiic etKleavors

"1'in going tocomc hack to NewNork, wlieu I h.t\e sonie \acanon unie. lOSŁirt gen mg ihc ncxi allHim togetlier. Ix*c.iuv lluu*s my lirst love.' lie says "I wouldn^#t hase lieen ahlc io gci on lite radNiif it wasn't for tliai. So. 1'nt ically a|>^>icci.r

iive of tltat.”*

Craig (i, who was sigucd io tlie nowKłeltiiKi USrl) Kreonts, lielieses geiting a new deal will only le a imiiiei ol unie "Pm gomg io wan to !».ive a lew songs recoulel UHore |hii-stiing a deal/ lie says "li shouklit'1 le Itanl. bccattse Pm noi lookmg lor everytliing tuulcr iliesun Pm juM lookmg for a fair raie and a cliancc io work ihe rt conl. Ewen willi inin-mial siilii, on ihe inde|en<lcni notę, vou're gomg io make a jnolii il yoti krep your ovei1ie;Kt Iow wlieu vnu*re recoiding

*1 don't liawe ytsiotts ol giandenr of getting iiulepeiKleni songs płayed on ilie r.idio,"Craig Ci adds "luillletihesirrctsdecide Peoj ile contr up io me nowand icll me ihai iliev liougłn tlie łasi ałlniin Pm siill iii my eadv 'MK. so I ltave a lew alhums in me "

As for his fiiiure in r.Mho. T-Ski and Cia«g G secm e<|tially opiimisnc.

"Tliai*s ihe tliing alxiui Yegas," T-Ski savs "Kiglu now, he'sdomg weekendsaml niglits foi us We c\|*ci Iftim io grow willi us ^r

"At tlie end of ihe «lav. inavłie, )usr mavle. I can gei io ihc pomi włierr 1 can suggest sonie songs iluu I ilimk aie cool and can br :idde<l mio ilie louiion," Craig C ad<ls Tłtcrc arc a lot ol songs dai arcalwassoccihioked ihai should le geiimgspms Tlie morę Igei inioihis. mayfe Pil ławr sonie influence in (diattging) iliai."

by RASHAUN HALL ,⁶.Z“!.^⁷.!

Chor I Moncjer: MIN Ai PATEL • 646-6S4-4623 • mpotd@oifploy*oniUf.<om

Craig G On His Fellow MCs

Willi a rccordmg caiccr that spam almost 20 \cai% KWID (Wild 102) I-asVcgas*Craig G (src story, ai left)    a ihing or two aliout tl ic art

o( ihc gamc. So. we askcd tlić MGnimed^jock for his tłioitghis on a lewof hi* noicd contcm-|x>r<ines I lerc\ w hal lic liad (o say Lii Jon: *Hc was also a radio l)J and an A&R (guy). Ilis cxpcricncc shines through

wlicn you licar his songs Hc has his lingcr on ihc pulsc ol what s crack i ng in ihc clttłis.

"Hedidwltatalot of aitists havc tried io do in the past— lichronghi llic cluh to ihc radio, and lic ftilły succecdcd with it U ani hc 2 in ihc aftcrnoon whcn a (lii |on) song eonie* on and if you elose yoiir cyc*, you leel like you arc in the middle of a party.

‘What makes liiin cvcn lietter is tliai llicrc arc somc pcoplc who know how to capturc it, and ilicn ihcrc arc somc jicoplc \dio know liow

to capturc it and clianncl it through anotlicr artist. Hc łiasdoncthat willi a lot of arusts.”

Kanyc West: “Hc has hrouglit hack the missingsotil element as fai as liip-hop is concerncd Assoonyou lieai Ins musie, you leel it llow through you

LIL JOIU

WEST

He Likes you on ajoumcy wilii his mds*c

"What I rcally rcspcci abotu Kanyeiitliat my moiher always told mc wlicn I wasdoing songs to say someihing that means someihing With his alhum, lie makes a lot of valid points and says things that lic rcally didn’t have to say at this day and linie in hip-hop, bul lic did, and iPssucccsful. I teally rcspcci that "

Twista: Twista is tlie Iiluiiiate sagn of perseverancc It sccimlike no mat ter włiat lic Itashecn trv* ing fot the longcst.

"A lot of people don't know that hc was one of the lim aitists signed to the now-defunct Lottd lahel. He gors liack tliat lar So for liiin to go from ilicn to now and siill have a siicccssful alhum with cvcryonc havuig his back is rcspcci, hecatisc this is a yonng kid*s ganić. A lot of people would havc said forget it, hut hc stuck with tt. łwcausc lie knew hc liad the talent. And now it s |xaymg off."

Dilated People*, Slum YLlkigc: "lt's rc.il easy to eonie out with a song and sxy the same thing that c\civbody clsc is saying. So, włiat impresses mc as a rapper is wlicn acts like Dilated Pcoplcs and Slum V»llagceonie maml folU»w tlicir own lieliefs and feelmgs and the rrst of Uie worki gors along willi it.

"Dilated Pcoplcs, even hclorc tlie Kanyc |NVcst| uack ITIńs Way"|. always got me. Iiccattsrtlie/rcrappersrap|>crs Buttheyalso fouml ihc linę lilie lictwern niaking a radio-fncmlly song and lieing liiphop."

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TWISTA

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AIRPLAY MONITOR MAY 28. 2004

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