Urban radio vet pushes better playlist policing

Story by Inside Radio

In urban radio the song “U.O.E.N.O.” by Rick Ross has been a hot topic in recent weeks, as some stations have drawn fire for playing the track that critics argue glorifies drug use and rape. To a longtime radio and television programmer, it also exposes a need for broadcasters to take a closer look at what’s making it to the airwaves.

“There’s not a system of checks and balances,” Rap Rehab founder Paul Porter says. “If it’s bitch, ho and curse words, that gets noticed — but if it’s drug references and rape, I don’t think they’ve caught up to it yet.” Porter, who sits on the Parents Television Council’s advisory board, and his group has been among those pressuring radio stations to stop playing Ross’ song, yet as the controversy erupted the record received more spins. That led to online petition drives and even a call for the FCC to yank a New York station’s license. Porter says some groups including Radio One and Cox Media Group either passed on the song or switched to the edited track. On Friday, the artist himself all but asked stations to pull the unedited version, issuing an apology. “My choice of words was not only offensive, it does not reflect my true heart,” Ross said.

Porter, who has programmed stations including urban AC “98.7 Kiss FM” WRKS and the cable channel BET, thinks broadcasters need to apply the same standard to song selection as they do the employee handbook. “If it’s inappropriate in the workplace to reference drugs and rape, then why is it appropriate to play songs about it on the air,” he asks. Ross concedes it can be tough to keep up with the latest terminology — the term “Justin Bieber” now refers to cocaine — but he says that’s where having a teenaged advisor can help out.

The Parents Television Council has said the FCC should investigate stations that played the song as a breach of the public interest standard. But that’s unlikely since the agency has said unless a song violates its stated indecency rules it won’t get involved with programming.