The Radio Life of CK - Episode: 127

This could get me fire podcasts. What up? I'm just so that is John Magic and we are back. We are continuing with these amazing guests that we've been having for the past what like ten ten episodes, yeah, something like that, And we've been getting a lot of people saying that they've been loving all these guests, getting to know a lot of people from the valley that are doing big things. So today we have one of our coworkers. Yeah, he's a radio veteran that's become a staple name in the five to

five nine. He's the one of the hosts of the morning show, c King Carmen. In the morning we have c K Let's Go and Man's Go. We appreciate you taking some time out with us. Bro. First of all, let me say this, I'm honored to come on with y'all. Like to think about everyone that you guys have had on here, from Lewis to Marcus, DJ Straws, DJ d Soto, shout out to Andy over there at have done a great job of letting people hear some of the different

folks from throughout the valley to make a difference in this community. I think it's dope. So I'm honored, bro, I'm honored. Yeah, we wanted to like sort of highlight people in the valley and in Fresno. They were doing things in different industries and it's dope to hear people's stories and how they've come up. And we wanted to hear your story because obviously we've been co workers for how long you've been here now this time around, I've been

here. This is my eleventh year. Damn, eleven years already. Wow, this is my eleventh year, So me and you have been co workers for eleven years now. You've actually previously worked here before. Yeah, yeah, we'll get into that a little bit later, but man, it's been

dope working with you number one morning show consistently with you and Carmen. You've been a great co worker with me, and we just want to get to know you even before then, because I don't think me and Magic really know too much before you got here, and maybe a lot of people out here don't know. So we kind of like want to know your story from the beginning, right, but before we start from the beginning, where you're from and all that stuff, you know, the past episodes would rend rock with

the Soto. Do you want to air any grievances with me. When we had them on, they had like all this all this ship to say, but I mean, but it but no, it's been good actually to hear and it's good to talk about it with them because there's there's now an understanding, right, there's a there's a show of growth of like us growing up. But I'm just joking, but we could get well, we were clearing some beefs in the early days. It's like a therapy session. Oh no,

a little bit that the SOO episode. I'm getting comments to it still every day. I think I think Magic had rubbed some people the wrong way in the early years, like twenty years ago. Yeah, so people are kind of bringing that to his attention. But uh, he's changed and we're all good now. Not only that they say that I've changed, which you know you've seen the change, but you know, shout out to de Soto for also acknowledging like I could see why you said that, or it's understandable

now that you know that he saw your side of it. Yeah. Yeah, but you know, we always like to start with are you originally from the five to five to nine? No, I'm from the two O nine. So here's what I'm gonna say. We used to be the two nine, was the two o nine. So with that being said, I'm o G two o nine. So I'm from Stockton, born and raised. I'm a valley kid. So when Frisno was two o nine, I was two

o nine as well. So yeah, I was born and raised in Stockton, and uh, I'm I'm valley you know, up and down, that's how I get down. And my very first radio station, and we'll talk about this outside of my home station at KWin, was B ninety five. I worked at B ninety five. Mark Adams back in the day hired me. I was here for three months. That's it, three months. I was here for three months. What year was this, I want to say

it was like ninety six as a matter of fact, true story. I was the very first dude to even play like a hip hop kind of record on B ninety five, So that wasn't we weren't bro at the time.

We were playing Cardigan's we were playing songs like that, like love fool and I remember Mark Adams, it was Mark Adams was here at the time and he was like, all right, we're debating if we want to play Doctor Dre on this Black Street record, And I was like, so you guys have I was like, I came from KWin we played hip hop records, but here they were like a full on pop station. So he was like, look, the first time we're even going to run this is we're gonna

play Black Street with Doctor Dre on your show. So I was like, a cool, let's do it then. So during that time, it was more pop. It was hot, no doubt. We played Cardigan's Love Fool, We played songs like that. That was what it was all day long. Was it considered what is it? It was like a true chr It

wasn't It wasn't a rhythmic. It was more like, hey, look we're just playing the biggest hits period and if they happened to be like Tony Braxton song back in the day, you would go ahead and play it, you know, you would play like Tevin Campbell songs like that that were so big that you couldn't ignore it. But when I remember, man, I was like, dang, this is the first time y'all gonna play even some Doctor Dre on this and that was it. He was like, I'm nervous even

just put it on. Let's kind of rewind real quick because Gizo has his internship story. I had my internship story. You know, when you were growing up, what was was radio? When did radio come to your head that that this is something you wanted to do? You know, when I was a little boy. So my brothers were both DJs and Stockton and you guys both know Brian Sampson. So my brothers DJed with Brian Samson. And

I think I may have been like six seven eight ish. I was in elementary school and they would bring concerts to Stockton and one of the very first shows that they brought was Doctor Dre and the World Class Wrecking Crew. Wow. I remember it was before NWA And I remember like Doctor Dre he came over to my house and he was sitting on my couch. They were watching football and my father he turns to Doctor Dre and he goes, do you think this is gonna last? Do you think hip hop's gonna be around?

