Powerhouse KMEL Announces The Bay Area's 10 Freshmen

When asked about the criteria for choosing artists, DJ Amen commented, "We searched for artists who, despite having little to no radio play, have a strong presence and the potential to be the next big thing locally, and hopefully beyond." With growing national recognition for artists like DaVinci and international buzz for artists like Nio Tha Gift, KMEL's choices echo a growing consensus from the global hip-hop community on who will be the next generation of stars from Northern California.

KMEL has been instrumental in launching the careers of other Bay Area greats like Tupac, MC Hammer, E-40, and Too $hort. The station's Freshmen list is likely to follow in this tradition, by tipping off record executives and media outlets nationwide to Bay Area acts they should be aware of. DJ Amen will host a media mixer on June 17th at SOM in San Francisco to celebrate the list and allow the press to become more familiar with these rising stars

Bay Area based record labels Interdependent Media and SWTBRDS, who both have artists on the coveted list are pleased with KMEL's commitment to supporting local talent. Says Interdependent Media’s Ian Davis, "The Bay Area has always had a strong rap scene and it is always growing. Every so often we have a wave of new artists who come out and leave their mark. This latest batch selected by KMEL, including our artists Moe Green and TRUTHLiVE, are some of the most exciting, creative, and talented artists to hit the scene in some time.” SWTBRDS artist DaVinci adds, “To have a major radio station like KMEL support me is immensely humbling and motivating because we are as indie as it gets, we don¹t have deep pockets; we just have ears for making good music and market ourselves well.”
 
While the labels that represent The Freshmen see the marketing and commercial potential of inclusion on the elite list, some artists are simply proud to receive the honor. “Its a blessing. You remember listening to 106 when you were just a kid, and then to hear yourself on that same station... its unexplainable. I just appreciate people like DJ Amen, the people at KMEL, and everybody else involved for taking notice to what I got going,” exclaimed San Francisco based rapper Roach Gigz.

The Freshmen list is another benchmark for KMEL which celebrated 20 years of urban programming in 2007. The Clear Channel Communications company was instrumental in popularizing the Bay Area's "hyphy" movement in the early 2000’s, and is the longest tenured urban station in California. Fans can request their favorite Freshman by logging on to http://106kmel.com/pages/equest.html

DJ Amen notes a sampler containing music from all the Freshmen will soon be available on the following sites:

KMEL - http://106kmel.com
DJ AMEN - http://DJamen.com

DJ BIG VON - http://Bigvon.com

The full KMEL Freshmen 10 list in no particular order is:

1 NIO THA GIFT - Richmond
http://www.myspace.com/niothagift0
MOE GREEN - Vallejo
http://myspace.com/moethedreamer
DaVinci - San Francisco
http://www.myspace.com/jdavinci
DB THE GENERAL - Oakland
http://www.myspace.com/dbthageneral
JAY ANT - Hercules
http://www.myspace.com/jayantofdiligentz
P CHILD - Richmond
http://www.myspace.com/pchild510
TRUTHLIVE - Santa Rosa
http://myspace.com/truthlive
ROACH GIGZ - San Francisco
http://www.myspace.com/roachgigz
SU! - Richmond
http://www.myspace.com/iamsu1
COUSIN FIK - Vallejo
http://www.myspace.com/cousinfik