hiphopnc

U.S. urban entertainment, Black-audience radio

Background

The station behind hiphopnc.com, WQOK-FM 97.5, first signed on October 1, 1960, initially under the call letters WHLF-FM and later WJLC-FM (1973–1987), airing Top 40 and soft adult contemporary formats. In 1987, radio entrepreneur Tom Joyner purchased the station through Power Broadcasting, switched it to an urban contemporary format, renamed it K-Power 97.5, and assigned the WQOK call letters. The station eventually came under the ownership of Urban One (then known as Radio One), the media company founded by Cathy Hughes in Washington, D.C. in 1980 with the purchase of WOL-AM. Urban One went public in 1999, making Hughes the first Black woman to take a company public on a U.S. stock exchange. Today K97.5 operates under the brand 'K97.5' and markets itself as 'The Triangle's Hip-Hop and R&B' station, with studios on Creedmoor Road in Raleigh. Its website hiphopnc.com covers hip-hop news, local artist features, concerts, and cultural events aimed at Black audiences in North Carolina. As an entertainment outlet rather than a political news organization, it does not maintain a consistent editorial stance toward any administration.

Sources

1. WQOK — Wikipedia
2. K97.5 — hiphopnc.com
3. Urban One — Company Overview
4. Cathy Hughes' Radio Empire: Urban One — CEO Today Magazine
5. K97.5 WQOK FM Radio Station Information — Radio Lineup

Profile compiled 2026-09-11; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.

← Back to track record