And ever since that point, like I remember like all my friends running over they got autographs from Doctor Dre and they were all super hyped up and gassed out. And I always knew that I wanted to do something in the music industry. I didn't know exactly what it was, but that was kind of like the first time. I was like, I'm gonna do this. I'm gonna try to figure it out. And once I got into college, I saw that there was an opportunity get the college radio station stocked. So then

I jumped on. They let me play hip hop for the full hour. So I was like, look, y'all gonna let me play hip hop and let me say whatever I want. They was like yeah, I'm like, so you're not even gonna restrict the records that I'm playing. So I mean, me and like three other dudes we made an all hip hop day and the local radio station called on to us and they were like, look, if you guys ever wanted to come and intern. So then I started intern

at k WIN with this dude, Mark Medina. So then Mark Medina, who now is the program director is Z one hundred in New York. Yeah, so he's the program director Z one hundred in New York. And back then we was just little kids, teenagers and we just did a night show together. I was like his intern. I used to pull his carts and then ever since then, I was like, man, this is what I'm

gonna do for the rest of my life and what station. So you guys who were doing college radio made a lot of noise, got the attention of k WIN and brought you on as like interns. Because you gotta remember, like back in the day, mainstream radio stations weren't playing hip hop. So whenever you had even a college radio station playing hip hop like that was the first time I even heard of Brian Samson. He used to be a KUOP, which was the same radio station that Dale You're Wrong used to work at.

Dale You're Wrong. Used to be a DJ before he got on TV out here in Fresno. Yeah he's a newscaster. Yeah wow. So KOP was the very first station in Stockton that would play hip hop, and then ks JC, the Delta college station that I went to. We wanted to do the same thing that KOP was doing, and so we were doing hip hop before mainstream radio stations even were embracing it. Now. Was that a situation because hip hop was still kind of new at the time, or is

it because it was controversial or what was ok? It was both. I mean, you know, people didn't know what to make of it. The thing was pick believe in it. At the time, you didn't get any love at you know, during the Grammys. During that time, people thought that it was just like a phase and they would fall off. So, you know, looking back, it does make sense that radio stations were kind of afraid to touch that genre. And now it's like the biggest genre,

right. It's one of those genres that you can't ignore, and then every other genre tries to dive into the hip hop lane or at least borrow hip hop artist to help benefit them and what they're doing with their style. You know, I want to know what were you listening to because you talk about hip hop was a big thing. I remember nineteen ninety three, nineteen ninety four. I was a rocker guy. I was listening to like def Leopard, Warrant, like and then the you know, what's the heck man.

Then they start getting to that electronic pop rock stuff. So I was like, what were you listening to during those times where hip hop wasn't big yet. Well, here's the thing. Because my brothers were DJs, like they would have just crates and crates of vinyl, So anytime that they were doing gigs or anytime that I was just able to be at the house. They had their technique twelve hundreds and they would just let me go on there and

just put different songs on there. So I would be listening to like grand Master Flash, I would be listening to like who Herbie Hancock. I would be listening to early run DMC, like rock Box Run DMC, like before they even blew up and did like It's tricky and stuff like that. What else Who's DEENI So you were listening to the early hip hop because you had access to those records, says to it, and because they would like I mean, like I said, they brought the world class rerecord crew. They

brought ice tea to Stockton. They brought a lot of different people to Stockton. Like I remember six in the morning before six in the morning was even like a big deal, and I was like a little kid going, oh my god, six in the morning, police at my door, fresh shitty to squeak across the bathroom. And so I was like early into hip hop, into the game because of my brothers and Brian Sampson's dope. Yeah. By the way, Brian Sampson's a record label rap he worked for Death Jam

back in the days. Sorry, I should have probably exp No, It's funny because I remember, you know, talking to Samson and then you always saying that he like would raise you or not raise you. But yeah, babysit, yeah you said, baby City. You would always tell stories like that, and it's crazy. I didn't know that you guys had went that far back, even as far as back to Dre and the World Class Wrecking Cry at that time. He was a doctor is a DJ at that time,

right, you see a little bit of in the movie. All right, so you're at K one at this time, and what's the next move after that? You get hired on or so basically what happened was Mark Medina continued to blow up, and like I said, he ended up being the program director at Z one under in New York, which by the way, is a huge station, the number I think the number one station out there.

Crazy man. Love that dude. And so when he left, it gave me the opportunity to do nights at k WIN and so but I realized for me to like kind of get my potential into reach where I wanted to be and who I wanted to be, I had to eventually take the step and the leap of faith of leaving. So at the time, my dude Mikey on the mic used to work here at B ninety five, and when he left, he was like Mark Adams, I got my replacements, this dude Ck and Stockton, and so I came out here. But at the

same time I was working at Wild ninety four nine and doing weekends. Well it was Wild one o seven at the time San Francisco. So when I got here, literally like a month or a month and a half after I got here, that's when Jojo on the radio, who was working at Wild one o seven before he went to Kiss FM in La he was like, I'm about to take off to go to Kiss FM. Michael Martin already messed

