The Truth About "OutofService" & Lip Service Radio Revealed (Chapter 4)

Chapter 4

STEPPING UP:

When the ball was dropped by the host the team followed through.

On the eve of Thanksgiving, at the last minute, the host of the show sent me a message via MySpace to let me know that she might not be able to do the show that night due to her boyfriend visiting. At the time, I had asked that she please keep me posted letting me know ASAP because I had already started promoting the show via MySpace. After I had sent a holiday bulletin out to all of my “MySpace” friends titled “TiTi’s Cookin’ Greens Y’all” wishing them a great Thanksgiving....J’ Hustle quickly came up with a topic for the show that night based on Thanksgiving Dinner titled “What’s Cooking?”. We asked that people either call into the show or send a reply providing us with their favorite Thanksgiving dish. I got quite a few responses from that promo/bulletin and text messages from personal acquaintances in the entertainment industry wanting to share their dishes. I touched bases with the host of the show an hour and a half prior to the scheduled show time because I had not heard back from her. Time was ticking and the closer the time came to our regularly scheduled segment I became more stressed. It was then that she told me that she wouldn’t be able to host the show, but that she would "possibly" call in. Because she was not able to commit, I asked that she send me the info needed via MySpace for me to manage the switchboard. She agreed to send the information in a message via MySpace within minutes. Nervously waiting for the information, time continued to pass and the clock continued to tick. With only 30-minutes away from air time, I still had not received the switchboard information which forced me to send another bulletin out cancelling the show. Please keep in mind that I found this all to be very disturbing and unprofessional considering it was the “host’s” show. Unfortunate to those requesting that the show go on,(i.e King Mac & PB) the host did not seem to care. I was extrememly embarrassed.

At the request of our supporters, I immediately called the host to once again ask that she PLEASE provide the info needed to man the show. When she answered the phone I immediately heard the frustration in her voice as she placed the phone down while attempting to restart her computer and retrieve the information. Needless to say, she was not happy about me bothering her. I could also hear her boyfriend in the background questioning her about receiving calls at that time of night; It was obvious that he was not thrilled about me calling and he would have rathered her ignore my call. After having me wait for a strong 20 minutes (only 10-minutes now before the show was expected to air!) she came back to the phone only to tell me that her computer was giving her problems and reassured me that she would send the info via MySpace. I did not receive the information promptly, but rather late. Despite the hosts lack of commitment and the show airing 45-minutes late to my surprise, we had quite a few callers that evening. J’ Hustle was succesful in hosting the show that night while I prepared the best greens west of the Mississippi.

Our regular weekly callers King Mac & PB along with a couple other regulars (shout out to Lil Playa) were all excited that the show wasn’t cancelled. Throughout the show we shared holiday dishes but the show turned into a more serious topic touching Hip Hop history and got as deep as taking a moment of silence out for the two most influential Hip Hop Rappers of all times “TuPac” & “Notorious BIG”. Inspiring Rappers called into the show to give their input & feedback as well. Although it was rough pulling it off, in the end by picking up where the ball was dropped it was a great show!

Seeing the BIGGER picture and already having plans prior to agreeing to co-host on the show, J Hustle and I had discussed radio ideas many times before in the past being that “Sirus Radio” is on the rise. That particular show gave us an even bigger idea. The next day J’ Hustle and I thought of the idea of officially taking the show to the next level and came up with “LipServiceRadio.com”. We felt that King Mac & PB complimented the existing “team” and wanted to include them in on the opportunity so I sent the two of them a message via MySpace suggesting that we all talk to discuss the even bigger picture but not before I had a chance to share the idea with the host. The following day I had briefly mentioned to the host that I wanted to take the show to a new level. A level that would encompass a dedicated URL, sponsorships and other elements currently being negotiated. Not only did she seem to be very interested, but motivated as well and told me she was cool with it. After that conversation J’ Hustle and I immediately invested the monies needed to purchase the domain name and trademark Lip Service Radio for bigger & better things to come.