KCMP (The Current), KMOJ/Minneapolis-St. Paul Team To Launch Urban Alternative Stream

New Stream

MINNESOTA PUBLIC RADIO Triple A KCMP (THE CURRENT)/MINNEAPOLIS-ST. PAUL debuted a new digital Urban Alternative stream on THURSDAY (6/16) in partnership with CENTER FOR COMMUNICATION AND DEVELOPMENT Hip Hip KMOJ-HD2 (89.9 THE ICE). CARBON SOUND, the new stream, is described as "celebrating the depth, breadth and influence of Black musical expression through genres including Hip-Hop, R&B, Afrobeats, Funk and Electronica." A grant from the CORPORATION FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING is funding the project, the latest in a series of public radio Urban Alternative station launches.

The new stream is being headed by Content Dir. JULIAN GREEN, imaging voice and THE CURRENT Hip Hop/R&B show "THE MESSAGE" host SANNI BROWN, and Community Engagement Specialist ANDRE GRIFFIN.

GREEN said, “The mission and the vision here are my passions. It’s showing the depth, breadth and beauty of Black musical expression and showing how it's foundational to the whole canon of musical expression in this country.”

BROWN said, “What’s most important to me is that we’re bringing something to the community -- we’re public media, we’re here to give more than we get. I want CARBON SOUND to feel how I feel when I walk up on a barbecue I was invited to. I want it to be like that feeling of, ‘it's safe here.’”

GRIFFIN said, “My love of history and my love of my NORTH MINNEAPOLIS community guides my work every day, I believe in abundance, we believe in abundance, and I am so glad to be a part of bringing more abundance to the TWIN CITIES.”

KMOJ GM FREDDIE BELL said, “This partnership will help extend and help elevate what we’re doing on THE ICE and beyond. Now listeners who are looking for a wider variety of Black music in the TWIN CITIES will have a destination to find all these different sources of programming.”

“I’m excited for MPR to be joining the cohort of new stations under the CPB’s project to develop a new format for public media. We’re so proud of the work this team has done to create such a powerful addition to the local music community,” said THE CURRENT Managing Dir. DAVID SAFAR. “We’re also grateful to the funding from the CPB and thrilled to be collaborating with FREDDIE, his team at KMOJ and THE ICE.”

Green. Brown, Griffin (Photo: Awa Mally for MPR)

 

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