R.I.P. The Rhyme
The Rhyme (formerly Ch.65 on XM Radio) has been discontinued as a result of the merger with Sirius. Backspin (formerly ch.43 on Sirius) also did not make the cut. This leaves the merged company with absolutely NO classic hip hop channel. The genre and the channel will be greatly missed by us here at Subsoniq (this also means the end of Subsoniq Classix).
If interested, below is a link for a petition started by subscribers to help reinstate The Rhyme and RAW.
http://www.petitiononline.com/RAWRHYME/petition.html
Tags: Add new tag, Backspin, merger, Sirius, subsoniq classix, The Rhyme, XM
November 12th, 2008 at 3:00 am
Better than what Backspin had going out. It cut off in the middle of Biz Markie- Just a Friend. Turn Off The Lights was playing near midnight but it didn’t die until 2am.
November 12th, 2008 at 8:54 am
RIP to definitely my favorite hip hop channel on the birds. Fingers crossed that Hip Hop nation can scratch my itch!
November 12th, 2008 at 9:24 am
yo my boy called me like an emergency had occurred, woke me up out of my sleep(day off) to tell me no more rhyme! It was the reason we got xm two years ago. If it werent for subsoniq I would cancel my subscription. now we have to listen to the same crap that they play on the radio. old school made xm worth the money. especially for hip hop heads. why pay for radio now hard to justify. keep your shit hot!
November 12th, 2008 at 9:46 am
Man I awoke this morning to some furious anger!!! This seriously does not bode well for my continued patronage of XM! Just an example this morning both new hip hop stations were playing two different Ti songs AT THE SAME TIME! I thought XM was about diversity in its programming? R.I.P. The Rhyme I will miss you greatly!!
November 12th, 2008 at 10:57 am
join the club my brotha!!!!!! im furious!!!! my whole purpose for getting xm radio was to hear dj bee, subsoniq, and rasta root! what the f_ck im i to do now???????? what are we to do now
November 12th, 2008 at 11:16 am
fellas i completely understand the frustration. The Rhyme was very close to our heart (Doc and I) and man we already sorely miss it. Its a sad day for classic hip hop on the satellites (for both Backspin and Rhyme fans).
Alkani2, i will say this, if you signed up for those three shows…you will now find all three on Hip Hop Nation. DJ Bee will be on Fridays 10-midnight (right before DJ Premier’s show), Rasta Root will be on at 11pm Thursdays (right after Ali Shaheed Muhammad, and of course you can see the announcement about Subsoniq above. Hope that helps ease the pain a little bit.
November 12th, 2008 at 11:32 am
This makes me really sad (although I’ve been mourning for a while since I heard about it a few weeks ahead of time). It’s great that Bee, Shaheed, Subsoniq and others will carry on their shows on other channels, but to me, radio only makes sense when I can turn it on and enjoy what I’m hearing 90% of the time. I can’t reorganize my life to tune in at a certain time, no matter how much I love Subsoniq! If I had a decent Tivo kind of thing to record XM Sirius I’d probably keep it, but they want to charge me $250 for an XMP3. (Now I’m looking for ways to record streaming audio on my home computer so I can catch all your shows and give myself a reason to keep subscribing.)
November 12th, 2008 at 11:38 am
This is fucking garbage. I had hoped that the merger would result in a Rhyme/Backspin collabo and a separate Subsoniq Channel.
Talk about a kick in the nuts.
I do see that the channel 65 remains open, so hopefully those in charge will bring back some relic of the Rhyme.
November 12th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
i will miss the rhyme… the only reason i listed to 66 or 67 was to catch subsoniq or any of the subsoniq spin-offs. now no more pitch control as well..
what a sad day..
now i need to go through the program guide to figure out times, etc
November 12th, 2008 at 12:11 pm
I started driving this morning and I was like ( what the fuck….where the hell is The Rhyme.) This morning was a depressing and subreal drive to work. The Rhyme on my drive to work kept me from wondering what kind of bullshit am I going to deal with today at work. It kept me clear minded. As a true old school hip-hop head, The Rhyme will surely be missed. R.I.P. November 12, 2008. The day OLD SCHOOL HIP HOP DIED.
