To Update Radio, Or To Not

7.13.22

Conway the Machine on Funk Flex 2019

New York has always been looked at as one of the leaders of the pack in hip-hop. They have birthed many legends, started new trends, and were given the best platform to make a name for themselves. However, still, some find ways to drag one another, or question their status in the industry.

The King and Queen of New York has always been a topic of discussion. Artists tend to claim that crown every time they get a billboard hit. But, have two favorites from different lanes ever gone head-to-head in your books? Well, things are seemingly getting spicy between Conway the Machine and Funk Flex overnight.

Earlier this week, Conway the Machine went on Instagram Live, and ended up sharing his opinion on “old, New York, DJs.” Within his rant, he called out Funk Flex amongst a few others, and said they are old and dictate too much of what is going on in New York City hip-hop today, demanding that they ‘get out the way.’ He went on saying he hates those kinds of DJs, and wants new, young, in the streets DJs to take over Hot 97, home to Funk Flex.

What triggered all this animosity towards Flex? Well, in the middle of Conway’s discussion, he did mention that the radios do not play his music. It is an interesting topic of discussion, radio stations know to play radio hits. But what about when Griselda or someone similar does come through, dropping new music weekly, and are completely taking over the hip hop industry by storm. Are people afraid to play their music? It’s most definitely hip-hop. But it is different. Did we even hear XXX on the radio before he passed and the industry praised his legacy? Who is going to be first to put the general public onto a group like Griselda? Or anyone whose sound is a bit different than what every radio around the country is playing?

Well, while Conway is out looking for the next, young, NYC DJ to put Griselda on radio time, Funk Flex got word of this Live, and he did not hold anything back. Flex shared numerous posts and comments, suggesting that Griselda had all the help in the world from endorsements, features and major labels, and are still unhappy with where they are at in the music industry.

Whether or not this is true, Conway has a point that he did get to his level of success without radio, aka, people like Flex. The two have now been going back in forth in the comment section for the past 24 hours, but in the end, I think the biggest discussion point here is: as music evolves and changes overtime, who is the first/how do we determine to update their radio playlists? And at the same time, with streams and Internet, is radio dead?