America 1982-Chapter 330 - 23: The Black Broadcasting Enthusiast Who Loves Learning_3
"’Who Likes a Nigger?’ You don’t even need to listen to the song, just hearing the title is enough to enrage black people." Big brother Bernard wrapped his arm around his brother Josh’s shoulder, "Just do as Mr. Hart orders, and he won’t let us down."
"Of course, once you deal with them, you’ll have the chance to become small shareholders of those television stations, and if Josh is willing, he can broadcast his beloved ’Little Red Riding Hood and The Big Black Wolf.’" Martin, like a black VIP, turned and walked toward the door, but after a few steps, he turned back to Josh:
"Uh... also, let me borrow that videotape first to enjoy."
...
BHH is a small television station located in El Camino, an unincorporated town in Los Angeles.
Its full name, Black-Hip-Hop, indicates that it’s a station mainly broadcasting hip-hop and rap music for the black community.
El Camino is an unincorporated town in Los Angeles County, meaning it’s a densely populated community that’s not officially established as a city or town by government authorities.
El Camino has a population of twelve thousand, with nearly 80% being black, primarily working in heavy manual labor in the construction industry in the nearby Lawndale City, making it an even more typical lower-class black residential area than Compton in Los Angeles County.
And the most popular television station here is not CBS, ABC, or NBC, but this small station rooted in El Camino, founded in 1983—BHH.
The founder of this television station was Chapman Tang, who was known as the godfather of hip-hop in El Camino.
Chapman Tang, the music teacher of the only primary school in the area, had started BHH using his spare time. Initially, it mainly broadcasted hip-hop music from the East Coast and videos of his students singing, recorded at school, so parents could watch their children perform on television.
However, as hip-hop music quickly spread from the East Coast to California, more and more Californian black people began to like this music style. And since it didn’t seem to be very difficult to create, El Camino soon saw a surge of aspiring hip-hop artists. Lacking fame and other channels to spread their work, they simply recorded demos, brought them to BHH, and asked Chapman Tang to help broadcast them so the community’s black residents could give feedback.
For some excellent works, Chapman would also recommend them to black record companies he knew through his identity as a music teacher. Over the years, El Camino had produced over a dozen singers. Though they hadn’t made it big in the true sense, they had still changed the destiny of those confined to this place.
Those singers who earned money would in turn sponsor Chapman’s BHH, and also let black people outside the community know about this little television station. Many black-owned small businesses also advertised with BHH, so over the years, with a steady viewership of ten thousand, BHH didn’t just avoid going under. Instead, it flourished, with advertising fees and sponsorships, it had grown significantly stronger.
At least, that’s what Chapman Tang thought before tonight.
Because it was a small station, he himself took on multiple roles—host, producer, editor, among others—and had five young men from the community as assistants.
Normally at prime time tonight, according to regular programming, it would be their flagship show "Soul School," an interview show featuring hip-hop artists, along with playing some of the guest’s classic works.
Especially tonight’s guest was the singer Big 10, who had come out of El Camino. Many BHH viewers had watched this black youth transform from a petty criminal to a music genius adorned with gold jewelry.
Therefore, even before the show began, Chapman Tang was certain that tonight’s ratings would soar due to Big 10’s appearance.
Reality proved that Chapman Tang was only half right.
In a van 500 meters away from BHH’s transmitter, Bernard watched the finished setup and discarded the cigarette from his mouth before grabbing the walkie-talkie, "Josh, are you ready to receive?"
"Whether I’m ready doesn’t seem to matter. The audience should be ready," Josh said with a laugh from the other side.
Bernard saw the time hit 19:30 and pressed the button on the transmitter decisively.
In El Camino, three thousand one hundred families waiting in front of their TVs for their hometown singer Big 10 to appear watched him holding a microphone on screen. Yet before they could smile in satisfaction, they found that what he sang was not a rap song, but a country ballad, and the voice didn’t seem to belong to Big 10.
This mishap didn’t prevent them from being moved by the song coming out of the TV, then shifting to cursing furiously.
Because the beautiful and light melody of the country ballad went like this:
"Who the fuck would like a nigger? My father used to ask me that. Who the fuck would like a nigger? They’re so lazy, just sitting on a pile of shit munching on potatoes..."
Having just completed the signal hijacking, Bernard was certain that BHH Television Station’s ratings tonight would scare people it was so high.
Because inside the van, he heard countless angry curses erupting in the buildings around him.
"Seems like the effect is good," Bernard said to his brother Stanley in the driver’s seat, chuckling, "Mr. Hart is truly a business talent."
Stanley pulled the brim of his baseball cap down, "We’re just broadcasting enthusiasts who love to learn, Bernard, we didn’t do anything."
