New York's Hot 97 has long been one of the most important hip-hop radio stations in the U.S., breaking new artists, influencing trends, and unleashing career-defining freestyles from artists like Black Thought and Dipset, as well as hosting annual Summer Jams that have made hip-hop history. (See: Jay Z vs. Nas and Mobb Deep.)
The decline of terrestrial radio and the rise of streaming music have somewhat weakened the station's platform, but it's still an important institution to the culture of New York, even as the most recent Nielsen ratings show it with a slightly lower share than Power 105. The station had lately seemed like it was making positive moves to appeal to a younger generation, including tapping Bronx icon The Kid Mero to host its vaunted morning show after the ouster of some older, well known personalities like Ebro, Peter Rosenberg, and Laura Stylez last year. A February press release from the station's owner, MediaCo, touted Mero in the Morning's rise to the third-most-popular morning show among adults aged 18-54.
But recent statements by current and former Hot 97 workers, including Mero, convey that all may not be well at the station.
Last Wednesday, Mero, alongside Mornings with Mero co-host Kazeem Kaz Famuyide, aired out station management on live radio for what Kaz called "the worst place I've ever worked in my life, far and away." Mero compared working at the station to a certain basketball team: "When you go to watch the Knicks, you're not going for James Dolan," Mero opened the broadcast. "You going to see Jalen Brunson, OG, Kat, know what I'm sayin'. Jordan Clarkson, if you're Filipino."
Mero continued, "You can have the best team in the world but if your GM stinks, and your coach doesn't know how to coach or run the plays, you're not gonna win. And that extends to every business, industry, in the world."
While Kaz and Mero only alluded to issues that made it "a bad day," as Kaz put it, former Hot 97 producer Scottie Beam alleged on Threads one day later that all DJs on Hot 97 had been "furloughed," as well as all personalities other than "morning, afternoon, and weekend drive" personalities. On Friday, former Hot 97 journalist Bryson "Boom" Paul posted that he had been "one of the many laid off at @HOT97."
On Thursday, Peter Rosenberg, who was let go after 12 years in December 2025, released a video stating that "so many DJs have been removed," citing DJs Bobby Konders and Jabba, who hosted a Caribbean music show on the station for over 30 years, as well as artist-breaking DJ Drewski. "They are trying to make this station work and the only thing they've done as a company is fire people. All they do is let people go and save money."
Hot 97 was run by Emmis Communications since 1988, but in 2019 it merged with the hedge fund Standard General, renaming itself MediaCo and giving up most of its voting rights for Hot 97 and WBLS, the long-running soul/R&B station. An August press release from MediaCo, which also owns EstrellaTV and other radio stations in Texas, touts $64.5 million in revenue for the second quarter of 2026.
Hell Gate sent MediaCo a list of questions for this story, and we'll update if they respond.
Funkmaster Flex, the 58-year-old DJ who is arguably Hot 97's mascot at this point, acknowledged some of the commentary on Saturday via Instagram, posting screenshots of Scottie Beam's Threads as well as less spicy Threads from his coworker Miabelle Bocicault, who also co-hosts on Mornings With Mero. "HEY? SCOTTIE BEAM I THINK YOU BLOCKED ME BY ACCIDENT? 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂," Flex wrote in the caption. "I ALWAYS RESPECT PEOPLES OPINION! 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 CURIOUS GEORGE! FUNKFLEX! IM BIG BLACK UGLY AS EVER! HOWEVER? MAGILLA GORILLA!"
Flex's patented absurdity aside, the post noticeably sidesteps the controversy—and certainly doesn't reflect the courage of his coworkers Mero and Kaz, who were brave enough to call out their bosses on their own station. (Mornings With Mero has continued as normal so far, with its latest broadcast airing this morning.) Flex's tone was markedly different, for example, during his beef with former Hot 97 DJ Enuff, who accused Flex of getting him fired in August 2025 after working there for nearly 30 years. Flex denied having a role in that, saying on-air at the time that "I love him to death"—but this July accused Enuff of accepting payola from famous New York rappers like French Montana, Maino, and Noreaga. Days later, Enuff seemed to respond on Instagram, posting in part, "It’s unfortunate that one individual is attempting to paint a false narrative about who I am, and disappointing to see my name spoken about in a negative light."
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