Yesterday the host of New York City’s number one ranked “Star and Bucwild Morning Show†on Clear Channel Radio’s Power 105.1 FM was fired. The reason for Troi Torain’s (a.k.a. Star) ouster was that he threatened to assault and molest the four year old daughter of rival morning show host DJ Envy (from Hot 97’s “Miss Jones in the Morningâ€). He even had the audacity to offer $500 to anyone that could provide him with the name and location of the little girl’s school.
Even for the former radio host know as “the Evil Star,†this is insane. This kind of threat goes beyond race (both Star and Envy are black), beyond class, and beyond all my comprehension. You NEVER threaten someone’s kid. I don’t care what the reason is. I can’t even say what I would do in that situation, but I am sure that as a father that loves his son with a fierce reckless abandon, that my response to such a threat would have likely been irrational, emotional, and relentless. Thankfully Envy had the clear mind to have his wife hold a press conference to share her concerns with the city and not take it to the streets. It is only my sincerest hope that I could have been as rational. I stopped listening to both radio station’s morning shows long ago, not because I don’t like Hip-Hop, but because of the ignorance of most of their on-air personalities. They are known to spew hate, violence, and negativity without hesitation, while only thinking about the ratings. In a statement on the Power 105.1 FM website the station manager issued a three sentence statement of apology. What an effort! As the fathers of black children we must take responsibility for what our kids are listening to and who they idolize, because no one else will (and we shouldn’t expect it). If our kids think of someone like Star as a hero then we aren’t doing our jobs.
Leave A Comment