The new morning show at hip-hop station Power 105.1 is a lot like the radio version of a teacher’s worst nightmare. The three smartest kids in the class — who are also the class clowns — now run the show.
Taking over for NYC morning radio mainstay Ed Lover is Angela Yee, DJ Envy and Charlamagne Tha God. The trio made their debut last week as the Breakfast Club. Their names should ring a bell with New Yorkers and hip-hop heads: Envy, who is shifting from afternoons at Power, was part of rival Hot 97’s morning team. Charlamagne co-hosted with Wendy Wil- liams before she took off for TV. And Yee held down mornings on Eminem’s uncensored hip-hop satellite station, Shade 45. Now they hope to combine their irreverent, intelligent and funny styles with an everyman approach to make the morning commute a little easier for New Yorkers.
What made you excited about joining this team?
Envy: I had said that I’d never do mornings again. But who wouldn’t want to work with a dream team? It felt like Dwayne Wade, Bosh and Lebron, if they were winning.
Yee: I’m so used to having to do a lot of stuff on my own. It’s great to have a team that’s going to take this further than I could take it.
You all have very distinct and aggressive interview styles. How are you going to find a balance?
Yee: I think the things we focus on are different. I might be more interested in talking about personal things. Charlamagne might be more interested in current events. Envy knows a lot of these people personally. So if you put all of that together, you have the most complete interview you could get.
But some artists might be afraid of getting in the crosshairs.
Charlamagne: We live in an age of transparency. Social networking sites like Twitter have kind of conditioned these artists for people like us. Now they see honest opinions about themselves all the time. They have no choice but to face the music, ’cause those questions will be asked.
