The 1970s In 1971,
Frankie Crocker would combine all the elements of his background, with
jazz and
R&B. When Frankie Crocker was appointed as
program director of the newly created
WBLS in 1974, he created an eclectic music mix of
R&B and
disco redefining the R&B format as
urban contemporary. In 1975, WDMT in Cleveland began programming a mix of R&B, disco, and rap. The station featured live
street jocks mixing
vinyl records each night. The station's popularity grew and in 1980, it was
Arbitron rated No. 2 12+, just behind the No. 1 rated
WMMS with the original "
Morning Zoo".
The 1980s In 1983,
WBLS in
New York City was the first station to air a
rap radio show, "Rap Attack" with
Mr. Magic and
Marley Marl. Freddie Jackson and Luther Vandross were popular in urban contemporary music scene. In the late 1980s, Luther Vandross, Freddy Jackson, and
Whitney Houston were popular in this genre. During the early 1980s as newly formed
WRKS-FM (98.7 Kiss FM) became the first rap station in the United States, WBLS quickly began adding more rap songs to its playlists. The urban format by this time was redefined by an eclectic mix of
R&B, rap,
reggae,
dance,
house, and
freestyle. WBLS continued as the flagship station of the urban format; however,
Kiss FM surpassed them in the ratings. Another successful early urban outlet was
WDRQ in Detroit, which switched from a top 40 format in the spring of 1982 and made a #2 showing 12+ in its first Arbitron ratings book. In addition to rap, R&B and dance music, WDRQ featured mainstream pop music with a danceable beat from artists. Many radio stations imitated the urban sound since it was proven to be more profitable than other formats and had proven itself more adept than straightforward black-targeted R&B formats at attracting white and Latino listeners. Late in the decade,
WVAZ Chicago and
WALR Atlanta became some of the first
adult R&B stations, playing artists that appealed to adults rather than rap or other styles that young people enjoyed. Another subformat of urban contemporary is
rhythmic contemporary hits. Stations playing rhythmic contemporary hits plays a great deal of dance music; however, hip-hop has become increasingly popular in the format in recent years.
WQHT-FM (Hot 97) and
KPWR (Power 106) were the first stations to utilize this format.
1990s–present Since the 1990s, as urban contemporary hits have dominated the US pop charts, many
top 40 stations have turned to playing tracks popular on urban contemporary radio stations. Following periods of fluctuating success, urban music attained commercial dominance during the early 2000s, which featured massive
crossover success on the
Billboard charts by R&B and hip hop artists. In late-mid of the decade,
KRNB Dallas signed on as an R&B and classic soul station. By the late 2000s, urban music had taken a backseat on top 40 radio to mainstream
EDM sounds, and several successful urban artists, including
Rihanna,
Chris Brown,
Ciara,
Usher,
Nicole Scherzinger,
Akon,
Trey Songz,
Pitbull,
Flo Rida, and
Ne-Yo, were making EDM records for top 40 airplay while continuing to make hip hop or pure R&B records for urban airplay. Pure urban formats continue to be successful in markets with large
African-American populations, while medium or smaller markets are more likely to feature urban music through the subset of
rhythmic contemporary stations with danceable mainstream hits mixed in. The
Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration has been awarded since 2002. ==Name controversy==