WWPR-FM, also known as "Power 105.1", is an urban contemporary radio station that features hip hop and R&B; licensed to New York City that serves the Greater New York area.

The WWPR call letters were also previously used for one year (starting in December 1987) by WPLJ.

History

The first station to sign on to this frequency was WWRL-FM in 1953. It became WRFM in 1957 with a diversified and classical music format. Bonneville International would own the station by 1967.

In 1968 WRFM, billing itself "Stereo 105", adopted a beautiful music format. The format was mostly instrumental with about one vocal every 15 minutes. Their music featured the works of such artists as Mantovani, Henry Mancini, John Fox, Percy Faith, Hollyridge Strings, Leroy Anderson, Frank Mills and Richard Clayderman. Mixed in were vocals by such artists as Frank Sinatra, Neil Diamond, Kenny Rogers, Nat King Cole and Barbra Streisand. Ratings for the station were high, and a couple times they hit number one overall. A rival station, WPAT-FM, tended to do slightly better in the ratings, but both stations held their own.

The station's ratings would continue to be strong through the years, but by 1985, the station's management noticed that their demographics skewed old. So in April 1986, the station switched to a gold-based adult contemporary format with the call letters WNSR (for "soft rock"). With this new format, the station would mainly play pop songs from the 1960s and the 1970s, with 1980's and a moderate amount of then current adult contemporary songs included as well. Initially, the station's ratings were low, but once competitor WYNY (today WQHT, the main rival of today's 105.1 frequency) went to a country format, their ratings went up.

By 1990, the station became known as "Mix 105", and shifted to more of a hot adult contemporary format, cutting back (but still playing) on 60's music, focusing on 1970s and 1980s music. In 1992, when the station changed its call letters to WMXV, the 1960s hits were gone and the station played more recent music. By 1995, the station was only playing hits of the 1980s and 1990s and even mixing in some lighter alternative rock songs, as many other hot adult contemporary stations were doing at this time.

In November 1996 the hot adult contemporary format at WMXV abruptly ended, as after a day of playing music from Broadway musicals, the station switched formats to an adult-friendly modern rock format as WDBZ ("The Buzz"). In August of 1997, less than a year later, with ratings on the decline, the call letters would change back to WNSR. The original plan was for the station to drop "the Buzz" format in favor of a gold based AC format playing songs from 1964 through then current product. The station was to have launched on August 18, 1997, with television commercials set to air. Their owners, Bonneville, instead decided to sell the station to Chancellor Media (which owned Z100, Lite FM, WKTU, and Q 104. As a result the format change for FM 105.1 was canceled and the station would remain "The Buzz" for a while longer with the reverted WNSR call letters. Gradually from September through November of 1997, the station would gradually return to playing hot adult contemporary and then adult contemporary music. For the next few months, the station would simply be known on-air as "FM 105.1" and would only use the WNSR calls for station ID's.

In January 1998 the station, under new ownership, relaunched as "Big 105", with the call letters WBIX. Despite this relaunch, the station played basically the same music as they did in the months before, and could not compete with highly-rated WLTW "Lite FM". Initially, in January of 1998, Big 105 was musically very close to WLTW but evolved to a Hot AC format by that May. They also added Danny Bonaduce as their morning show host. Ratings continued to fail and by October of 1998, Big 105 was sounding more like a Modern Rock based Hot AC similar to their former Buzz format but not as deep.

In December 1998 the station had a more drastic format change, as they converted to the then-popular "Jammin' Oldies" format, with the call letters subsequently changing to WTJM in 1999. The station, which would play popular urban, dance, and rhythmic pop music of the mid 1960s through the 1980's, did better in the ratings than the previous format, and Jammin' Oldies' results initially challenged those of longtime oldies station WCBS-FM. Chancellor merged with Capstar Broadcasting to form AMFM Inc. in 1999. Then, in 2000, Clear Channel Communications merge with AMFM Inc., giving this and the other four stations a new owner. Under Clear Channel, WTJM would evolve into an urban oldies format and then an urban adult contemporary format, simply known as Jammin' 105. Frankie Blue was brought in to program the shift to the urban adult contemporary format. He immediately brought in Jeff Foxx (formerly of 98.7 KISS FM's Wake-up Club and WBLS) and teamed him with comedian George Wallace to form the "Jammin' New York Wake-up Club". The morning show was a hit and the rest of the station benefitted; however, it did not warrant keeping the format.

