The CBS-owned radio station 94.7 Fresh FM in Washington D.C.'s slogan advertises "Today's Best Hits, Without the Rap."
The Washington City Paper reached out to Steve Davis, operations manager for CBS Radio Washington, who says that rap music doesn't appeal to his demographic—women ages 18 to 49. "
"Typically, rap music appeals to a large male audience," Davis told the WCP in an email. "For example, a very popular song today is 'Thriftshop' from Macklemore [and Ryan Lewis]. And while I do love that song, it is not something we would feature on Fresh."
Not only does Fresh FM exclude rap songs entirely but they also play rap-free versions of pop songs, like Justin Timberlake's "Suit & Tie" featuring Jay-Z. You'll never heard Jay's "Tell your mother that I love her cause I love you/Tell your father we go farther as a couple" line on Fresh FM, ever.
"Rap to our listeners are true rap songs from Macklemore, Eminem, 2 Chains [sic], Li’l Wayne [sic], etc.," he wrote.
They're not the first station to openly shun rap music, either. You can read the full email correspondence over at the WCP site.
