Hot 97's Ebro Darden defends reality TV exec Mona Scott-Young

theGRIO REPORT - New York City's iconic radio station Hot 97, known globally as the place that "that hip-hop lives", is entering new media territory with their new unscripted TV comedy, This Is Hot 97 premiering this week...

New York City’s iconic radio station Hot 97, known globally as the place that “that hip-hop lives,” is entering new media territory with their new unscripted TV comedy, This Is Hot 97 premiering this week.

The show is executive produced by the controversial queen of reality TV Mona Scott-Young (Basketball Wives, Love & Hip-Hop).

Rap fans maybe skeptical about an established brand like Hot 97 be associated with Scott-Young, however Ebro Darden, the VP of programming on Hot 97 and co-host of the station’s Morning Show, thinks those concerns are unfounded.

“[Scott-Young] has been asking me for years to do this, but I wanted to make sure it lined up with our brand,” Ebro said.

This Is Hot 97 celebrates the comedic talents of station staples like Angie Martinez, Peter Rosenburg, Miss Info and Funkmaster Flex — personalities that have already amassed a strong following  before the leap to TV.

Ebro believes if you let reality television portray you in a bad light you are complicit in the results.

Mona Scott-Young’s ‘Love & Hip-Hop’ overcomes backlash

“If somebody on one of these reality shows tell you that  they didn’t know how things were going to be edited or whatever, they tell you specifically in the paperwork,” Ebro said. “Anytime VH1 came to us with some ideas we weren’t feeling, we’d send them back.”

Peter Rosenberg, one fourth of Hot 97’s Morning Show agreed. “Yeah you gotta get a better lawyer,” he chimed in.

Check out what else Cipha Sounds, Peter Rosenberg, and Ebro had to say in our Grio sit-down.

[theplatform media=”d603v745qEOD” player=”zvEuDLunqxuD” width=640 height=360]

For the latest music news, follow Kyle Harvey on Twitter at @HarveyWins

 

SHARE THIS ARTICLE