In March 2002, the station would abruptly change, as it shifted to its current mainstream urban format as WWPR-FM ("Power 105.1"). (Some wags declared the new format to be "Jammin' Homies".) A speculated reason for the format change is that while they could not beat competitor WQHT ("Hot 97"), they could take enough ratings away from them to keep them from being number one, which would leave Power 105.1's sister station Lite FM with a comfortable lead in that race (prior to the change Hot 97 and Lite FM had alternated at the top spot).

Hot 97 had been the only station featuring current hip hop and R&B; since Emmis Communications purchased WRKS-FM (98.7 Kiss FM) in 1994 to end dual rap formats. In an effort to build an audience, Power 105.1 brought in former Hot 97 hosts Ed Lover and Doctor Dre as their morning show hosts. The station then entered into the top five of the Arbitron ratings, a position it maintains to this day.

Power 105.1 is the first rap station in the market to feature slow jam music from 10pm to 2am weekdays.

Power 105.1 terminated Doctor Dre in December 2003 to form a new morning show with Ed Lover and Monie Love, which would last for about a year. By the end of 2004, the station decided to heat up their rivalry with Hot 97 by bringing in ex-Hot 97 morning show hosts Star & Buc Wild as their morning show hosts, as well-known disc jockeys were deemed critical to their success.

The "Star and Buc Wild Morning Show" was replaced in 2006 by Live With Big Tigger and Egypt which would be replaced by Ed Lover's Morning Show which would later be co-hosted with Malikha Mallette. This last show incarnation ended on Friday, November 19th, 2010 when Ed Lover was released from the radio station and Malikha Mallette was re-assigned to the midday shift, replacing De Ja.

DJ Carl Blaze's death

DJ Carl Blaze, who was a popular DJ at Power 105.1 for over three years, was fatally shot outside an apartment building near Manhattan's Inwood section on December 7, 2006 about 4:30 AM and his $20,000 diamond chain was stolen from him. He was taken to Harlem Hospital Center, where he died Saturday, December 23. No arrest have been made and the investigation into the shooting was ongoing.

Star Controversy

Troi Torain, who previously worked at Power 105's rival hip-hop station WQHT until he switched to Power 105, is known as "Star" from the Star & Buc Wild morning show. He had a running on-air feud with Hot 97's DJ Envy, whose real name is Raashaun Casey.

In a May 3, 2006 broadcast, Torain mentioned DJ Envy's wife and child. Torain said he would pay $500 to any listener who told him where the girl attended school. Torain, who is bi-racial, also used racial and sexual epithets about D.J. Envy's wife, Gia Casey, who is part Asian.

New York City Council members called for an investigation by law enforcement and the Federal Communications Commission. After the protests, Clear Channel Communications, the corporate owner of Power 105, suspended Torain. After reviewing transcripts of the broadcast, New York City law enforcement officials called Torain to police headquarters in Lower Manhattan to surrender his target pistol license and 9-millimeter handgun. Detectives from the Hate Crimes Unit charged him with endangering the welfare of a child.

Leaving the precinct house, Torain leaned back and grinned for television cameras, saying "You're looking at the new Lenny Bruce." Torain's lawyer's defended his broadcasts on first amendment grounds.

Star and Buc Wild were replaced with Live With Big Tigger and Egypt on May 4, 2006.

Power in HD2

In early 2006, Clear Channel launched a new HD2 station on the 105.1 frequency which plays Reggaeton & Hispanic Rhythmic music. The format is similar to that heard on WCAA.

Staff

On-air

DJ Envy

Angela Yee

Charlamagne Tha God

Malikha Mallette

DJ Clue?

