Can Adult Contemporary Radio Figure Out Its Hip-Hop Issue?

Can Adult Contemporary Radio Figure Out Its Hip-Hop Issue?

Old white people scared of rap. "In 2015, Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth’s “See You Again” was one of the biggest hits of the year, spending 12 weeks at the top of the Hot 100. But most AC radio stations played a reworked ballad version of the song that didn’t include any of Khalifa’s verses — even though he was the lead artist on the track. “Knowing our audience and what they don’t like, that’s generally why we’ll look for an edit,” says WHUD-FM program director Steve Petrone of his Hudson Valley, N.Y.-based station. “That is something that the labels put together, and that’s what we go with. That’s the history that we’ve had with our listeners, who… tend to be a little more conservative.” The reason why these rap-less versions of hit singles exist is because labels still value adult contemporary radio as a gateway to different audiences after a song takes off at pop radio. “It’s an important format,” says Wendy Goodman, SVP of Promotion at RCA Records. “If it’s a monster song, first at pop and then at [adult top 40], then it almost makes it more palatable for AC.”"