with me because I was doing weekends. So he had to call Mark Adams and was like, look, I know my dude just got there like three months ago, but this is who we want to be our next night guy at Wild one oh seven. So so here was just like a transition. Oh it was a transition, yeah, And what were you doing here at the time acts no nights, okay, And then you made your way to San Francisco. You know what's crazy hearing this story is you were you know,

me being like this radio nerd. You you were surrounded with some big Yeah, all these name jumps right now, it's like crazy, I didn't know you knew all these people. No, it's crazy, dude. And actually a lot of people that have names have came through B ninety five over the years, which is wild. Well, when you think about B ninety five, like Sna G worked at B ninety five. She's the morning show. It came yell in San Francisco. Her boss, Don Parker was the

program director here at B ninety five. Mark Adams, program director here at B ninety five. I mean this station that we work for is legendary. People don't understand. KBOs is one of those stations that when you break it down and you look at the talent that has come from here alone, you gotta be kidding me. Like I remember, like the dude that did afternoons, he's now doing mornings in San Francisco. His name was Marcus d. The girl that did middays in ended up doing I think it was mornings and

then now her own afternoon show in San Diego. So I'm just saying, like, this place a lot of talent. Yeah, a lot of talent. I mean, and we're not talking about some of the people that are off there, like look at Travis, like t XL, Travis Lockran. I mean, he's the APD at Wild in San Francisco. He was here. So some of these names I didn't know they were here. Yes, this is a good story, all right. So now you're back in San Francisco at this time my Wild doing what are you doing doing nights? Okay?

Yeah? Was this during the Doghouse era? Dog House was there? Well, it was crazy, was the time. So when I was coming up in radio, the most difficult part was figuring out who you were going to be. And I think the best advice anybody gave me was do Chris do c K. Don't don't try to emulate anybody else's sound or anybody else's style, because the dog House was relevant. Rick Chase was really big for us. It came he yell. Then of course you had Big Boy,

and of course you had the Baker Boys. So you're like, man, there's so many styles out here that maybe I should be just like them, or maybe I should sound like them. Or maybe just kind of emulate their vibe. When we first get into radio, we sort of emulate the people that we listen to or that we like. So it makes sense that that's sort of like what you were gonna do, and then you kind of gotta break yourself find yourself essentially, who was the DJ that you kind of emulated

when you were young when you first started. You know, it's crazy like I used to I used to love the Baker Boys because I loved their energy, but I was only one person, so I couldn't really emulate it. I would just kind of have that same sort of I would be a little hype, if that makes sense. But then I remember, like someone told me, like, dog, that's not you. Like you're a good dude without trying to be somebody else. And so like when I got to San

Francisco, they were like, look, man, what's your vibe? What are you gonna do? And I'm I'm just sitting down talking to Saint John. He was like, man, you're wow, dude. You like he goes, You're like, man, The bad Boy Broadcast. So that's when we started the show called The bad Boy Broadcasting. It was me and this dude big Vin Who's now it came to yell and man or man Man. Let me tell you those wild years. It was wild years. It was crazy. If you listen to some of my first tapes here in Fresno,

you would think Felly Fell worked here. That's you know, but that's not a bad person to emulate. I mean, but I was still so new to the game, really, but yeah, you kind of break out of that mold. I wanted to ask Jizzo, I've known you from the beginning of your career, did you ever because I don't know, did you ever emulate anyone? I think I came from that same Felly tree because I came on as your interns, so I kind of emulated sort of like what you

did, which is sort of like what Felly did. So I think I kind of branched off from that too, with like the high energy, the hypeness. Yeah, the cool words and all that stuff, right, the long intros and sirens and all that shit. Right, So yeah, so it happens. Let me tell you this quick story real quick, because going back to the Baker Boys, So you know the Baker Boys obviously from Bakersfield, Bakersfield, you know, back in the day, you could get B

ninety five and people would listen. So my first couple of nights on the on the radio here, we would do this thing called the bad Boy breakdown, but it was basically stealing what the Baker Boys did. And it'd be like, it's the bad Boy break Damn being ninety five. K's on the mic and I'm kicking it live, shout ouse to your peeps, what's up to? Your crew? Were breaking it down a baby, who are you?

And the people would come on and they would freestyle right then I would say my line and I would do it one more time and see K's doing it and I would say something. They would say something clever, and then so about a weekend of doing that, I got a call from them like stop. It was like the Baker Boys hit you up. They was like

stop. Know what? Though, I think that was the best thing that could have happened to me because it helped me realize I'm not y'all, I'm not supposed to be doing and it worked because a lot of people can emulate other people's styles, but it was the best thing that happened to me because

then I realized I'm about to be the best Chris I can be. It's interesting that when we all first get into radio, the hardest thing for us to eventually become is ourselves, which is weird, right, because we're naturally ourselves all the time, but for whatever reason, when we get on the radio, it takes sometimes a long time years to just become ourselves on the radio. It's really weird to me. I've always found that interesting why we

all do that. Yeah, I've always wanted there's a I don't know if this is still possible, but I've always wanted to. What's that position where you go around different radio stations and kind of teaching them like a consultant.

