A few weeks ago, one of Chicago’s radio stations changed its format from “classic hits” to Throwback Jams. It plays a lot of '90s and '00s rap and R&B songs that had been completely forgotten by Chicago radio stations. I hear a lot of Dr. Dre (e.g., “Nothing But a G Thang” and “Forgot about Dre”), Snoop Dogg, and 2Pac. I’ve rediscovered the joy of Lil Jon’s “Get Low” as well. There is a lot of repetition of the same songs, but it seems like the station is slowly building up its playlist.
I grew up in Peoria in downstate Illinois, and even Peoria has had a similar station for the last couple of years. I don’t know why it took Chicago so long to put this music back on the radio. The station it replaces, “K Hits,” played the same Journey and Foreigner shit that you can hear on a dozen other Chicago stations. I was talking with a friend the other day, and he said how he misses the old format and hates the new one. I don’t understand what he’s complaining about, though–he can hear the same crap on WLS 94.7 or on the classic rock stations. Most other people I’ve talked to seem to be excited about the new format. Down with Journey, and long live Dre!