By Mike Couchman as told to Sean Ross
“You haven’t met them yet, but you have new friends all over the country.” So begins a promo for Boost Radio, the St. Louis-based Christian Rhythmic CHR format celebrating a momentous year. Last November, Boost moved from a trimulcast of two outlying signals and a translator to the 95.5 former frequency of Urban AC WFUN. In March, it debuted on a translator in Chicago. Since then, the station has added frequencies in the Twin Cities; Pittsburgh; Portland, Ore.; and Fayetteville, N.C.
Seven years ago, Boost debuted as one of a relative handful of Christian CHRs at a time when that format often comprised anything that wouldn’t fit at Christian AC — whether that was Hip-Hop or Alternative. Since then, PD Mike Couchman has overseen the station’s evolution to a format more comparable to Rhythmic CHR, albeit one that still has some pop component. (The station bills itself as “pop, Hip-Hop, and hope.”) Couchman is now PD of successful Christian AC sister KLJY (99.1 Joy FM) as well.
Given the station’s rapid expansion, it was time for a First Listen to Boost on its new frequencies. Ross on Radio asked Couchman to narrate the monitor for somebody who might be familiar with the Rhythmic and Hip-Hop formats, but not their Christian counterpart. Here’s an hour of the station just before 1:30 p.m., July 22, with Couchman’s notes on each song:
Tori Kelly, “Unbothered”: As you might imagine, one of our biggest challenges is familiarity. Tori’s voice is a helpful onramp for people who might be familiar with her mainstream hits (we actually have her two biggest, “Nobody Love” and “Should’ve Been Us,” in Gold). “Unbothered” is in Power Recurrent for us; it’s from her most recent project. It had a good run as a current in late 2020. On top of Tori Kelly being a familiar voice for new and longtime listeners, we don’t have a lot of female pop superstars in our genre. She checks that box, and has always been super-helpful in voicing liners, Behind the Song promos, etc. The song is about being unflappable in the face of challenging people/relationships.
Swoope, “All the Time”: Swoope is a rapper whose vocals might be considered in between Kanye West and Common. He’s known for his intellectual bars, like Common, but has a flow like Kanye. “All the Time” (added in 2017) has the classic hit-song ingredients, a hook before the actual hook so that there’s anticipation building all the way through. It riffs on a phrase that’s almost become a meme in church culture: One person says “God is good,” and others respond “all the time.” This song was ahead of its time, capitalizing on the phrases “low key” and “high key” before they became part of mainstream pop culture a year or more later.
Marcus Rogers, “Drippin’”: This song was a TikTok find. We kept seeing influencers in our format make dance videos to this song. It’s got a real fun summer vibe to it. Singable hook, danceable beat. Hip-Hop song with a taste of Latino culture in the music. We’re bumping it to Power this week. There’s no easy direct mainstream comparison with this song. Marcus is in his own lane, but has a sound that’s definitely accessible for Hip-Hop fans. That sums up Boost too: we’re not trying to be a copycat of anything mainstream; we simply want to be a place that feels culturally familiar/friendly/fun, even if you don’t know our music.
Gawvi, “Not Too Far”: Gawvi has become a core artist for Boost. He got his start producing for our first generation of core artists (like Lecrae and Andy Mineo), helping them win Grammy awards. There’s probably no genre Gawvi can’t create smash hits for, from EDM to Hip Hop to Pop. “Not Too Far” is a pop ballad, and helped move him from being “the guy that produces for my favorite artists” to “the guy who’s one of my favorite artists.” He has the versatility of Drake, but by no means is he a clone. “Not Too Far” tested great right out of the gate in the spring of 2020, and still does well enough to retain a spot in Power Recurrent. The message rings true for our faith-oriented listeners: You’re never too far gone; no matter what you’ve done, redemption is always one choice and one prayer away.