November 12th, 2008 at 12:53 pm
I’m with carlitoskilla. I was FURIOUS that The Rhyme was off the air this morning. And like Darius K, as much as I like Subsoniq, DJ Bee, Ali Shaheed Muhammed, and Rasta Root shows, I can’t rearrange my life in order to hear them on Hip Hop Nation. I called XM this morning to cancel my subscription but they offered me one month free to try out the new offerings. I’ll take the offer but I doubt I’ll continue my susbcription beyond December. Why the f**k should I pay to hear music I can hear on regular FM radio???
November 12th, 2008 at 1:12 pm
Yo this is sad…..Subsoniq Classix was the best show on XM…I am considering dropping my subscription now! I flipped through “hip-hop nation” and they had on the same pop crap that is on free top 100 radio stations….What is the point of paying?!?!??!? If I wanted to listen to TI all day I would just listen to the regular radio. XM and Sirius had to merge because they were both doing so bad financially, and now they play the same stuff that is on free radio, that does not sound like a good business move to me!
November 12th, 2008 at 2:30 pm
Yo, I just cancelled my XM thanks for keeping REAL hip hop alive just a little bit longer, it’s now officially dead in my eyes.
November 12th, 2008 at 2:51 pm
Hurtin’ the same hurt as everyone else here– I was NOT happy on my drive in this morning once I figured out what had happened. I’ve fired off emails to two different addresses today, and plan to keep on doing so. Sirius/XM NEEDS something to fill the gap between the R&B station and NEW PHAT HOT RAP JAMZ that we can hear anywhere else.
Damnit!
I’m gonna call and cancel, too, and take their offer for free months.
November 12th, 2008 at 3:52 pm
I have already put in two calls to customer service (at least they were american).
I’ve already written to programming as well expressing my disinterest in the current channel format. Us classic hip hop listeners just got the BOZACK!
I’m grateful that Subsoniq is still alive but Sirius XM has exactly until December to get this format shit fixed.
I’ve had the damn service since 02 and I feel alienated right now. I seriously skipped the hip hop channels for a solid 3 hours today and heard 3 listenable songs.
Call’em 800-XMRADIO or 1-800-967-2346
Call programming 866-388-6767 and tell them about programming
programming@xmradio.com
listenercare@xmradio.com
http://xmradio.com/help/emailus.xmc?ch=67
Sirius listeners needing classic hip hop
call 1-888-539-SIRIUS or 1-888-539-7474
http://www.sirius.com/customercare
November 12th, 2008 at 3:56 pm
for those of you looking for a recordable/affordable device look @ the skyfi 3
under 40 bills on some sites… check http://www.myradiostore.com, http://www.tss-radio.com, and http://store.xmfanstore.com
November 12th, 2008 at 4:00 pm
Man, this is a sad day. The Rhyme played the best hip-hop and introduced me to classics that I didn’t hear the first time around. That station was pure education. Now I’m never gonna hear the promo with the dude that called in to the station and was talkin’ about masturbating on stage with 2-Live crew. This merger is wack.
November 12th, 2008 at 4:05 pm
The bouncers whooped my ass and I ain’t been to Florida since….
Fucking cried on the way to work today, if anyone’s got any pull with these people please get something done!
November 12th, 2008 at 4:21 pm
programming@xmradio.com is a good e-mail addy to write. Not saying it will change things, but it should at least get counted.
We feel your pain fellas, believe me we feel it.
November 12th, 2008 at 4:54 pm
so, how many times have you heard “Black President” by Nas today?
I’ve counted 2 since 7am…
#$@%!!!!
November 12th, 2008 at 7:24 pm
Is Hip-Hop Nation censored? This is completely worthless, I feel like someone just took my whole album collection and drove over it with a bulldozer. Censored? what a joke.
November 12th, 2008 at 8:50 pm
I too, like everyone else was caught by surprise on my drive to work - only to get an email later saying what had happened. I am crushed.
I already miss The Rhyme.