A consultant because I'll go to like big markets and listen while I'm at that market, can and listen to the jock there and this is a big market and I'm hearing this kind of talk break and it just reminds me of how we were when we were younger, and you kind of want to teach them now, like you just be yourself. It's the whole thing you're not you're trying to sound like a DJ. Like, don't try to sound like a DJ. Just be you and once you can figure that out, like you'll

be the best version. And I'm talking this is recent, like when I was back home in La Yeah, I mean to this, there're still here breaks like that. I can tell like, man, that's not you right yeah to this day and you know it's you know, no one's maybe telling them or they're just still new and it's just you got to break out of that. But it is interesting that once you can find yourself, you're going

to be the best radio personality you could be. Okay, so you're here B ninety five now, okay, he's you were in San Francisco, Cisco. Yeah, that story I just had to go because we were talking about emulating style. You were like, oh, you know what, I kind of feel like. You know, it's interesting that you both say that about Felly Felt because I definitely could hear that influence back in the day. Because what people don't know about me was I would come to Fresno at least three

or four times a year. My wife went to Bullet High School, so I met her the first time when I came to Fresno. So I would come back and just listen to radio. I would just come back. I would grow, I grew up listening to y'all when I was in radio. So I would come back, I would listen to magic. I would come back, I would listen to y'all. I would see what y'all were doing. I'm like, okay, let me see what what B ninety five is

doing. Let me tap in and see what their vibe is about. But yeah, no, I mean I definitely could hear that, like back in the day, that Felly influence, and I think Felly Fella's dope. That's yeah. I think my mindset doing that too was I'm in a different city that he's not, So I think that was my mindset. But yeah, looking back at it, it did take me a while to find my own

style. Okay. So yeah, so what's next on the timeline? So from San Francisco, that's when Mark Medeena and myself we teamed up again at Power ninety two in Phoenix. So we went to Phoenix to do afternoons and the whole goal was that we were going to do a morning show together. So when out there, the plan was to do a morning show together.

Program director was one hundred percent in on it. We were ready to go, and then for some reason, the morning show that was in place there, their numbers blew up that we were coming in to take over them. Yeah, and they just got better their number like it was almost like, oh, we know what y'all are here to do. Then they got better, and it was like back burner, back burner, back burner. Mark kind of got a little tired of that. Mark's like, look, I

think my goal is I want to be a program director. And he's like, I think I'm gonna go and I'm gonna start my journey. And I was like, damn, I'm out here in Phoenix. So then he went to his radio station where he started his journey, and I proud of them because you see where it ended up. Then I went back to KSFM and Sacramento, and that's where I did nights and did mornings and did a whole

bunch of things. I was there for like a couple of years, four or five years, so okay, and then after that where so from KSFM, I'll tell you at KSFM, for me, it was where I really found myself. This is Sacramento. And I loved that station for so many reasons. First of all, was a heritage station, but I always said I wanted to go back and give myself an opportunity to be heard by my family, which was in Stockton, but not necessarily on k WIN. I

wanted them to hear me in a major market capacity. So now that my parents have passed away, going to KSFM really meant a lot to me because they were able to listen to me at night, listen to me in the mornings. They were able to hear their son be on the radio and be successful in this game that a lot of people say it's a difficult game to be successful in. I love KSFM for that. KSFM was an interesting station.

It's a station that's a heritage station, no different than say a B ninety five, but it's fell off drastically in the last few years and it doesn't necessarily have the name that it used to have back in the day. But that was where I almost got into a fight with Chris Webber. So the King's Chris Webber, The King's Chris Weber. We're doing mornings and it's the same time that Chris Weber gets busted for smoking marijuana, and he didn't

tell his mom that he got busted from marijuana. His mom happens to be listening to the morning show on the day that we're reporting the story. Shit, we had a concert right with DiAngelo that we were hosting at the Arco Arena. So there I am. I'm showing up to the KSFM concert with DiAngelo. Someone at the at the KSFM booth was like, look, Chris Weber is looking for you. He's mad. I was like, what do you mean, what are you talking about? Nah? Man, Chris Weber

says, when k gets here, let me know. We got some shit to seven. And I was like, wait a minute, are you for real? Like nah? Nah? And then I was like what do you mean, Like how bad is it? He's like nah, he goes. I think he wants to fuck you up marijuana, yes, right, yeah. And so then there we were at this concert. I had a friend that played on the on the King's Practice squad, So I was like, man, I don't know what's going on. Can you talk to Chris figure

this south for me? And come to find out, like I'm sitting there in the front row and I'm with my my family and my friends, Chris Webber comes up out of nowhere and literally taps me on the shoulder and we get into a full on altercation, not like a fight or nothing, but like verbally just assaulting each other right there in the front row during the DiAngelo concert. Wow, and the whole time like and I kind of had mentally prepared myself for this. I was like, please hit me, because I

think I'm gonna get millions by Chris Webber. But cooler heads prevailed. And I'll tell you right now, I was scared to death though he's hella big, yeah, hell big. I was like, damn Chris Webber. But he was mad. He was like, my mama heard this, this I go. All I did was report the story. I read something in the Sacramento be I'm not doing something that I was like. I wasn't talking trash