Social Club Misfits, “Dive”: These guys had a cult following before Boost got to them. In fact, when we were brand new seven years ago, their fans would constantly ask, “Why don’t you play Social Club?” They were indie back then and didn’t have anyone working their music to radio; it was a chore trying to cop a legit WAV file. These days, they’re with Capitol Records, so servicing is not a problem. The act is two guys, Fern and Marty. Fern spent three years in prison for drug trafficking before finding God and connecting with Marty. “Dive” dropped three or so years ago, when some of mainstream Hip-Hop’s hottest sounds came from Travis Scott and Migos. This song has a similar feel. In fact, it features a guy named Beam, who’s collabbed with 21 Savage, Yo Gotti, and a variety of Boost artists.
KB f/Bizzle, “Let It Reign”: Our current top testing song (online research). The hook samples an obscure Michael W. Smith song (“Let It Rain”), and pitches it up, kind of like how Akon pitched up “Mr. Lonely” back in the day. KB is hands-down the biggest artist that’s exclusive to Boost right now. He’s found this really interesting space where he takes songs that are popular in church culture and on Christian AC stations and smothers them in Hip Hop. And not that KB needs street cred, but putting Bizzle on this song gives him even more. Bizzle is seen as an OG in modern Christian Hip-Hop.
Mission, “Struggle”: When I first heard this song, my mind went to a couple Hip-Hop ballads I loved in the ‘90s: “I Seen a Man Die” by Scarface and “Mind Playing Tricks on Me” from Geto Boys. Mission doesn’t sound like them musically, but “Struggle” has the same raw realism. It’s about how difficult it can be to truly live the “love your neighbor as yourself” command, especially when somebody has done everything possible to disrespect the love you’ve offered. “Struggle” immediately tested strong for us in 2019 and had a nice long life as a current for us. These days, it’s a recurrent. Mission himself is quite the chameleon; he can have a Childish Gambino vibe one minute and a Pop Smoke vocal the next.
Kurtis Hoppie, “Vegan Burgers”: Kurtis is an up-and-coming indie rapper who’s been on our radar for a while. This is his most radio-friendly song so far. It’s essentially a love song — everything is better when he’s with his lady. As with Swoope, it’s got that good old catchy pre-chorus-before-the-chorus thing going. (Since Christian Hip-Hop has never had radio as a major force for the genre until now, some artists are still learning the value of structuring songs for radio.) Relationship songs are rare in Christian radio, and Boost hopes songs like this help change that. God made us for relationships with each other, not just with Him. So why shouldn’t songs in our format reflect those relationships? We hope “Vegan Burgers” helps make Boost more three-dimensional. It’s a newer song that we just put into sub-Power.
NF, “Change”: If KB is Boost’s biggest exclusive artist, NF is probably our biggest artist overall — at least if you go by streaming stats and mainstream exposure. “Change” is from NF’s most recent full project (not his newer mixtape). The message is on point for the lyrical center lane of Boost. “Forget the charts, I’ve been focusin’ on holdin’ my head up/Moment I get up, I just wanna know I’m doin’ my best/And if I’m not, Lord forgive me, you can have the regrets.” “Change” spent much of 2020 in Power, and currently resides in Power Recurrent. Like Tori Kelly, NF is an on-ramp for our format, and rarely gets bad scores in our surveys.
Angie Rose, “Unstoppable”: The album version had some structural issues that made it not as radio-friendly, but this is a just-released remix. She interpolates part of Michael Jackson’s “Wanna Be Startin’ Something” in the hook. So many people have been like, “What is that? Where have I heard it before?” Their faces light up when they find out the source. It’s a fun pop song that moves quick. “Unstoppable” is all about how your faith empowers you, with a subtle female-empowerment vibe too, thanks in part to a feature from Wande (Wahn-dey), who has quickly become our format’s biggest female MC.
Flame, “#Escrow”: This was the end-of-the-hour fill-song! Flame is from St. Louis, where Boost was born. Not only does he have a huge local following, Flame was a titan in Christian Hip-Hop a decade ago. He’s still in the scene but has split his focus up a bit and isn’t as core for us as he once was. “#Escrow” was new in 2016 and had a great run as a current. It’s very much in the Hip-Hop lane sonically. Easy to rap and chant with, but not sing. The success of this song helped confirm that Boost’s move towards Rhythmic and away from Pop/Rock/Rhythm was a healthy move.
