So last time I checked in, with my ‘End of an Era: What’s Next for BBC’s ‘The Rap Show’ article, the BBC’s Radio 1, and 1Xtra, Rap Show had no host and previous host, Charlie Sloth, was laying low after getting fired from the BBC. Well a fair bits changed since then.
In November the BBC announced the new host of the Radio 1, and 1Xtra, Rap Show, Tiffany Calver, who was coming over from KissFresh and had previously produced a mix for Drake’s OVO Sound Radio! Oh, and did I mention, she’s the Rap Show’s first female host (something every blog and site touched upon, but it’s 2019, so sex shouldn’t be a big deal. SHE’S A DJ. END OF.!)
Tiffany’s debut show was broadcast on January 5th and was titled ‘The New Era’ (can I just throw in that my article, from 3 months before, was called ‘The End of an Era’! Coincidence? I’ll just leave that here) and featured a nice mix of new, and classic, tracks (it opened with Jay-Z’s, stone cold classic, ‘P.S.A’ for god sakes!!!). It was pretty dope and gives hope for the shows future!
On the flip side of things Charlie Sloth returned to announce his new show with Apple’s Beats 1, ‘The Charlie Sloth Rap Show’, just over a week ago in a move half the world already knew about before it was announced but it was still BIG regardless. His ‘Fire in The Booth’ segment was coming back too and, on January 19th, his first show aired with the UK’s Ambush, Headie One, K-Trap and Blade Brown holding it down on the returning FITB! Charlie still holds the UK down, big time, and proved it with his new worldwide platform!!!
So 3 months ago we had no national ‘Rap Show’ and now we have two (technically Charlie’s show is regarded as ‘worldwide’, but in this case, I’ll put it under ‘national’ as it’s available in the UK)!!! Not bad at all!!!
It’ll be interesting to see how Tiffany will make her show different from Charlie’s. I say this because Charlie has an established brand, with FITB, so what will Tiffany produce to compete (that’s if she even does)? Who knows and who cares because what I do know is that the ‘Rap Show’ hasn’t just returned but now we have a choice of two and that’s good for not just the audience but for up and coming artists to get heard!!!
Side note – Shout out Westwood as well who is still holding it down every Saturday night (for 4 hours!!!) on Capital XTRA! He maybe in his 60’s but he’s still the hardest in the game!!!
Bean Lebouc