Radio has Rush Limbaugh, New York has Howard Stern, Fox News has Bill O’Reilly and now Nashville has its own shock jock–“The Ghetto Rick Flair,” host of the internet talk show “Did He Say That?” on WBDE Shock Radio. With well over 100,000 listeners, the Nashville-based show is a runaway hit. Shock jock, bad boy host The Ghetto Rick Flair and his two partners in talk show mischief, co-hosts Michael Leonard and comic ‘Khristal 1st Lady,’ offer their listeners a dose of lots of music and plenty of talk, that’s often a combination of rowdy street talk that’s still informative, about topics ranging from hip hop, relationships to international politics.
It’s sometimes not for the weak at heart but the show has found its own niche of listeners that can relate to their style and energy. “We’re just talking about everyday things that people can identify with. We’re not about catering to the so-called uppity market,” says show host The Ghetto Rick Flair. When the bright lights are off and the microphone is put away, Ghetto Rick is aka Steven Anthony. Once upon a time he had aspirations to become a rap star but decided to trade in his hip hop mic for a talk show mic instead. So far, business is going quite well. His Did He Say That? radio show will soon become a local television show in the fall. But as of now, listeners can catch the show by downloading the Tune-In app or click on: www.tunein.com/radio/WBDEShockRadio or @WDBEShockRadio
Here, Steven Anthony and his alter ego, Rick The Ghetto Flair, answer Five Questions about their red hot radio show and soon to be launched TV show.
HOW DID THE SHOW BEGIN?
S. ANTHONY: “I once managed a couple of rap artists. Along the way I noticed there wasn’t any platforms for the aspiring up and coming artists. I’m talking about regular people that have every day dreams. In Nashville, it wasn’t any platforms for them which they can really be heard. Our city just doesn’t support it. It’s hard for a struggling talent to create income as an independent. Four years ago I saw this void not being addressed, so that’s when I created the radio show.”
WHO IS THE ‘GHETTO RICK FLAIR’ CHARACTER?
ANTHONY: “He’s kind of the ghetto side of the wrestler character Rick Flair, that is if Rick was from the hood… I just kind of like mimic the real Rick Flair and kind of make him more of an urban character. Everybody knows he’s a legend and that he’s going to talk trash. That’s kind of like why I emulated the name because I like trying to build something in the urban community. I’ve learned that hip hop and urban fans don’t really respect the polished up, kind sophisticated TV and radio hosts. They don’t like phonies and they don’t wanna be lied to. That style of clean cut host doesn’t grab their attention. So since I’m a big fan of wrestler Rick Flair, I just created the character from that angle, except he’s a radio shock jock character.”
HOW CAN PEOPLE HEAR THE SHOW AND WHEN DOES IT AIR?”
S. ANTHONY: “The show runs on the Tune In Radio, 24/7 six days a week, twice a day at 1pm and 7pm. On Sundays, we play most of the modern day gospel and Christian rap. Other days of the week we have talk radio, hip hop music and R&B.”
WHAT ARE SOME OF THE TOPICS THE SHOW’S COVERED?
S. ANTHONY: “Ok, we’ve covered the presidential race quite a lot. We talk about some of the topics that’s going on overseas with Russia and other countries. Some shows we talk about the top incidents going on in our city, as far as the politicians. Legalizing marijuana was another good topic for us…The thing with my talk show we try to deal with stuff that people talk about everyday like in their homes is that we try to give let regular people hear us and our guests talking about topics the listeners discuss with their families and friends. But we do it in a raw, uncut and in-your-face style. On some shows I have a panel who have these conservative views. And I’m the shock jock ‘The Ghetto Rick Flair.’ I’m like the ammunition that puts the fire on it. I aggravate the conversation. But it’s all for the ratings and grabbing the listeners’ attention. And it works!”
WHEN WILL THE NEW TV SHOW START?
S. ANTHONY: “The launch date of the WBDE Shock Radio/TV show is October 1, 2016. The show will air on cable Channel 19. We’ll start the visual process by first streaming it over the internet for maybe two to three weeks, and then we’ll transition to put it straight to Channel 19 as a late night TV show. People can visit our website www.Shockradio.Online.com
