Headkrack and The Morning Hustle Will Now Be Heard in Atlanta on Hot 107.9, Rickey Smiley Will Move to Classix 102.9

Headkrack and The Morning Hustle, the syndicated Radio One/Reach Media morning show based in Atlanta will be heard in The ATL for the first time on Hot 107.9 WHTA-FM. The show will replace The Rickey Smiley Morning Show. The Smiley show will move to Classix 102.9 on January 11, 2021. The Russ Parr Show will exit the market. 

The Rickey Smiley Show transitioned to an Urban AC show and moved to Dallas in January 2020 replacing The Tom Joyner Morning Show for Radio One and Reach Media's affiliates on Adult R&B stations. Rickey Smiley was dropped on all Radio One's Hip Hop stations for The Morning Hustle. 
  

But one station sticking with Rickey Smiley with the new Urban AC format was Hot 107.9, "Atlanta's Number One Hip Hop Station." Smiley's show was produced at Hot 107.9 since 2009 and he garnered strong ratings for the station. 

Headkrack stayed in Atlanta and joined The Morning Hustle, which moved from Washington, D.C.'s 93.9 WKYS and was syndicated to a handful of stations owned by Radio One. But it still wasn't heard in Atlanta, even after the national rollout last January. The Smiley show didn't have a place in Atlanta to air the show. Radio One's Urban AC station Majic 107.5/97.5 is contracted to air The Steve Harvey Morning Show from Premiere Network/iHeartMedia. So they were working in Atlanta, but only heard on the app and not on the radio.

However, not surprisingly though, the ratings for Rickey Smiley reportedly took a nosedive. One of the reasons point to the fact that the music (think Toni Braxton, Maxwell, Charlie Wilson, etc.)  did not reflect the Hip Hop format on Hot 107.9. So now comes the change to The Morning Hustle.


Headkrack, the former member of The Rickey Smiley Morning Show, along with Lore’l, Angie Ange and Billy Sorrells should be a better fit for Hot 107.9. Headkrack is also hosting on the celebrity gossip TV show Dish Nation. 

. @Headkrack shares what's on his playlist 🎶the key to executing a flawless freestyle 🎤his celebrity crush 😍 #DishNation's funniest moments 🤣 and MORE on #DishLightning ⚡️

Click here to watch the FULL video! https://t.co/22jJMPbOEN pic.twitter.com/cEctJekIQh

— Dish Nation (@DishNation) December 11, 2020

How did The Morning Hustle come about?: Angie Ange, the original lead host was moved from afternoons at WKYS to head up the morning show that became known as The Morning Hustle. Here's the backstory of the morning show that preceded The Morning Hustle. It was called  "The Fam in the Morning." It did not survive a scandalous bit, despite Cathy Hughes' and Radio One management's effort to save the show. Not surprising... some of the videos have been deleted.