Tallatainment: Could you give us a little on the history of 89.7 and
the Underground Railroad?
Acrojam:Of course! WVFS is an Affiliated Project of the Florida State
University Student Government Association and the College of
Communication which started in 1987. It is also a non-commercial,
educational, public radio station that airs 24/7, 365 days a year.
Luckily for us, we have multi-faceted staff members consisting of
students and community volunteers that operate the station live. WVFS
is last of it's kind and we're proud of going against the grain of
conforming to more commercial realms of media. The Underground
Railroad is just that. An avenue to free people of mundane ideas of
what most precieve hip-hop to be since 1989. We play and interview a
lot of underground and or up and coming artists and community leaders
in the cipher of true school hip-hop. UGR (underground railroad) has a
rich history in regards to who has hosted the show. Likes of DJ Demp,
Supastar J Kwik, Dirty Digits, Matthew David, Amond Jackson, who were
all heading the show and creating a trend of playing hip-hop artists
that eventually became what the masses gravitated towards when they
wanted genuine music to listen to. There were a good selection of
folks who hosted but way too many to list but those are few that
either took the show to the community or used what they learned to
better themselves as producers,djs, and or community leaders.
Tallatainment:What drew you to working with the station?
Acrojam:I actually used to listen to the show from time to time when
Tasha was hosting. I enjoyed the selection and access it gave me to
lesser known artists. I had complaints about how stagnant radio at
large has gotten and wanted to do something about it but, didn't
really know exactly how. However, Law of Attraction came into play,
and a friend of mine knew that I was involved in music through the
years and thought that I should meet up with this guy that had a
vision for the Tallahassee music scene. This is when I met Amond
Jackson. We shared ideas and concepts about what we wanted to see in
the area and at that time there wasn't much going on for hip-hop heads
other than the thurs night ciphers I had at my house lol. He wanted to
see mc battles and I wanted to see break dancing. He had been in T
town for some odd years and saw crests and troughs in what we thought
was a potential music scene. The height was when Dirty Digits was
hosting the show. He did a good job incorporating the community with
UGR and vice versa. We wanted to bring that aspect back. Community
involvement was key. He told me that he was about to get the show
passed down to him and was going to need some help down the line. So,
a few months later he taught me how to edit songs and the rest was
history. Editing hip-hop songs is a excruciating process by the way.
Later down the line I joined V89's team officially and started out on
the production team then moved on to do my required announcing shifts.
One of the toughest. The dreaded Monday night 2am-6am. YIKES! I think
I only missed one or two shifts due to a couple Physics II exam crams.
He moved on to do bigger and better things and he choose me to carry
the torch. Many doubted my ability to sustain the show. That was tough
knowing that people didn't think that I could do it but, little did
they know that's what spreads the fire.
Tallatainment:What do you think distinguishes V89/The Underground
Railroad from any of the other stations in Tallahassee?
Acrojam:Our pedigree and passion for what we do. Most of us are
producers, dj's, musicians, mc's, music aficionados, developing labels
owners, directors etc. Like I mentioned UGR has a looong history and
the people that ran it knew it wasn't about them. Their reward comes
much later. It was about the music, the community, the culture of
hip-hop. It takes a lot of sacrifice to run UGR and it only airs once
a week (Sat 5pm-8pm). We dig for unheard music to fill the larger part
of the playlist. Majority of the selection has to be prepared by us to
be FCC clean. For some of us, our career dreams are on the line and
we'll be stupid to put the show and or station in any danger. It's
draining when you do it right. However, it is all worth the sweat,
tears, and sometimes blood. Just kidding.
Tallatainment:What would be your dream project or guest?
Acrojam:Hmm...You know, I think working with UGR has already opened up
manifestation of our dream projects. It was a thought, then action,
then an experience. I think what we're already heading towards is
creating a whole state movement of true school hip-hop in Florida. My
dream is already starting to become reality. During Amond and my's
time at UGR we connected with a lot of community heads here,
Jacksonville, Pensacola, Orlando, and Miami. However, me not being an
native Floridian a direct answer would be... you know I'm from
Augusta, Georgia right? Goodie Mob is getting back together to do a
few shows, Outkast is putting together a new project soon, Organize
Noise is one of my favorite production crews. So I would say having
the whole Dungeon Family at V89 for a live session would be dope! And
what's even more significant is without likes of UGK, 8 Ball & MJG,
Ghetto Boys, and the Dungeon Family we probably wouldn't even be
having this conversation right now as far as the south being a major
player in lyrical hip-hop. People used to laugh at the south. Now,
they bend to the south. I would be elated to have DF :)
Tallatainment:Any current projects or events that we should be on the
look out for?
Acrojam:Keep your eyes agile... not gonna let the cat out of the bag
just yet. Just know the ninja is working.
Tallatainment:What aspirations do you have for the station? Where
would like to see it in a year? in 5 years?
Acrojam:I would like the station to have more recognition. Being that
our wattage only reaches a 20 mile radius that leaves a lot of room
for growth and expansion. However, the money that we get does not come
from the state or the school. We raise the money in house through the
support of the community but, we have a long way to go. We don't ask
for much here at V89. Just coffee, pizza and ice cream parties from
time to time. In a years time I would like V89 to have a state of the
art recording studio and production room WITH MACS, I can go hide in.
Easy functioning and playing cd players. In 5 years MORE WATTAGE!!!
MORE VISIBILITY!!! MORE BUMPER STICKERS!!! UGR CAN BE HEARD IN
EVERYONES SMART CAR, HOUSE, IPOD NATIONALLY!!!
Tallatainment: If people would like to get involved with the station
what should they do? Who should they contact?
Acrojam:Listen to WVFS 89.7FM around the beginning of each semester.
The cattle call meeting is what you should listen for. It is the open
meeting to all to find out more information about the station and the
people that run it. Or you can contact the program director with
inquires at www.wvfs.fsu.edu. They will direct you with more info
about the cattle call unless you’re going to give us donations lol.
You can listen online worldwide at www.wvfs.fsu.edu every Sat 5pm-8pm est
Please link my blogspot and twitter sites below
www.agileeyes.blogspot.com
www.twitter.com/djacrojam
myspace.com/mcubedproductions
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