Given the scale of such an undertaking, Carl Freed, who at the time worked with Metropolitan Entertainment, was asked to executively produce the festival. As hip-hop began to rise in commercial success, WQHT, Hot 97, the primary Hip-hop and R&B FM radio station in the area, began to plan an exclusively hip-hop festival. The concert was discontinued as the station switched formats.īy 1994, there was thought to be a lack of large, exclusively hip-hop festivals in the tri-state area. Similarly, Los Angeles station KKBT held an annual Summer Jam hip-hop concert during the 1990s after hiring KMEL's Program Director in 1993. KMEL continues to host smaller versions of the event annually. The hip-hop summer festival format was originally pioneered and popularized by San Francisco radio station KMEL with their large-scale Summer Jam concerts from 1987 through the 1990s and present day. The most recent iteration was held at the UBS arena in Elmont, New York on June 4, 2023. Normally held in June, the concert features popular New York and national acts in hip hop and R&B. Summer Jam is the annual hip-hop fest held in the tri-state area and sponsored by New York-based radio station Hot 97FM. T-Pain performing at Hot 97's Summer Jam 2007 at Giants StadiumĮast Rutherford, New Jersey, Elmont, New York, Uniondale, New York

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