K-Day: Old-School Old School Hip-Hop Relaunched

In the early '80s, hip-hop music was making its way into Los Angeles. Unfortunately, there wasn't a radio station dedicated to playing what the people wanted - pure hip-hop. That is, until a station by the name of K-Day came into existence.
K-Day originated in early 1980s on 1580AM and had a huge following. As the first radio station to play hip-hop, millions of people knew and loved K-Day.
"K-Day went off the air because the radio didn't think they had to pay the mix-masters, so we left. They thought they could continue the station, but they failed and had to shut down," said Julio G, K-Day DJ. Julio G, an original DJ for K-Day since 1983, began his career as a deejay in 1981 in his hometown of Lynwood, Calif. In early January 2005, a man by the name of Chris Loos wanted to bring true hip-hop back. "When hip-hop first came out, many believed it to be a fad, but it has outlasted that stereotype and we want to continue too."
"Hip-hop is a lifestyle. It saved my life. As a kid, I was heavily influenced by gang members. If it wasn't for hip-hop, I would be dead or in jail," said Julio G.
As Loos began his quest of bringing the hip-hop back to the community, he quickly recognized something was missing.
"There was something missing in the hip-hop community. There was an empty spot on the radio. No one really plays the old school records, the old Tupac, Snoop Dogg records-all you hear today is 50cent or The Game," said Loos, assistant program director for the station. When K-Day was re-launched, the word grew slowly but soon after, billboards were erected and more people were informed. Today, K-Day can be found at 93.5FM and their slogan reads "Hip-hop from back in the day and today. The authentic hip-hop station."
K-Day has an all-star line-up of DJ's, such as DJ Melo-D; The Baker-Boyz in the afternoon show; Big P-Wee; YOYO; Rico's Playhouse, featured in the morning; and even Chris Loos -- aka C-Loos starting in June 2005.
When asked how he felt about hip-hop today, Loos boldly stated, "Today hip-hop is no longer considered hip-hop, but hip-pop."
However, Julio G had a different view. "The hip-hop of today is for a different audience. You can't even duplicate the original hip-hop. Everything is so 'Hollywood' today. Today's youth don't understand. Hip-hop is the voice of the street. The essence of hip-hop is lost. People forget that hip-hop comes from the broken down streets, not the glorified way you see in videos." Current artist on K-Day are Xzbit, Snoop Dogg and B-real. With such an amazing following, K-Day can continue to bring true hip-hop.