Cherry Martinez

Big Tigger

Kim Kane

Curt Flirt

Mixshow DJs

Geespin

DJ Self

DJ Prostyle

DJ Suss.One

DJ Will

DJ Whutevva

DJ Norie

DJ Ty-Boogie

Former DJs

Borasio (now at Pulse 87.7 (WNYZ-FM) in New York, NY)

Tony Touch

DJ Carl Blaze

Star and Buc Wild

DJ Yonny (now at 92.3 NOW-FM (WXRK-FM) in New York, NY)

DJ Spinbad

Egypt (now at WBLS-FM 107.5 in New York, NY)

Doctor Dré

Colby Colb (Now at WENZ Cleveland)

Jay Wright

Chuck Dogg

Big R.

Jayson Fox

Anthony Caiazzo (Anthony Cruz)

Will2Be

Steph Lova

Ed Lover

Lady O.

Lady Chellez

Q.

Déjà Vu

Former shows

Star and Buc Wild In The Morning

Ed Lover And Doctor Dré In The Morning

Colby Colb Show

Tony Touch's Reggeatony Show

The Jayson Fox Show

The Ed Lover Show

The Steph Lova Program

Middays with DejaVu

References

External links

Power 105.1's Website

Category:Clear Channel radio stations WPR Category:Radio stations in New York City

Name	Trey Songz
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Tremaine Aldon Neverson
Alias
Born	November 28, 1984Petersburg, Virginia, United States
Instrument	Vocals, keyboards, sampler
Genre	R&B;, Hip-hop
Occupation	Singer–songwriter, record producer, actor
Years active	2004–present
Label	Atlantic, Songbook
Associated acts	Drake, Troy Taylor, Twista, Juvenile, Bun B, Rick Ross, Plies
Url	www.treysongz.com

Tremaine Aldon Neverson (born November 28, 1984), better known by his stage name Trey Songz, is an American singer-songwriter, rapper, record producer and actor. His debut album, I Gotta Make It, was released in 2005, while his second album, Trey Day, was released in 2007. His third album, Ready, was released in 2009 while his fourth studio album, Passion, Pain & Pleasure, was released on September 14, 2010.

Life and career

1984–2004: Early life

Songz was born Tremaine Aldon Neverson on November 28, 1984, in Petersburg, Virginia. Raised as a military brat, Songz did not have aspirations to have a musical career as a child due to his shyness, saying "Singing wasn't a reality for me, until other people started noticing I sounded good." He recognized his vocal abilities at the age of 14 in 1998.

His debut album, I Gotta Make It was released on July 26, 2005. It debuted at #20 on the Billboard 200, selling 40,000 copies in its first week of sales. It has sold 300,000 records in the US, but was never certified by the RIAA.

Songz's debut single, Gotta Make It, featuring Twista, was released in March 2005 and reached #87 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #21 on the Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs. It garnered success in the R&B;/urban community but failed to make a mark in mainstream music. The album's second and final single, Gotta Go, was released in July 2005 and reached #67 on the Hot 100 and #11 on the Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs chart, becoming even more successful than his debut single in the R&B;/urban community and in the mainstream community. After promotion for his debut concluded, he was featured on the lead single from Twista's fifth album, The Day After. The single, "Girl Tonite", reached #14 on the Hot 100 and #3 on the Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs chart, becoming a huge hit.

2007–2008: Trey Day

In mid-2006, Songz began work on a follow-up album to his debut with longtime collaborator Troy Taylor and also employed hitmakers Bryan-Michael Cox, Danja, Stargate (production team) and R. Kelly to help create the album. Trey aimed for the album to be more mainstream-oriented than his debut album.

His second studio album, Trey Day, was released on October 2, 2007. The album reached #11 on the Billboard 200, selling 73,000 copies in its first week. It has since sold 400,000 records in the US, becoming his second album not to be certified by the RIAA. The album was going to be released on May 8, 2007, but was continually delayed in order for a successful single to precede the album, as the lead single failed to impact charts.

His second album was preceded by the lead single, "Wonder Woman", which was released in February 2007. It reached #54 on the Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs chart, but failed to impact the Hot 100. Because of the single's failure, his second album was delayed from May 2007 to October 2007. The album's second single, "Can't Help but Wait", was released in August 2007 and was released to promote his second album and the film Step Up 2 the Streets soundtrack as a single for it. The single reached #14 on the Hot 100, and #2 on the Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs chart. It became Songz's first Top 20 hit on the Hot 100, and helped to boost his second album's sales. The single was also nominated for Best Male R&B; Vocal Performance at the 2008 50th Grammy Awards.

