Updated 01:22 AM EDT, Fri, Mar 29, 2024

New York Hip Hop Radio Veteran Angie Martinez is Still Shaking Up Airwaves at New Gig

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When hip-hop radio veteran Angie Martinez announced her departure from Hot 97 last month, it shook up the New York radio world. Martinez, who was leaving for rival staion Power 105, had been a staple at Hot 97 for two decades, and had become one of the major voices in New York radio. But while the move seemed sudden, was it really that quick of a decision for Martinez?

According to the radio goddess, that answer is no. It just seemed that way.

In the days following the announcement, Martinez went on vacation and went radio-silent. She returned to the airwaves last week in a huge inaugural show with her new station, and has now taken to the news outlets to discuss the uproar over the move.

In an interview with the New York Daily News, Angie addressed the buzz about her departure.

“I was overwhelmed,” she said. “I had no idea. My housekeeper called to ask if I was all right, because on her way home she heard people talking about me on the streetcorner. I’d go home and just stare at the wall for 45 minutes, wondering what was going on.”

Angie Martinez also told the New York Daily News that as quick as the transition may have seemed to listeners, she didn’t jump from Hot 97 to Power 105 on some passing whim.

“I was really hitting a restart button,” Martinez told the paper.

Although Angie had no idea how much noise her departure would make, it seems the rest of the radio world -- and hip-hop scene in New York -- did. In the two decades with Hot 97, Angie had become a defining voice for the radio community, and listeners were shocked by the change.

But it seems things are headed on the right track at the new station, despite the initial uproar about the change. Everyone from Swizz Beatz, Alicia Keys, Diddy and Jay Z called in to congratulate the DJ, who reportedly doubled her salary with the move.

And it seems that things are continuing that trend well past Angie's first show. Less than a week into the show, the notorious Bronx rapper Remi Ma called into Angie's show from prison to discuss everything from Fat Joe to her impending release date -- about 10 days out.

Perhaps that's because as much as Angie's changed up the tune of the new show, she's still an essential part of the city's radio scene. 

“I want this show to sound different,” Angie told the New York Daily News, “and one thing is to be more listener-interactive. I used to do that, but the show had gotten away from it.”

The radio veteran may be reaching even more listeners in her new gig, now that she's simulcast in Miami, too. Part of the changeover deal was the opportunity to air the show in multiple markets, made easy by the hundreds of Clear Channel stations, who Power is under.

Even with the simulcast option, according to Angie, the transition itself was smooth.

“I already knew a lot of the people at Power,” she says. “I feel really at home here.”

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