Soon, Luke was broadcasting live from his club, Team Disco, promoting his own records and parties. There were no urban radio stations at the time, so Bass 91.9 gained listeners almost instantly through word-of-mouth. “We played the uncut version of records, but we also had dialogue about high school sports, teenage pregnancy, and community issues. We used the negative things to teach positive things,” says Luke. It wasn’t long before the unlicensed frequency showed up on the Arbitron ratings alongside major radio stations, which soon began changing their formats to draw listeners back.
Luke’s idea caught on quickly, and dozens of stations popped up. Even though the frequencies came and went, some are still operating to this day, and often, the same people were involved. Many station operators used the knowledge gained in pirate radio to create profitable careers in the music industry, like former Flavor 91.9 operators Buggah D. Govanah, Arthur Papillon, and Detre Val.
Virtually every major DJ or radio personality in Miami started on a pirate station, like Power 96’s Teddy T, The Beat’s Papa Keith, mixshow DJs Suiside and Kool G, and Terror Squad affiliates DJ Khaled and Cool & Dre. “I loved pirate radio,” Khaled says enthusiastically. “It was a great experience. There’s no rules. People just wanna hear hot music without politics. Pirate radio can be a stepping stone to move onto the next level.”
Unfortunately, not all pirate radio DJs enjoy a blossoming career in mainstream radio. Pirate radio pioneer Uncle Al was the victim of an unsolved murder in late 2001, rumored to be a case of mistaken identity in a pirate radio dispute. His neighborhood, Liberty City, holds an annual Peace In Da Hood Festival in his remembrance, drawing thousands of locals and even some celebrities. “Uncle Al was all about unity,” Teddy T remembers. “A lot of people were killed in his neighborhood. It was one of the biggest drug areas in Miami, but he’d be jammin’ music on the street. Even when he was twelve, thirteen years old – he grew up DJing. It was all about peace.”
Over the years, pirate radio stations not only helped bring the community together, they also became the Miami equivalent of mixtapes, helping to break talented new artists. Years before 50 Cent became a household name, “How to Rob” was played frequently on the underground. And long before major radio stations played Trick Daddy’s “Naan Nigga,” Trick’s first album, Based on a True Story, was already a pirate radio classic. Uncle Luke credits the underground as a major part of his success as an artist.
Unfortunately, not everyone is praising pirate radio for breaking new artists. Corporate suits view them as an inconvenience and sometimes even a threat. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the government agency responsible for regulating the airwaves, considers it a dangerous criminal activity. Unlicensed signals can interfere with legitimate broadcasts and, in extreme cases, disrupt airport communications. During the early days of pirate radio, government budget cuts forced the FCC to downsize, eliminating local offices in cities like Miami. “We were located in the hood,” Luke laughs, “And [the FCC] was just plain scared to come to Liberty City.”
Many pirate stations found creative ways to throw the FCC off-track, setting up antennas in remote locations and sometimes operating out of abandoned offices or warehouses. Recently, the FCC has become more aggressive, shutting down many stations as soon as they begin broadcasting, specifically in the Miami area.
Other hip-hop entrepreneurs who visited Miami brought the concept back home, and pirate radio stations began sprouting up throughout Orlando, Jacksonville, and other parts of Florida. Some, like Malik “Copafeel” Abdul, co-founder of Orlando’s 95Live, turned pirate radio into more than a promotional tool: a profitable business. According to the FCC, Abdul generated more than $350,000 in illegal advertising over a four-year period. He was eventually charged with thirteen counts of operating an unlicensed radio station, each count carrying a maximum penalty of $10,000 and a year in jail (he was sentenced to 4 months home confinement and 18 months probation).
Why is pirate radio such a threat? “It’s simple,” says DJ Khaled, “When you have a mic, you have power.” Uncle Luke agrees. “You know what makes hip-hop so valuable? That’s how we communicate. Hip-hop is our CNN. They can’t stop us from communicating, so these major public corporations buy all the radio stations and cut the playlist to twenty songs that are paid for by other major public corporations. They’re working hand-in-hand, so the little man gets squeezed out.”
And it’s not just the FCC that’s cracking down on pirate radio. David Rivera, a Republican member of the Florida House of Representatives, recently introduced a bill which declares operating a pirate radio station as a third-degree felony. The bill “prohibits radio transmissions by an unlicensed person… [and] authorizes the Office of Statewide Prosecution to investigate and prosecute violations.”
Many blame corporate radio conglomerates as part of the reason for the music industry’s decline. But hip-hop has always been about struggling, improvising, and maintaining underground credibility, so the concept of pirate vs. corporate is nothing new. “No matter how many laws they pass,” DJ Khaled predicts, “Pirate radio will never go away.”
