Hot 103 Jamz kicks off an ambitious talent search

This weekend, radio station KPRS 103.3 — the FM staple known as Hot 103 Jamz — holds the first of three new music showcases, hosted by morning show co-anchor Brian B. Shynin’. The station’s music director, Chris Harris, likens the events to mixtapes, saying they present a variety of strong new talent for a low price.

“There’s a lot of quality stuff out there, and not all of them are hip-hop or R&B,” says Harris of the 37 entrants from whom the station selected its showcase bills. (Each submitted three to four tracks, along with headshots, bios and links to their social media accounts.) “We had one gospel artist, a neo-rock-pop artist. Of course, the majority is hip-hop, but there’s a lot of singers out there, a lot of crooners. That was shocking.”

The showcases lead into KPRS’ Hot 103 Jamz Music Conference, scheuled for October. In addition to being selected for the showcase, the finalists who perform will also attend and play the fourth annual conference. Harris sees this as a way to add another dimension to the conference beyond panels and networking. “Each winner from each showcase gets qualified to win the ultimate VIP treatment,” he says. “They’ll get a consultant — Joe Black, a local producer — along with an electronic press kit with all their tracks, professional headshots, a professional bio, and also 10 hours of studio time.”

Before Harris came to Kansas City, he worked in the Washington, D.C., market for a decade. It’s a vibrant talent incubator, home to, among other people and trends, Chuck Brown, a go-go scene and the rapper Wale.

“We groomed Raheem DeVaughn, and I’m looking to see that here,” Harris says of his hopes for the showcase. “I know we got Tech N9ne, but I’m looking to see more artists like Tech make it and have their own empire, touring city to city and making a name for themselves.”

Harris views the showcases and the conference as community outreach. “We’re dedicated to giving back to the community in so many ways that we kind of dropped the ball on the music community,” he says. He points to the station’s having been chosen as a 2015 Crystal Radio Award finalist as an indicator of KPRS’ place in KC.

“Now that we’ve got the ball rolling with this first showcase, hopefully we’ll have many more to come.”•