In a city internationally known for its on-air talent, Mr. R regards his radio persona as a music kingmaker, hurling undiscovered hip-hop and R&B artists into the national focus.
Not that the host of KYHY’s “What’s Hot Radio” is without talent.
“As an artist, I was a Will Smith type, you know, clean lyrics,” said Mr. R, a.k.a. Robert Rickenbacker. “But at that time, people weren’t trying to hear that because the gangster thing was real popular.”
He returned to radio after starring as an actor on the Web series “After Hours” and then hosted a show based on the “Fresh Music Series,” soliciting tracks from unsigned musicians before moving from New York to Burbank.
His show, which airs four days a week on the city’s Internet radio station the Why, is a mix of local artists and musicians from Los Angeles and as far away as Nigeria, the United Kingdom and Germany.
“To be honest with you, I wasn’t even listening to a lot of this music in the beginning,” said the Long Island native. “I try to do everything now because I don’t want to pigeonhole myself.”
The goal is to give exposure to artists trying to break through “who wouldn’t have a shot at top 30, top 40 radio,” station coordinator Jerry Dailey said.
“The thing is a lot of stations aren’t giving those artists airtime, and that’s why I say there’s really no happy medium,” said Mr. R, 41. “In the economy, either you’re rich or you’re poor. There’s no in between in music, too. Either you’re mainstream or you’re not.”
He likened the budding musicians to college athletes.
“At this stage, they’re hungry, and they’re going to work hard to get noticed,” he said. “Artists who want to get on my show are putting together their best material as opposed to someone who’s already signed and making millions.”
Among the acts he helped achieve notoriety, South Dakota-based K.O.D. is in the process of cutting a major deal, and several others are on the precipice, he said.
Still, others at the station characterized the show as balancing opposite ends of the entertainment business: Mr. R hypes up-and-coming artists from his studio at 2600 Olive Ave. But he also interviews proven names like Money B from Digital Underground and Roscoe of the Dogg Pound.