about him. I wouldn't say anything negative about him. But man, I'm telling you right now, that was the one time where I was like, damn, im about to get beat up by Chris Webber. Man. So after Sack, is that when you finally got back to the balley? No? No, from there, I went to Portland. Okay, oh yeah, I forget about Portland. To Portland real quick before you get into port The Portland story this is just you know, a lot of people try to

get radio gigs. What's the pro are you applying for these jobs? Are? Are are you getting sought after? How are you you? Probably because he just all the people you know, man, Oh yeah, that's what I want to know, Like, how are you getting connects to these different you know, these are some dope cities to work radio in. So once I started working at Wild in San Francisco, it was like you had the Michael Martin seal of approval. And so when people looked at your resume and

they saw the stations that you worked at. Now you have to remember KWin is a heritage station in Stockton, still the top station in the area. B ninety five was the heritage station in Fresno Steal number one, Wild one oh seven then transforms to Wild one ninety four nine. I worked for both. The top station in the Bay Area. KSFM was number one. So when someone saw my resume at the station, like, oh, this dude's worked at all the top stations. Power ninety two in Phoenix, this dude's

worked at all the top stations. Oh and by the way, Michael Martin's co signing for him, Mark Adams is co signing for him. These other dudes are co signing for him, and I'm like, so my resume just kind of led me to different places. I'm not gonna lie, it was. I mean, it's sort of like what we talk about, like, right, you get these type of gigs by who you know, the networking

that is crazy in this industry. It is like, one of the reasons why I fell in love with this industry is just like it's it's who you know, the people you rubbed shoulders with, and that goes a long way, and obviously it's gone a long way for your career. So that's dope, man, that's dope. Okay. So we're in Portland now, and now this was probably the most interesting move of my career because it was a full on mainstream station. Now. The reason this was interesting was because I

knew I was going to do something that I had never done before. I knew I was going to challenge myself to do something that I had never done before. But it was important for me to go there because I felt like, as a black radio personality, people always said, well, he can do hip hop, he can do the rhythmic radio because he's black. So going to Portland was more about me challenging myself, silencing people, silencing naysayers and saying you know what, I don't care. I can talk up Incubus

and still win. I can talk up all these records, three doors down, you name it, because that's what I was playing in Portland and still be successful. And that's what I went there to do, and I did. I went there to be the best I could be, learn more about myself, and then be able to tell anyone in the future you can hire me at any sort of station because I fit that format. So that was a big deal for me. I loved Portland, was a beautiful city,

but I learned a lot about myself there. I became the best personality I could be there, and I became the most well rounded there because man, and I'll tell you right now, you thought it was interesting coming and being the first dude to play Black Street and dre here at B ninety five, there was none of that I was. I played Uchi Wally. That was That was the only hip hop record we played on the night show. It was Uchi Wally the nas joint YEP. Okay, how long were you in

Portland? I was in Portland for about six years? Oh wow? So you were there for a long long time in Portland. I did nights, afternoons and mornings. Was that your first time doing a morning gig? You know what it was? It was because even when I was at KSFM and I did like feeling mornings and stuff, it wasn't me. It wasn't your show. So it was my first opportunity to get a real taste at morning drive where I was in charge of other people or like it was a team

and it was a show, that whole thing. But I was bad. I sucked. It was horrible. I mean, the morning show is a different beast. It's something that I do. I know, magic you've on it in your career. I've just been like a like a like a co host on certain times their feelings, but I know that's like a whole other beast. Not to mention waking up Hella early all the time. It was different, dude, And I'm not gonna lie I was really bad at mornings. Hey, I don't even think I'm all that great now, but I

was really bad. Like it wasn't it wasn't good. I don't even want to go back and listen to air check of that. Okay, So after Portland. Now where are we at? So? After Portland? What I do from there? Oh? I went to Tucson. I was at Arizona three and two Son. Yeah, okay, yeah, So I went there for a quick minute, and then after that I kind of got out of radio, Like I started working for this dude named R Dub and Sunday Night

Slow Jams. So R Dub was my program director at Hot ninety eight three and Tucson, and he has a syndicated show called Sunday Night Slow Jams. So as the show was starting to bubble up, it started off on like ten stations and now he's like on over two hundred. He was like, hey, man, you know what, dude, do you think you want to come and like help me get this show on radio stations nationwide. So he hired me and we literally went from city to city, state to state

just trying to get Sunday Night Slow Jams on every single radio. So then I got out for a little bit and I I was like, man, Okay, what are we gonna do next? Because I could either keep working for our dub and I didn't really like that. I want to get back on the radio. So I was like Okay, what am I going to

do? What am I going to do? And something opened up in the valley, in a little house in the South Valley, in a little house in the South Valley where there was a roach that would run across the board when you're on the radio. So this is this is when I first heard of they were I don't know who they had before you. I don't know.

Was it the PK's Playhouse was it that during that time? I think I came on after Davy Okay, okay, so yeah, so Q ninety seven was doing their morning show at the time, transitioning and then I remember hearing a c K come on there. But you weren't there that long? Right, No? No, like I'm even thinking, was I gone already? Was ill year? Was that? Do you remember on tour already?