The third single from the album, "Last Time", was released in January 2008 and reached #69 on the Hot 100, and #9 on the Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The fourth and final single from the album, "Missin' You", was released in May 2008, but failed to chart completely. In mid-2008, Songz was nominated for a BET Award for Best Male R&B; Artist but didn't win the award.

2009–2010: Ready

In late 2008, Trey began work on his third studio album with Bryan-Michael Cox, Sean Garrett, Stargate and Troy Taylor and aimed for the record to be more mature than his first two. Before releasing his third album, Songz released a mixtape titled Anticipation in June 2009 through his blog, which featured songs from his third album. Another mixtape from Trey was released in the summer of 2009, called Genesis. Genesis was a collection of Trey Songz's first recordings when he was fifteen years old and was released to show his fans the dedication that he had to making a record when he was young.

Trey released his third studio album, Ready, on August 31, 2009. The album reached #3 on the Billboard 200, selling 131,000 copies in its first week. These are his best first week sales to date and the album was his first to reach the Top 10 on the Billboard 200. The album has since sold over 800,000 records in the US, earning a Gold certification from the RIAA in February 2010, becoming his first album to be certified by the RIAA.

The lead single from the album, "I Need a Girl", was released in April 2009 and reached #5 on the Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop songs chart and #59 on the Hot 100, becoming an R&B;/urban hit but not a mainstream hit. A promotional single, "Successful", featuring rapper Drake, was released in June 2009 and reached #17 on the Hot 100, becoming Songz's third Top 20 hit. The single also served as the second and final single from Drake's EP, So Far Gone.

The second official single from his third album, "LOL Smiley Face", featuring Soulja Boy Tell 'Em and Gucci Mane, was released in August 2009 and reached #51 on the Hot 100 and #12 on the Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The third single from the album, "I Invented Sex", featuring Drake, was released in October 2009 and reached #42 on the Hot 100 but #1 on the Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs chart, becoming his first single to top that chart. Like the first two singles from the album, it achieved success in the R&B;/urban community but only some mainstream success. charted within the Billboard Hot 100, and topped the R&B; chart. The fourth single from the album, "Say Aah", featuring rapper Fabolous, was released in January 2010 and reached #9 on the Hot 100 and #3 on the Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The single has become Trey's highest charting single on the Hot 100 and one of his most successful singles on the Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The fifth and final single from the album, "Neighbors Know My Name", was released in February 2010 and reached #43 on the Hot 100 and #4 on the Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs chart. A sixth single, "Yo Side of the Bed", was going to be released in June 2010, but its release was canceled due to unknown reasons. A music video, featuring singer Keri Hilson, was filmed and released, however.

Songz was also the opening act for Jay-Z on his Jay-Z Fall Tour in late 2009. The album was nominated for Best Contemporary R&B; Album at the 52nd Grammy Awards in 2010, but lost to Beyoncé's I Am... Sasha Fierce. On April 1, 2010, he recorded an episode of MTV Unplugged, which aired on April 26, 2010. A documentary-series about Trey, Trey Songz: My Moment, began in June 2010 to positive reviews and high ratings. The 10-part series will end in August 2010 and follows Trey during his time as opening act on Jay-Z's Jay-Z Fall Tour in late 2009.

2010–present: Passion, Pain & Pleasure

Trey's fourth studio album, Passion, Pain & Pleasure, was released on September 14, 2010. Trey began work on the album in early 2010 with Sean Garrett, Troy Taylor and Stargate and has stated that the album will be his most personal to date. The album was completed in July 2010. The album's lead single, "Bottoms Up", featuring female rapper Nicki Minaj, was released on July 27, 2010 and has reached number twenty-four on the Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs chart and was shared enough on Facebook to appear as a trending video on ItsTrending. Its video was filmed on July 31, 2010 and is pending release. Trey also filmed the video for the album's second single, "Can't Be Friends", on August 1, 2010.

Trey Songz is slated to perform at BET Awards 2011 broadcasting on June 26, 2011.

