But the voice and man that we have all come to know and love was actually on a different path before becoming one of the most popular radio personalities in Hip Hop. Wild Wayne explained, “What a lot of people don’t know is that I initially went to Xavier University for Biology-Premed. I wanted to go into Veterinary Medicine. But my life kind of changed when on a whim, I decided to do radio for what I always called a job for extra books and beer money.”
He added, “I fell into radio by accident, thinking it was just going to be a job to get through college. But I figured out that it was something that I loved. I never really was an outspoken person, but it just kind of happened. That’s a part of my life that was really cool, having figured out my way at a relatively young age. I did go through 5 years of college before I figured it out, but at least I did figure it out!”
So how did Wild Wayne actually become the Wild Wayne that we know today? “I started in radio as a part timer,” said Wayne. “At the time, I was looking for a new job. I was working at the Times Picayune and it was a good job, but I wanted to something a little more interesting. A friend of mine named Gerald James was already working at the radio station in the research department. Since he was leaving for military training, he told me that his position was going to be available.”
“So I applied for the job thinking it was only going to be for the summer. But ironically, another guy got fired at the same time, so two positions actually became available. I said to myself that I’d take the other job so that when my boy came back, we’d both be working there. They hired me, but not long after that, the whole research department got laid off because of corporate cutbacks. I happened to get spared because I had a dual roll as a show producer for a guy named Davey D and they kind of fought for me to stay on board. So my initial job was answering the phone, taking requests, and producing the night show. I did that for about a week or two and then had an opportunity to get on the air on a few bits. It just so happened that our chemistry was really good and we sort of became this dynamic duo at the time, Davey D and Wild Wayne.”
Now InthekNOwlians, we know y’all remember Davey D and Wild Wayne, a real life Batman and Robin of the radio. Wayne continued, “I was the sidekick for about a year or so, and then Davey ended up taking another job elsewhere. I figured since he was leaving that I would get the job, but they decided to bring in somebody else. At the time, it was really upsetting becaue I felt like I was being overlooked. But looking back, I probably didn’t have enough experience at that time.”
“They brought in a guy was named Mic Fox and for him, this was a temporary job. He stayed for a while, but then left for another place and at that point, the show kind of became mine. This was in 1993 and at that time, we were actually competing with FM 98. Clear Channel became this monster company, bought FM 98, and flipped their format so that we were no longer competing. Once that happened, I shot to #1 and have been there ever since.”
Around the same time, Wild Wayne was also witnessing the emergence of some New Orleans’ most successful musicians and record labels, including No Limit and Cash Money Records. He said, “Me being in the driver's seat at that time was pretty magical. These were two homegrown companies that were competing nationally and literally killing the other record labels. I was on the forefront of this movement because I introduced a lot of these artists. I was the first to play the Lil Wayne’s, Hot Boys, Master P’s, and the list goes on. I found myself in a place where you had these small community artists and a small radio station that were making noise across the country. It was big.”
Not only was Wild Wayne instrumental in the breakthrough of many of these local artists, but he was also the first to ever play Bounce music on the air, such as DJ Jubilee, TT Tucker, and DJ Jimmy.
Yep InthekNOwla, Wild Wayne is basically a walking, living, breathing encyclopedia of New Orleans music. And anybody can see (and feel) that he absolutely loves what he does. “At this point, I’ve been doing radio for 20 years,” explained Wayne. “And to do that, I’ve had to keep reformulating things and reinventing myself to stay relevant. It’s been amazing the kind of longevity I’ve had because even with all the fun I’ve had and all the great music I’ve supported and played, I think my real key to longevity has been my involvement in the community. That’s something that I’ve championed over the years and I’ve tried to keep it positive.”
He added, “For me, I realized a long time ago that the voice combined with radio is a powerful tool. There are a lot of other radio stations out there, but urban radio has this special place in the community of New Orleans. So, I’ve always made it a point to be involved in the community. I’ve been doing a free summer camp for public school kids since 2000 called the Wild Wayne Summer Experience. After Katrina, many of the schools closed down, but in 2007 I restarted the program with rapper Sess 4-5 and renamed it the Black Love Summer Experience.” Supported by Wild Wayne’s foundation entitled The Benjamin Foundation, the Black Summer Love Experience aims to “get kids off the streets and provide them with academic enhancement, guidance, direction, culture, experiences and love.”
In addition to his foundation and summer camp, Wild Wayne is also the creator of Industry Influence, a monthly event for hip hop artists focusing on education, networking, and showcasing their talkents. Joining forces again with Sess 4-5, Industry Influence has had 48 networking events, complete with entertainment attorneys, publishing companies, representatives from the Grammy’s and Jazz Fest, distribution companies, web designers, artists, and more all with the intent of connecting artists to industry professionals.
Wayne added, “We also have achievement awards that we give out at Industry Influence. We’ve given one to Mystikal, Juvenile, BG, Mia X, Ms. Tee, and PNC, all folks who have been instrumental in the foundation of hip hop here. My latest achievement is my television show, which is a spin off of the conference. We do clips from the conference like an industry tip of the week. We also have a portion called Celebrate Your Success. This is really a big achievement because we can potentially reach over a million people.”
Wayne also hosts a weekly talk show on Q93 called Real Talk with fellow New Orleanian and public speaker Eddie Francis every Saturday from 7am-9am. “As a listener, you are empowered to speak your mind without penalty” on topics ranging from AIDS in the black community to education in New Orleans.
And Wayne isn’t slowing down anytime soon. He said, “I’m gonna continue to do radio until it’s either not fun or I’m not popular anymore! Also, I’ve done so much work with kids and the community that at some point, it would be really cool to open some kind of youth outreach center to do more with our youth on a year round basis instead of just the summer time. And of course, I try to do as much with my family as possible because as you can see, I stay pretty busy!”
For our young people who want to better their lives, Wild Wayne had some essential advice: “Get educated, simple as that. Education was not an option in my household; it was mandatory. You have so many more opportunities when you have a well-rounded education. Even if the parents are not very educated or don’t hold it to a high esteem, at least make it a priority for the kids. If kids could spend just one more second making pivotal decisions, maybe they can avoid some of those mistakes in life and that starts with being educated enough to see your own choices. So get educated and make better decisions.”
To finish up, we knew it would be hard for Wild Wayne to answer the question of what he loved most about New Orleans…but it seems that he summed it up quite perfectly.
He said, “There’s not any one thing that I love about New Orleans. There’s a different community feeling here and people from all walks of life. The weather is incredible; the community is incredible. Our city has culture and personality. I’ve been to a lot of other cities and they’re just cities; it’s business as usual. I lived in Dallas for a while after Katrina and let me say that Dallas is a great city, but I don’t wanna live there! Sure they have all the amenities, the perfectly paved streets and gated communities, but I was generally bored with life out there! I didn’t feel any sense of connection at all. The culture and the people here is what makes the biggest difference. We have a great spirit here. 95% of the people here are inherently good, and more often than not, truly genuine.”
Well InthekNOwla, if you didn’t know him before, you now know one of those genuine New Orleanians...Wild Wayne, a true New Orleans icon.
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