 "Photo: Belinda Dunn/Echo Arts co-editor")
Tahj Giles and James Hines are swiftly changing the voice of urban college radio at N.C. Central University.
AudioNet Channel 9 broadcasts 24 hours a day from the Farrison- Newton Communications Building.
Since NCCU is an HBCU and is a fairly urban campus, AudioNet is dedicated to playing non-stop hip hop.
The purpose of the show is to reach out and draw in students of the urban college community.
Mass communication senior Giles, along with his colleague James Hines, better known as DJ Kutta, have students tune into their weekly radio show T.O.K.Y.O. Young, Married and Divorced (T.O.K.Y.O.-YMD) Radio.
Giles and Hines combined the names of their own projects to come up with the name of their show.
"I bring the flavor, I bring the music, I am the type of person to listen to all types of music, and I bring it all together on the show," said Hines.
"The commercial meaning of T.O.K.Y.O. is Togetherness of konfident young opportunists. Tahj and I are both young opportunists," said Hines.
"YMD is from my clothing line that I am working on," said Giles. "Young Married and Divorced means married to the grind and divorced from the slackers."
T.O.K.Y.O.-YMD first aired in late January. The first show featured a Mississippi rapper named BIG K.R.I.T.
Since the debut of the show Giles has devoted himself to booking a new artist every week.
"We play new-hip music, and introduce different sounds and different artists," said Giles.
Giles and Hines have interviewed artists and entertainers as Kendrick Lamar, Jhene Aiko, Dom Kennedy, Skeme, Casey Veggies, Lola Monroe, Deelishis from Flavor of Love 2, Young Money artists Jae Millz & Short Dawg, Maybach Music artists Gunplay, Pill and Audra the rapper just to name a few.
"I reached out to artists because it wasn't being done, it needed to be done and I could get it done," said Giles.
"My roommate and I are music heads. The show keeps us updated with new music," said Erik Whaley, a business sophomore.
"It has been a really long time since a student has been this dedicated and focused on getting people to listen," said AudioNet's adviser, Lolethia Underdue.
T.OK.Y.O-YMD radio airs every Tuesday from 4 - 7 p.m.
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