Discography

I Gotta Make It (2005)

Trey Day (2007)

Ready (2009)

Passion, Pain & Pleasure (2010)

Filmography

{|class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;" !style="background:#B0C4DE;"|Year !style="background:#B0C4DE;"|Title !style="background:#B0C4DE;"|Role !style="background:#B0C4DE;"|Notes |- |2008 |Queen of Media |DJ I.V. |film |- |2009 |Lincoln Heights |Himself |Episode: "Relative Unknown" |- |2010 |Preacher's Kid (film) |small role |- |2010 |When I Was 17 |Himself |Interview-like show, about what he did when he was 17 |- |2010 |Trey Songz: My Moment |Himself |Interview-Documentary show, following him around on tour with Jay-Z. |}

Awards and nominations

{|class="wikitable" !Year !Award !Result |- |rowspan="3"|2008 |BET Award for Best Male R&B; Artist | |- |Ozone Award for Best R&B; Artist | |- |rowspan="1"|2009 |Soul Train Awards for Best Collaboration "Successful" | |- |rowspan="5"|2010 |Grammy Award for Best Contemporary R&B; Album for "Ready" | |- |BET Award for Best Male R&B; Artist | |- |BET Award for Best Collaboration for "Say Ahh" w/ Fabolous | |- |BET Award for Best Collaboration for "Successful" w/ Drake | |- |BET Award for Viewer's Choice for "Say Ahh" w/ Fabolous | |}

References

External links

Official website

Category:1984 births Category:2000s singers Category:2010s singers Category:African American actors Category:African American musicians Category:African American singers Category:American actors Category:American rhythm and blues singers Category:American tenors Category:Atlantic Records artists Category:Living people Category:Military brats Category:People from Petersburg, Virginia Category:Musicians from Virginia

Name	Noriega
Background	non_performing_personnel
Birth name	Norgie Noriega
Genre	Reggaeton
Occupation	Producer
Years active	2001–present
Label	Mas Flow Inc., Machete Music
Associated acts	Luny Tunes, DJ Nelson

Norgie Noriega (best known only as Noriega) is a reggaeton producer known for making #1 hits in reggaeton along with reggaeton producers Luny Tunes.

Musical career

Noriega was one of the primary reggaeton producers during the style's rise to popularity and commercial significance. He began earning high-profile production credits in 2002 with Las Guanábanas, Guillaera; Hector & Tito, A La Reconquista; Magnate & Valentino, Rompiendo el Hielo. His breakout came the following year, when he produced tracks for Tego Calderón, El Abayarde; and Vico C, En Honor a la Verdad, who were among the most respected artists in Puerto Rico at the time. Also in 2003, Noriega was co-billed with Luny Tunes on Mas Flow, a groundbreaking mixtape for DJ Nelson's Flow Music label. He was a finalist in the Billboard Latin Music Awards in 2004, along with Luny Tunes. Also in 2003 He was on Ashley CD called Esoty Loca...The song he did with her was called Estoy Loca Por El Reggaeton. While Luny Tunes continued on with the Mas Flow series, becoming reggaeton's undisputed top hitmakers in the process, Noriega proceeded to work on his first truly solo mixtape, Contra la Corriente (2004), which was again commissioned by DJ Nelson and released via Universal Latino. Also in 2004, Noriega was credited with an impressive list of production work: Eddie Dee, Los 12 Discípulos; Las Guanábanas, Collection Two; Tego Calderón, El Enemy de los Guasíbiri; Mikie Perfecto, Evolucion Arrestada; Zion & Lennox, Motivando a la Yal; Baby Rasta & Gringo, Sentenciados. In the following years, his career underwent some upheaval; most notably, he left the Flow Music camp and resurfaced in 2006 under the Univision banner for his second solo release, Sin Control (2006). He also set up Noriega Music Publishing in his apparent attempt to gain a firmer control of his own fortune.

Noriega occasionally sings on the songs he produces. He was the composer of the single Por Amar a Ciegas from Arcangel.

Discography

2003 Mas Flow

2004 Contra la Corriente

2006 Sin Control

References

Category:Reggaeton record producers Category:Living people