November 12th, 2008 at 9:48 pm
listen ppl!!! i understand your pain..hip-hop nation sucks with the censored nonsense….but with that being said….the shows carried over from xm the rhyme/RAW made me stay put with sirius….and come on dj premier live from HQ, dj jamad, plus tony touch, dj muggs and lord sear on shade 45 are good stuff….i miss backspin and the rhyme was awesome!!!! but do u honestly wanna cancel and go back to SUCK-FM!!!!! or an i-pod with the same shit, no cuts, no blends, no scraches of that realness???????? they dont hold a candle to what the 2 companies have as far as mixshows!!!!!! yes its not the same but dont be quick to hit the cancel button!!!!! give it a lil…
and yes shade 45 reminds me of WAYNE 45 with all the lil wayne they play….but the mixshows are mostly together and FUCKIN DJ BEE IS ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
November 12th, 2008 at 10:04 pm
i wrote to customer service at sirius and told them to bring back the rhyme/backspin one or the other and bring those dj shows to the channel.
they know most gangstarr or mf doom fans dont get down with top 20 hip-hop..it only makes sense….thanks for the customer care site mike nova and i suggest anyone who wants the rhyme or backspin back to follow suit!!!!
enough emails from us and they may do this!!!!!!!!!!!!! i got my fingers crossed!!!!
November 12th, 2008 at 11:52 pm
I was driving this morning to work and waiting to hear some dope Tribe, Nas, Gangstarr, Pete Rock, or Dilla. Instead I get T.I. and Lil Wayne - I thought I left my radio on FM - but no it was XM! I’m glad that Subsoniq and “In the Booth” with Ali Shaheed will live those shows are the reason why I still pay. But damn I drive to work in the morning and those shows aren’t usually on so the regular programming kept me going. Why not just have a separate Subsoniq channel? Or better yet two channels - Subsoniq and Subsoniq Classics. I would pay more for that. I don’t understand don’t they have the bandwidth? What can we do?
November 13th, 2008 at 12:12 am
Man, I almost fucking cry today on my way to work. No more XM65. Are you freaking kidding me. I hope they realize what a big mistake that was. I’m done with XM. If anyone know about any hope please post.
November 13th, 2008 at 3:17 am
Damn Damn Damn. The one damn channel I could always count on to play the hip hop I grew up with. Over the past few years, I was able to use this channel to educate my wife to the old school. My wife now likes Stetsasonic!!!! Are you fucking serious? If we decide to put up with the new lineup, we’ll have to sit through lil wayne, ti and the rest of the crap they play 24/7 on the free radio. Why bother? So sad.
November 13th, 2008 at 11:53 am
Here’s a copy of the email I wrote to XM (not that it matters one bit; I’m just venting and I know it):
To Whom It May Concern:
First, you took my beloved Fungus away. I was willing to tolerate that, mostly because of the solid offerings remaining on the dial.
But now, you have deleted the Rhyme (XM 65), and that is simply too much. News flash: the crap played on Hip Hop Nation is NOT remotely equivalent to the playlist from the Rhyme, and even the barest glance at the two channels reveals the incredible differences in style and music. Why should I pay to hear the same garbage hip-hop that I can hear on the FM dial?
Having practiced antitrust law, I can say without question that while many mergers may not run afoul of the law, the majority of them serve the companies’ interests at cost of serving the consumers.
I will cancel my subscription forthwith.
Sincerely,
/s/
November 13th, 2008 at 11:54 am
What a horrible day. The new XM channel lineup is scewed toward an older generation of listeners with the Dead, Dylan, other oldies channels. This was a bad business decision by the company. These older listeners will grow old and die and they will have lost the younger generations. I lived with the Rhyme everyday, and now they’ve lost me. Good job XM. Way to ensure your business continues it’s freefall.
November 13th, 2008 at 12:20 pm
I submit for your review my letter to the brass:
Greetings,
I normally wouldn’t reach out to individuals of your status to express my concerns/feelings. However today is a different day in my opinion.
Satellite radio was such a lifestyle changing concept for me. As someone who constantly looked for a new outlet to discover new music, satellite radio seemed like the perfect solution for me. I enjoy many genres of music and also like exploring various eclectic sounds (XM at one time allowed for this).
With that said I have some huge issues right now with the way Sirius XM is handling their “die hard” consumers that yearn for quality music programming. Satellite radio is a different realm from terrestrial. Look I know I don’t have the years of experience working in the field BUT as a consumer the attraction to the “birds” was the idea that it defies the logic of conventional radio.
As an educated consumer who has been an early adopter of many technologies, I’ve had XM since 2002. I’ve had multiple radios and currently have two but at certain times I’ve had my family plan maxed out. I’ve given countless gifts of XM radio to family and friends. To date I’ve given 10 gifts of satellite radio. You might consider me a loyal consumer.
