PMS Radio Reloaded (Play My Shhh) can be heard on Tuesdays from 10 p.m. to 11 p.m. on the online radio station DaMatrixStudios.com. The show has undergone many changes, but the one constant throughout all those changes has been Kristina Ramos a.k.a. Wavey K. Now with her sitting at the forefront, Wavey K hopes to take PMS to new heights and expand her “brand” into new endeavors.
Kristina Ramos a.k.a. Wavey K worked her way up from booking producer for PMS Radio to currently being the host of what is now known as PMS Radio Reloaded. According to Wavey K, PMS Radio was created by Mercedes Dukes, a former women’s college basketball player for St. John’s University and was originally being broadcasted by defunct online radio station Arizzma Radio in Harlem. The idea behind the show was an all women owned and operated broa
dcast.
“Originally there were two hosts, Raya Noel and Miranda (Randa Luv) but eventually both ladies quit” says Wavey. “Raya quit first and then I became a co-host with Miranda and then Miranda quit.”
According to Wavey, there were always a lot of women in the PMS Radio movement so when Miranda quit, they asked each girl to fill in and that was the situation for three years. During that tumultuous time, PMS Radio still achieved success; the show was nominated for Best Radio Show in the 2010 Underground Music Awards. While the show received some success, it would also be on hiatus a lot.
“Mercedes would send us everywhere to promote the show the Bahamas, Mexico, different music events, but eventually she got tired of chasing the girls to do certain functions” says Wavey. “She also got tired of funding it.”
While on hiatus, Wavey started reaching out to the other girls about starting the show up again and many showed interest but nobody really took the initiative. Around this time, she spoke to Mercedes about doing a radio show and according to Wavey, Mercedes suggested she take PMS Radio. Wavey took it and renamed the show to PMS Radio Reloaded, but before the launch she had to figure out a way to fund it before starting the show. The new show had officially launched in September 2013. In the past, PMS broadcasted at Arrizzma, DaMatrix Studios, Street Market Radio, then they had their own studio in Queens before coming back to the Bronx at DaMatrix Studios, where it is currently broadcasts. Since the launch, PMS Radio Reloaded held a 5 year reunion show which all of the girls attended except the two original hosts Raya and Miranda. In her capacity as the boss where she has full creative control, she says she feels more freedom and less stress. The online radio station market has grown and continues to grow considerably. The low barrier to entry has allowed many stations to operate, but there has not been much consolidation between competitors and there isn’t a dominant leader in the space. As it pertains to hip hop, the online radio market has helped many people maintain relevancy or gain new life in the music industry. People like Stepha Lova, Star and Bucwild, Lord Finesse, DJ Ron G and many others who outside of the mainstream outlets are holding court in online radio. In that environment, it can be a struggle to show your uniqueness and Wavey echoes that point.
“The struggle to remain independent is tough, we have been offered money but people want us to change our identity” says Wavey. “My goal is to get the radio show on mainstream radio and television studios.”
Wavey may well be on her way towards that goal. In 2013, she was given the opportunity to co-host Power 105.1 during the Super Bowl in 2013.
“After I co-hosted, the person who brought me up to the station received a lot of backlash” says Wavey. “I also received some backlash from Hot 97 because I had a relationship with people up there and they have been holding me down with whatever I wanted, but I had to go where they offered me a position.”
While her goal is to have the radio show on television, Wavey says she is trying to do whatever brings her the most money. She is open to bring PMS Radio Reloaded to Sirius or similar outlets if she gets offered money to do so. According to Wavey, PMS is bigger than being a radio show; it is a movement and a support system for females in the music industry. It is very similar to the Murda Mamis, a well-known female oriented group that also supports females in the music industry. On the subject of the Murda Mamis, Wavey says there was once an affiliation with the group.
“We used to throw parties for them but we stopped doing club events” says Wavey.
Women empowerment has become a huge topic these days. Since Sheryl Sandberg, Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Facebook, Inc. released her book titled “Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead” the subject of female ambition, achievement are being debated. In addition, with many statistics and news stories which conclude women becoming the dominant breadwinners in our society and more women being in school, women leading our society is at the forefront of the discussion. There is also the much speculated idea about former First Lady and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton running for the office of President in 2016. The presence of PMS Radio Reloaded adds to that debate, their show pushes women empowerment to that’s been the whole idea according to Wavey.
“Since day one, before the COO of Facebook came out with that message that is what we were doing for girls in the hood” says Wavey. Even when other radio stations wanted us to come to their station, used our formula pushing five girls to do a radio show and even having them broadcast at the same time as us, we weren’t upset. We looked at it as a positive, because women were being given the opportunity. Some of the guests are pretty shocked and they say that we really know hip hop, it’s not a gimmick.”
The future for Wavey K and PMS Radio Reloaded seems to be bright. Already, Wavey will be making an appearance on television starting with the third season in VH1’s Black Ink and another television show, she decided not to name that shows up and coming females in their respective industries trying to make it. Her appearance on that show is also set to air in 2014. Wavey says to catch PMS Radio Reloaded you can tune in to DaMatrixStudios.com on Tuesdays where people can also watch it live. People can watch taped episodes on Ustream and there are plans to put the shows on the PMS Radio Reloaded YouTube channel. Currently, the show only airs once a week but according to Wavey, if she got sponsors, she could do it 5-7 days a week. As for artists, Wavey says PMS Radio offers platforms from underground artists to showcase their talent to mainstream artists and other industry luminaries. She says interested artists who want to get on the show should send an email to PMSReloaded@gmail.com. Artists can get interviewed, freestyle, or join a cypher. In addition, PMS offers artist consultation and promotion. Lastly, for those females looking to break into the industry she has some advice which is
“Do not compromise your beliefs, be yourself because you are not going to make it not being yourself. Know your self worth and what you have to offer. Make a plan, focus and stick to it no matter how many people try to discourage you. It’s not going to be realistic to anybody until you actually make it.”
-Lulaine C.