You know what? I think you were gone? Yeah, because I don't Yeah, you were gone because if I remember correctly the way it went the talent wise, that was here, it was g dree Mo. Yeah, I want to say Danny and then you. I think that was the lineup. So yeah, you were. So I was doing nice at that time, and I just remember being miserable. I remember thinking to myself, Why'd I even come back into the game, Like I really was, like I

didn't want to do it. Yeah, I mean I could attest to that because I worked over there for a little bit too, And that was technically my first radio gig because after interning here at B ninety five, they had no openings and I got offered to do weekends at Q And it was in Vicelia, so already that drive, but it's literally in a house like bedrooms, bathrooms, school, a kitchen. Yeah, it's a house that they turned into a studio and man, I was on that same VI. It's

depressing. I don't know why, Like especially coming from interning at a big corporate station in this big building and then I'm driving to the South Valley across the street from a school. Driving into like Acharage to Park station was kind of like underground. So like when you looked out of the window from the studio at the road, yeah, it was like you would see people's feet

walking to school. I'm just like, it is kind of depressing. It you remember who reached out to you to let you know there was an opening or did you you heard of them opening and you went out for Tommy Oh this one Q oh for Q oh. No, you know what it was because Tommy wasn't there at the time. It was Renee because it was remember like Q and were owned by the same company. So we didn't even really have a program director there because Renee was programming both stations and so he would

only go up there like once or twice a week if that. And yeah, it was it was an interesting when you were there just a few months. It was not not the business. It was not the business. And I remember because this was the same time you were out of Radio two.

And the reason I know this was because when I got a call one day, they were like, look, we got your name from Dennis Martinez, who was also a program director here back in the day and someone that I grew up in radio Win and Tony Rest in peace, Tony Man, good dude. I got a call from him and he was like, hey, look, I want to meet with you, but obviously we can't meet anywhere around the radio station. I just want to talk to you. I just

want to pick your brain and let's just vibe out. So we met at a Starbucks, the Starbucks down the street on Shaw and we met there like three times, and I never knew what gig he was talking about. And the only reason I remember this now because now I know you were out of work because the gigs that were open it wasn't B ninety five at the time, because at the time B ninety five was occupied, it was kgg I.

So I was this whole time, follow me this whole time. I'm like, I think he wants me to go to Riverside because you were not yet. No, that's right, that's right. But you end up getting it. So we're sitting there and we're going through this process, and I end up meeting Jeff again away from here, never at the radio station. We're meeting in Starbucks all the time. I think once Jeff was like yep. Then he goes, all right, look, we are gonna talk to

you on Friday. We're gonna let you know what our ideas, so I could tell you what was going on on my end on that story, the same story of Tony and Jeff talking to me about an opening in Riverside, but they said, we would want you to choose Fresno first. Do you want to come back to BE ninety five as the new morning show Now previously. They did say in the beginning, was there's an opening for the morning show on Riverside, right, so they they kind of had me decide which

one I wanted at this time. It's the same story about your parents. I'm originally from that area, So just the thought of my friends, my family hearing me on the radio is what made me kind of decide to choose Riverside. But they were giving me an option, we want you back at B ninety five, that's our first option, but you left. I chose be Ninty. I mean I chose. It must have been right after, like literally right after he made the decision that it was going to be kgg

I. They said it's B ninety five. I was like what wow. I was like, hell yeah, So this is the whole time you're having these conversations. You had no idea. What the gartn't tell me. They just said, just say it's a morning show opening. You're going to be satisfied, You're going to be happy. And I'm like, I was just patient. That's chilling. Literally, I was like, if we're gonna do let's do it. And then they was like B ninety five. I was

like morning show and because it means so much. It really does. You worked here before, you know what I'm saying, you were gonna start a new morning show, damn. So how'd you feel? Man? I was nervous. I was nervous because this is a station that means a lot. It means a lot to this community. It means a lot in the radio business, and especially the morning show, and especially this morning show is one of those morning shows where live up to what the numbers have always been,

and they they've always been extremely successful. So I wasn't coming in after someone that wasn't producing good numbers. I was coming in after a morning show who everybody knew, who had the best name recognition in the history of Fresno. And I was like, if I can't kill it, if I can't win, this could be it. Well not to mention, now are you replacing them? But then you have to compete against them because then they go the

other radio station. They had the jump because right because the way that once Magic made his decision, they were like, all right, look, it's gonna be you, Carmen and Dre, and then Dre was like, nope, Dre didn't know I was coming in, but they pitched you that d was going to be here, and then when g did what he needed to do, Dre was like, now I'm going with him. So then it

just left Carmen and I felt bad for Carmen. He just doing the morning to show by herself for a little bit, and I'm sure that she was like, what just happened? My old My whole world in radio just turned upside down? I mean because at the end of the day that had to feel lonely for her. I mean, I'm we've talked it before, but we've never dived in. Maybe this is something y'all need to talk to her

about it. We'll have to get into that. At the end of the day, I was like, bro, that was messed up, Like y'all didn't give her heads up, you didn't tell her nothing, and then we were just kind of thrown into the fire. Yeah, literally, we were thrown into the fire so to cut throat business the radio. I mean, I remember that era. It was like a tough time, you know for you guys. I remember during that time. I know she still felt some type of way. She was kind of going through it. You were like

