“Wah Wah Wow” rapper Shorty Da Prince confirmed today that 100.3 The Beat gave him the ratchet earlier this week.
The 19-year-old radio personality, who had been at The Beat for seven years, said a higher up told him he was fired because he failed to follow company guidelines.
The GCB rapper said The Beat exec, Mark Anderson, didn’t go into details regarding his decision to let the young popular radio personality go.
“When I asked him to go into detail, he just laughed and said, ‘I didn’t follow guidelines,’” Shorty said in his first interview since he was told to kick rocks.
Anderson didn’t return a phone call to the American by deadline for an evening update on www.stlamerican.com. And they usually don’t.
Shorty said he and the exec didn’t “click” and surmised that the suspicion of payola might have led to his termination, because he played music by local artists.
“A lot of times they thought something was going on because The Beat don’t play local music,” said Shorty, who did get play from station with his hits “She Got That Fire” and the latest buzzing club jam, “Wah Wah Wow (Ratchet).”
“If a record came out in St. Louis I played it – because people requested it – and I caught some flack for that,” Shorty said.
Shorty called his dismissal a transition and said that he isn’t interested in going back to the station.
“Naturally, since they let me go, I want to make them regret it – it’s like when you’re in a relationship and yo’ chick let’s go and she sees you with a new chick – you want her to be way better than her,” Shorty explained.
The hot rapper does have good replacements. He said he’s been “looking across the street” at Hot 104.1 FM, whom he said, can now play his music since he’s no longer at the competing station.
More than anything, the Atlantic Records-signed rapper is concentrating on his music career. Though his label tossed him on the shelf, he said, he has learned to keep doing his own grinding – from the Internet to the stage.
“My focus is to keep recording and putting them out there and let people hear and I’ll get the show money,” he said.
“Being signed ain’t nothing – you got other artists like Bootsie and Gucci Mane who are some of the hottest in the streets, but they’re not getting radio play,” he said.
He admits that he was going to have to leave 100.3 The Beat soon because of his music, which is catching fire in other cities. Shorty said he needs face time with his fans so they can get to know him and has several upcoming shows.
His stops include Atlanta, Memphis, Nashville, Chicago and Kansas City.
His hit Wah Wah Wow (Ratchet)” quickly became the number one song in St. Louis, beating out nationally-signed artist. He also beat those artists out at this year’s TMAs (Traffic Music Awards).
He said he’ll miss radio because of the listeners and staffers, but not the negative side, and he isn’t looking back.
“I can’t stop now and I don’t press rewind, so I’m going fast forward.”
Translation: he rolling with hot local producer Laudie, who produced “Wah Wah Wow (Ratchet)” and produces local and nationally signed artist Ludie.
