You Have Ugly
Uglyradio.net
Interview and Photo by Keith “KG” Giles

For all Independent Hip Hop and R & B Music Artists and Underground music
Listeners, this is for you.  Uglyradio.net caters only to unsigned and independent Hip Hop or R & B talent. No industry Songs. No samples. 100% original beats and rhymes from artists all over the country. Generating over 1.7 Million worldwide hits a week, UglyRadio.net is making a big name for itself in the music industry. I sat down with CEO/ GM Joe Ugly and Program Director Brian What to find out what Uglyradio.net is all about.

Streetz (S):  When did Uglyradio.net begin broadcasting online?

Joe Ugly (JU): UglyRadio started in July ’04. Our studio was in an office building in Strafford, CT. We realized we needed to bring this to the street to really represent the street, do it the way we thought it could be the most effective so in September 2005 we moved to a new location near downtown New Haven and we’ll be expanding this spot in the very near future.

S:  What was your motivation for starting an underground Hip-Hop Internet
site?

JU: I’ve been in the radio industry for sometime now and ownership of a
radio station was apart of what I wanted to do, it was always one of my
goals. But it came to where the Joe Ugly Show had outgrown the radio station
I was doing the show on. That’s when we realized the best thing for us to do
is move on and start our own radio station and because of technology, we
knew the timing was perfect.

S: What do you think separates UglyRadio.net from other Internet radio
stations or any other music media?

Brian What (BW): I would say number one, is the “class” of music and I say that because right before we started UglyRadio, Joe and I got into some very heated
arguments about the type of music that would be played. I didn’t want to go
with unsigned music cause I didn’t think it was at a level that it is, but
once I heard the [good] quality of music that was flowing in I said that this might
work. Oh, we still get the trash stuff sometimes but other Hip-Hop Internet radio stations weren’t playing the high quality of music that artist were sending us. Number two, I would say our radio shows. We get a lot of hits; people are interested in the content of the show, along with the music.

JU: I think also what separates us is the sound quality. We have the technology and software that makes sure the sound level is consistent from
song to song.

S: Uglyradio.net has been expanding very fast. How do you feel about that?

JU: Well, two fold. It’s a good feeling to know were in the mouths and ears
of the public. I think that’s the goal of every radio station. But then
there’s the other thing that hit me, we just grew a lot faster then I
thought we were going to grow. I anticipated us to be a element of, “Wow,
it’s a niche product. Why didn’t I think of this before?” but the response
has been so strong to it, that it’s like a snow ball going down hill and the
momentum just keeps rolling, so it was somewhat surprising to me, but when I
think about it though, it’s a high-quality product that no one taken to this
level.

S: Tell me what are the requirements for the music that is played on
Uglyradio.net?

JU: First and foremost, UglyRadio.net only plays unsigned artists. When I say “unsigned” I mean independent artists that are not signed to a major
record label. The second requirement is “originality”. We don’t play what I
call “mix-tape songs” when an artist raps over an industry track. All lyrics
and beats must be original. When the music is sent to us, we have a 7-member
panel that listens to the music and checks for samples or industry beats and
quality of the music [or the “class” of music]. After the music is approved,
the tracks are put into either one of three levels of rotation. A, B, or C.
The A level means double spins, but, for example, we may get an album and the
album may have two songs in A level, two songs in B level, and one in C level.
So that’s how the music is put into rotation.
 
S: What does Ugly radio have planned for the future?

JU: One of the things we are creating for the website is an area where
artists can communicate with each other. Some times artists want to
collaborate or do some sort of business together, but they can’t contact
each other. This site will allow the unsigned Hip-Hop or R & B talent that’s
out there to get contact info on other artist. Another project were working
on is the Unsigned Megabyte Vol. 1 album. This album will consist of the top sixteen artists that receive music airplay on UglyRadio.net. That will be out very soon.