new you know what I'm saying. You had to like start something into what you said you had done on the show before, but you said that you weren't even good at it, so now you had like a second try. Then you had to follow up what they were doing and then compete with with them. And I mean, look at what it is today now, you know what I'm saying, number one morning show. You've made a name for yourself, You're on multiple radio stations, you got a Fox Sports show that

you do. So it's it's dope man that you you were able to overcome that and still be here. Yeah. No, I mean it is definitely a journey. I'm so happy, Blest, and I love the team. I mean, I think it took a minute for everybody to gel and get our synergies together, but now I really feel like we're a really good unit. And I feel like we all understand each other and I feel like we're

all working for the common goal. So I appreciate the team. I appreciate Visa, I appreciate everything that we're about because I know that we're like we're gang when it comes to this, like we're family. This is fun, it's fun. I think the good thing about what you just said is like

it's that almost like a sports analogy. Everyone knows their role, so there's no one no one feels like anyone's stepping over anybody or or you know, there's no threat of anything because everyone has their own role and put together. I mean like an era of like a lot of toxicity, yes going on. Me and even sort of had like a one on one during like the

pandemic. I think that's when me and him really got to like kind of air some things out and be cool because during the pandemic, I mean, it was empty in this building, and it was me Ck and just like a few other people in the building, and we would see each other every day during that time, and you know, that time was such a very ugly time in the world and anything that was going on, and we just didn't know what was gonna happen in the world, what was gonna happen with

our jobs. And I think me and c K really started to click with each other because we would see each other coming here every day just all the bullshit out in the world. We was coming in here working, we'd be here on the weekends, we'd pop up, and me and him really just kind of got to know each other and really be understood like our work ethics

and really started to like understand each other. And I think that was really good for like the comarradity of everything and like really breaking that gap between like the mornings and the afternoons. And like you said, now, I feel like we really do have like a good team. And to your point, magic, like everybody now just kind of knows their role. You know what you need to do. I know what I need to do, and then if we need to help each other or if we're at an event. We

were recently at an event together that Valentine's Not out. We were all three on stage together and like we both like hit each other up, like yo, that was like a good time, man, Like we really enjoyed each other's company. We like gel together. We were dope on stage together. And I think it's just we're all in a good place right now. No, we definitely are. And I mean, let's be real, it was all growing pains, yeah, exactly. We all had to get used to

all the changes that were going on around here. It was a crazy time. It was a crazy time, and you're right, there was a level of toxic toxicity. Toxicity toxicity. It was toxic. There was that level. But you know what, you go through it it's about growing and that's what we did. We all kind of grew through it together. And I mean, I can tell you just for my eleven years here now it's night and day. It really is. Yeah, And I'm like, I feel

happy to come to work. I feel blessed to come to work. I'm excited about our team. I'm excited about the things that we do here. Whereas there was a moment where I was like, man, I don't know, I felt like there was like a divide. Yeah, we had, like, you know, a leader. There was kind of like didn't really help the situation, you know what I mean. There was a it was

a it was a it was kind of a mess. But now that that's gone and we've kind of like got to know each other more, there's a better understanding and I think we're just really in a good spot right now. A couple of fun funds were I'll just say, look at this, this is real therapy. I know, you guys have we bring on coworkers and stuff. We really just get everything out. It's definitely like a good learning uh session for me and just finding out the background of out that everyone hated

you. But you know, though, like going back to that, I mean, I'm sure because all of us, all of us went through our time of arrogance in cockiness. You know, I'll tell you something real. I have reached out to people that I worked with before and I've apologized to them. I've reached out to people and I said, you know what, at that point in my career, I was full of myself. I really

believe the shit that I was on. I mean, you think about it, though, this is like the entertainment business, you know what I'm saying, Like, this is like we are you know, people in the community. We have our brands, we have our image. We're all trying to get to the top. So you sort of have to have a little bit of that ego. But at the same time, you can't shit on other

people. We gotta work with people, and I think that might have took us like a little while to figure that out to kind of like gel together and like, yo, at the end of the day, we're like a team. I mean, you see, like athletic teams go through this type of thing. It was nothing different here. But what we're getting there, man, And I think I think it's good, but I think it is growth. I'm just saying, like, I appreciate these conversations, the conversations

that you guys have been having, and they need to be had. They need to be had because I'll tell you right now. For me, it was like maybe halfway about five years ago, I realized there were times in my career where I was just an asshole and I was an asshole to co workers, I was an asshole to interns, I was an asshole to people

that I respect in this business. And I really reached out to people and said, hey, man, I just want to call you and just apologize because I know that there was a time where I was just a dick. So but go ahead, Magic, I know you guys have a question. My mind was just going to be more kind of like changing it to a more fun questions. Let's do it. Do it? Like you know, I know your name is Chris, but what I actually don't know what Your last name doesn't start with a K. So my last name is Hall.