KB f/Koryn Hawthorne, “The Name”: Two big names — one big hit, right? Koryn Hawthorne has already made a huge splash in the Gospel format, though we’ve also been playing her pop-leaning stuff since Sony signed her a few years ago. “The Name” is a ballad from KB’s newest project that fuses church songs and worship music with Hip-Hop. As far as hits go, it was a solid one for us, though not a smash like “Let It Reign,” but it was still strong enough to be a Power Recurrent.
Hulvey, “We Against the World”: This is from Hulvey’s first full project, and he’s already a core artist for Boost. That’s thanks to his previous EP and features with other artists. A lot of people have compared Hulvey to Post Malone. I definitely hear some similarities both in style and in their versatility. But Hulvey is his own man and not trying to be “clean Post Malone.” “We Against the World” is a collab with Andy Mineo. It sticks out as one of the few guitar-driven songs on Boost, though it’s a mild guitar vibe. Sonically this falls somewhere between “Without You” by The Kid Laroi and “Mood” by 24kGoldn. “We Against the World” is about having friends who will celebrate your God-given uniqueness instead of pressuring you to be like everyone else.
Hollyn, “Alone”: In a format without a lot of female superstars, Hollyn was on her way to being the next one, then stepped back from releasing music a few years ago, after she got married. This was her breakout single. It’s fun. It has energy. A touch of sass. Infectious pop-rock song with a rap bridge by the late son of TobyMac. “Alone” came out in 2015 from Hollyn’s debut project, which also gave us a few other hits. “Alone” is in our Gold category that spins once an hour. If she was still around now, there’s no telling how massive she’d be in our format and with BOOST listeners. Hollyn was doing what Olivia Rodrigo is famous for now before Olivia was even on Bizaardvark.
Tauren Wells f/Kirk Franklin, “Millionaire”: Another song where Boost and Gospel merge. Wells’ work has been nominated for almost a dozen Grammy and Billboard Music Awards. He’s also received a handful of Dove Awards from the Christian-music world. He has a similar voice to Bruno Mars, but he seems to go out of his way to make songs that can’t fall into the “if you like Bruno, you’d like this” trap. He has been a core artist for Boost since his days with the group Royal Tailor, and as a solo act from day one. He’s also managed to become almost as core for Joy FM. “Millionaire” is in “stay current” for us — we burned it pretty good, but expect it to be a definitive song for Boost over the next year or so.
Byron Juane, “Attention”: This one came out in fall 2018 and was a pleasant surprise for us! We thought it was good enough to give a shot, but since the song kind of stays in one sonic spot most of the way through, we didn’t have high hopes for it as a “radio record.” The audience loved it, though. It’s a straight-ahead hip-hop song. The chorus isn’t singable, but it’s easy enough to remember and chant with. Byron is on an indie label that’s become very reliable for delivering hits to Boost.
Evan Craft, “Montaña”: Despite St. Louis’s small percentage of Spanish-speaking residents, we’ve had success with a handful of English-Spanish songs over the years. When we learned Boost was going to Chicago and other markets where the demographics split differently, we got a bit more deliberate about hunting for songs that could connect multiculturally. Hidden in plain sight was Evan Craft. Despite having almost no exposure on English-language stations or Christian radio, he already had millions of followers online by the time we got to him. “Montaña” is a collab with Gawvi and Sam Rivera. It’s a ballad that bounces just a bit. So far so good; it’s testing well enough to be in Power. We’ve also added his song “Desesperado” to our “new” category and that one has earworm written all over it.
We Are the Good, “Young Wild and Free”: This is a brand-new add for us. I’m hoping the center-lane pop feel this song has makes it a big hit going into the fall. So far, the ideal blend for us seems to be [like] what the Rhythmic Top 40 format was before Hip-Hop was the dominant genre. Our audience rates a certain flavor of pop just as high in surveys as their favorite Hip-Hop bangers.
Pop also helps smooth the path for new listeners who find us from CCM/Christian AC; (we share as much cume with them as mainstream R&B and pop stations. It’s a pretty even split.) Christian radio P1s who have only experienced Christian AC tend to have negative assumptions about Hip-Hop until they hear us play it. Then they end up loving it. But pop helps get them in the door in the first place.