Prototype Issue
Urban Hang Suite
By Karen Apostolina
(page 1 of 1)Trends come and go, but there’s no denying the evergreen cool of Garth Trinidad, the mellifluous host of “Chocolate City” on KCRW 89.3, for the last decade and Music Supervisor for the hit HBO show Entourage.
He fills a void for music lovers by spinning non-commercial R&B, world music, and little known emerging artists. He recently met with business partners Ramona Wright and Ray Dennis in the lobby of The Meridian Hotel to discuss a new venture, Urban Hang Suite, an online radio and TV experience.
Three years ago the Grammy Organization created a new category called “best new alternative urban performance” and they asked Trinidad to sit on the board. “I later found out,” he said, “ that the whole reason that the category was created was because of my show.” Trinidad admits that definition of “urban alternative” is a little slippery. “To me,” Trinidad says, “ ‘urban’ is as loose a term as love is.”
Ramona Wright, the stylish co-host and producer of Urban Hang Suite says the term transcends the idea of urban being black. “Most of Garth’s listeners, I’m sure are not African American…urban is a state of mind, a culture that many of us live in especially here in Los Angeles.” Wright, who lives in downtown Los Angeles, has a background in film and television production. She says the goal of Urban Hang Suite is to cater to “a group of people that are underserved, that have grown up listening to hip-hop, that have traveled and are sophisticated and professional…but they don’t want to watch BET.”
Rounding out the threesome is Ray Dennis, whose background in corporate finance and marketing should help with the brand potential of the “urban alternative” definition. However, we all know what can happen when corporations get their sticky fingers on musical artists. “I don’t want to align myself with Coca Cola and McDonalds because it doesn’t make any sense!” Trinidad said. “There’s a whole new market of conscious commerce products out there that we’re trying to get in touch with…” Easy to say now, I think, but what happens when Target comes knockin…?
Ray Dennis reads my mind and says, “Our goal is to provide interesting experiences to people globally that share a similar mindset as us. Some will be interested and some won’t.” Ramona Wright sums it up this way, “The mainstream is the PC, and we’re the Mac.”
When Urban Hang Suite comes online this summer, look for coverage of SA-RA at their album launch party as well as interviews from Blue Velvet, the “coolest restaurant downtown.” For more information on how to listen or watch Urban Hang Suite go to www. urbanhangsuite.com.
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