And at the time when I first started in radio, there was a dude named Kevin Hall at the radio station. Because I just wanted to be Chris Hall, and they were like, well, we already got a Kevin Hall that works here. So they're like, just pick a name. I'm like,

just pick any name. So they literally went through the phone book and they were like, well what about this name, this name, this name, And then they were like Kennedy. So I was go on the radio as Chris Kennedy, Chris Kennedy. So like my first air checks would be like, hey, what up, it's k Wayn. It's Chris Kennedy. So I was like, dang, that sounds hell of corny. So then I was like, I'll just be Kennedy. But then there was the VJ

that was like on MTV the girl her name was Kennedy. So I was like, damn it, I'm just gonna go by the name of c K. So here's the messed up part. And there's one part of my career that I forgot because it was a blip on the radio, and I'm gonna go back to that real fast, going by the name c K. And Stockton there were a lot of crips, so they thought that it was like banging on radio. When I first took the job at KSFM, they made me go on. I did thirty minutes of explaining my name. No shit,

yeah, this is the honest to god true. I had to take phone calls. I had to let them know. They were like, look, you were ck in the bay, so we want you to still be ck here. But because gang violence is so rampant, do you mind doing this? So first thirty minutes of my show, I had to explain your k the name, and hopefully everybody was good with it. The quick part, this was so fast. I worked at Kday for a minute in La. They wouldn't let me go by c K. So I was on the

radio there as CJ. I did mid days at Kday in l A, and it was a quick It was when we first brought KD back, so it was like kJ had just kind of came back. Julio g was on the radio station at the time. It was right before the Biger boys started doing afternoons again, and I was the midday dude. But they were like, you gotta be CJ. There's no way that Bek on the radio out here in LA. I'm not familiar with the c K being that's associated with

crips, strip killer. Oh yeah, that's right. That's right, right and again, and I have a cousin that the gang bang was locked up. He said, like, anytime I come on the radio, like in jail or in prison, and I'd be like, c K would be happy? Is it? Yeah? There you got our dude. I never thought about that. Bro, It's Chris Kennedy. So to this day is this core dude is every once in a while. I mean, people don't bang

like that. So I mean, I mean there are times where I do be like, damn, should I even say, like what my name is? But you know, it is what it is. It's a name. But yeah, without counting Fresno, you named all these cities you did radio in, so you can't say Fresno. What would be the city you wish you were having a long radio career at Portland. I love Portland. Portland

Portland, the weather was fantastic, you got the Blazers basketball. The Northwest is a special place, but you got to live in Northwest to kind of fully understand it. But when people go it rains too much, I'm like, no, it would rain in the morning and then the sun would come out in the afternoon. But man, Portland was a beautiful beautiful city. So out of all the cities I lived in, if there was one city I could go back to and just live there, it'd be Portland. It'd

be Portland for sure. One last one B ninety five highlight, like working here was like something that pops in your head. Oh simple, It was meeting Carmen. Because Carmen made me better. I tell her this all the time I go. You are the blessing in my career that I didn't know that I needed. She made me the best version of K period. So the fact that I met Carmen, that we went through the growing pains that we went through, and where we are now, there's no question about it.

That me and Carmen teaming up, meeting, building the synergy that we have in the CK and Carmen in the Morning Show. Now, that was the best thing that could have happened. And this has been your longest stay. No. I love I love Resno, I love my The fact that my kids are around the grandparents, The fact that my kids are around their nieces. I mean my nieces, they're the niece and the nephews, but

around their cousins and stuff. Man, that's dope. I love being a dad, Like that's where I'm at now in life, like my dad Number one is to be a dad. This has afforded me a great opportunity to be the best dad that I could be. Real quick, I would be remiss if I don't bring this up. You were talking about your different stations that you went to all over. Were you single at the time or were you did you so, because what was that dynamic? Like when I met

my wife here that was my first job outside of KWin. So my wife and I we got engaged maybe like maybe it was a year after we met. I'm trying to think of the whole timeline. So I was never really single in radio other than at k WIN. And that was crazy because I wasn't twenty one, so I'd be in the clubs whil and now you know what I'm saying. They would just be sneaking brothers up in the club. I mean that was fun, But I didn't really live like the single life.

But I'll tell you right now, as far as like the best station in the best environment, one of those seven Wild ninety four nine, it was radio war and we had to live the lifestyle. We'll just put it like that. So we I did five clubs a week. I was out every night. We lived that life. It was it was it was like it was radio wars. It wasn't. It wasn't for the faint of heart

killers. Killers and I'm not talking about real life killers, but I'm talking about radio killers were born out of the camea wild ninety four nine battles period. Man, Well, Chris Kennedy, thank you very much today's guest on the podcast. Hey, thank you all so much for having me. Yeah, man, last, just let let people know what they can where they can listen to you, you know, the morning show, the Fox Sports. Yeah, man, make sure you check me out every single morning,

first and foremost with Ck and Comedy in the morning BE ninety five. That makes sure you check me on the afternoons Fox Sports Radio three to four k on Sports, and then I'm on a ton of iHeartRadio stations Friday, the same stations as Yeah. Yeah, all right, man, we appreciate it, brother. Until next time. This could get me for ore podcast