Eras of rap can often be defined by the platforms that underpin them. The 90s had Sway in the Morning. The 2000s had the BET freestyles. The 2010s had the XXL Freshman blocks, as well as the ascendance of hip-hop legend Funkmaster Flex on YouTube. Likewise, the last few years can’t be discussed without mentioning On the Radar Radio.
Founded in New York by Gabe P back in 2018, On the Radar soon evolved into a who’s who of the rap game – or, rather, who will be who, given its knack for noticing rising stars. Its neon green studio will no doubt be recognisable, having been graced by the likes of Central Cee, Drake, Ice Spice and, more recently, artists beyond rap entirely. However, few will be familiar with the story behind its viral clips.
“On the Radar was never even on the radio, it just kind of started from my love of radio and the fact that radio was once a place where everyone would go to discover new music,” Gabe P tells Dazed. “A big reason why I started it was because the landscape of media didn’t feel new or fresh. It felt like a lot of the then SoundCloud era music wasn’t being accepted by the previous generation and it inspired me to create a space where everyone felt included.”
This lightbulb moment happened while Gabe P was working at New York radio station Power 105.1, and early editions were filmed in what he describes as a “closet”. “At first, the only role I wanted OTR to play was to be a place for artists to feel comfortable sitting down with me for interviews and maybe possibly freestyle,” he explains.
Not unlike an actual radio station, the platform initially focussed on the surrounding New York area, associating itself with the then-emerging drill scene and local stars like Dusty Locane, DThang and Cash Cobain. Gradually, its borders began to expand – first to close relatives in the UK drill scene across the pond, then to other branches of the rap family tree, and, eventually, to music in all its forms.
Along this journey, however, one question has been endlessly discussed by fans: how often are the freestyles recorded live? “We give everyone the option to do it live or pre-recorded, but, to be completely honest not every song an artist has can or will sound good live,” Gabe tells Dazed. “I think people on the internet just can’t tell the difference sometimes. I’ve seen a lot of people call live freestyles lip-syncs and vice versa. Personally, it doesn’t really bother me that people are going to talk, because most of the time they are wrong.”
Anyways, the chatter speaks to just how far the platform has come – people are invested now. “Never in a million years did I think this little show I filmed in the closet would eventually lead to us working with thousands of international artists as well as breaking through to other genres like country, rock and latin,” Gabe says. “Today, the goal is for OTR to be the go-to destination for music discovery.”
Below, On the Radar Radio founder Gabe P breaks down the story behind five of his favourite freestyles on the platform.
Gabe P: This Freestyle is one of those ones that was ahead of its time and set a lot of things in motion in NY and the industry. Cash and Chow creating sexy drill, alongside Lonny Love, have had long-lasting impacts on music. You see it even to this day, everyone doing sexy drill beats. Also, no one can deny Cash’s skills as a producer: when you hear ‘And This Beat From Cash Not From YouTube’ you know you’re about to get some incredible music.
Gabe P: This one itself is pretty self-explanatory. Not only was it just a crazy moment for On The Radar, but within the culture of rap itself. Seeing Drake stand next to Central Cee on a cosign level, for a joint freestyle bringing together different countries. And the fact it happened in NYC… it’s just something you can’t ever replicate.
Gabe P: There are so many things I can say about this one. I met Laila! at this Birthday party her label had thrown for her. I remember they played this unreleased song, and once I heard it I knew it was the one. That song ended up being “Not My Problem”. When she came to OTR that day, her A&R Ezana smiled and said this would be one of the biggest OTR’s ever – and not gonna lie, he wasn’t wrong. With over 20 million views, it’s become our most-viewed TikTok ever. She also opened the door for R&B for us, which I am always grateful for.
Gabe P: If you’re hip to what’s going on in the Latin music scene, you know YOVNGCHIMI is at the forefront of the new movement coming out of Puerto Rico. While OTR has been doing Latin music for some time, none of the videos have really captured audiences the way that YOVNGCHIMI’s had. It opened a ton of doors for us within that space.
Gabe P: While not really a freestyle (we were trying to figure out how to title country videos), Anella was the first real country music performance on On The Radar. It went viral almost immediately. We knew we had lightning in a bottle, but we weren’t sure how it would translate to audiences. Luckily for us, Anella’s video was extremely well received and introduced a lot of people to a country sound they might not have had an interest in prior. It also opened the doors for us to make our way out to Nashville only three months later to really lock in and kick off our country music series.