Sadly, today this loyal consumer is looking for alternatives to XM. I NEVER thought I would say this. It disheartens me totally. How could you alienate customers such as me? We are the best marketing tool you could ever have and WE PAY YOU! You’ve made significant changes to the programming in the Jazz, Dance, Urban, Rock, and Eclectic genres without consulting the people you should be pleasing… your current subscribers. Look I’m realistic you need to compete with the alternatives choices out their mainly terrestrial radio and iPods. Please understand though you can compete with iPods by having deeper play lists
and MORE (not less) variety in channels. You can also compete with terrestrial by having the shallow playlist channels with the more popular Billboard hits.
You need to poll your customers and not just worry about the shareholders. I understand the balance but right now you are letting the share prices dictate how you please/keep happy your 18.9 million subscribers that are passionate about your services.
I hope you take this letter and others like this to heart because I’m sure if you don’t, you will be losing a large part of that subscriber base. Should you have any questions or concerns about my writings please feel free to contact me, I’d be happy to facilitate my opinions as long as its for the betterment of the service and can benefit the consumer.
—
Keep petitioning ya’ll.
November 13th, 2008 at 1:57 pm
I just started a campaign to bring backspin back
http://keepersoftheart.blogspot.com/2008/11/i-want-my-backspin-station-on-sirius-xm.html
November 13th, 2008 at 3:23 pm
Just when I was about to subscribe to satelite radio MAN THIS SUCKS. Ok people does this mean that HIP HOP is over HELL NO. Its just sad that we won’t have our own radio station to hear dope music so now we have to MAKE TIME TO LISTEN TO REAL HIP HOP? This makes no sense. I have been going online to check out some podcast sites and there are some dope HIP HOP podcasts. Just do a search for Dj Lee James, Todd Kelley aka The Big La and some of the burden will be lifted. R.I.P. The Rhyme!
November 13th, 2008 at 4:24 pm
So so sad……
I ask myself, “how did this happen?” What was the rationale of the programmers, who are they?
I am so, so sad. I am lost without the Rhyme in my whip.
I have emailed and called voicing my complaints.
Look yall’ by people petitioning tv stations and movie studios shows have been put back on the air and DVDs released.
Everyone needs to join in and complain to try to get The Rhyme back on the air.
We cannot let this era and flavor of music die.
November 13th, 2008 at 6:23 pm
They also replaced XM 80 ‘the Move’ with some bullshit Trance, progressive crap channel. The Move has true House music throwing in some classics every now and then…anyone who knows that music knows that Tiest and Paul Van Dyke are bullshit!
November 13th, 2008 at 6:32 pm
well i cancelled today, I was only 5 months in a 3 year pre-paid, but they gave me a refund.. ill probably use the cash to get some kind of hookup with my iphone and pandora in my ride.. meanwhile they gave me 2 months free incase I decide to change my mind. doubtful. switchin channels in the 60s i heard 3 songs with auto-tune vocals, 2 of them being T-pain.. if I wanted to hear that shit 24/7 i’d build a time machine and kick it with Roger troutman..atleast he rocked the talkbox the proper way.. peace out XM, it was nice knowin’ ya
November 13th, 2008 at 11:52 pm
SAY IT AINT SO!!!!
I love XM 65 the rhyme, and I was also freaking out when I jumped in my ride yesterday morning to find out my favorite channel was no longer there. Them corporate muthafuckers are trying to force jiggy, commerical shit down our ears and Im not having that. Once I got home from my daily routine, I called XM or Sirius XM radio to fuckin complain.
She was like sorry but that station has been canceled and substituted with 67 Hiphop nation or some shit. Im like WTF? Are you guys going to bring it back?? She’s like a few people have complained my best advice to you is to continue complaining. Im like yea, cus if I not I will cancel my subscribtion. Ive been a loyal XM Radio fan since 2005 and I was so happy when I came across 65 the rhyme with the classic good hiphop. It was like flying first class since I didnt want to return to coach (mainstream fm radio) Now Im going to have to sign up for downloadable music and start burning cds again to hear my favorite shit. I also thought about Pandora too. Anyhow, let’s bring back the Rhyme! Where’s the petition???
November 14th, 2008 at 12:08 am
Work was already going to be wack on Wednesday, but I could not believe that the radio was going to be. WHO DECIDED THIS SHIT! What makes old school rap not worthy of a channel like old school R&B. The hip-hop channels they have now are garbage. THE ONLY REASON I HAD XM RADIO WAS FOR THE RHYME AND GROOVE. I loved old school rap and of course Subsoniq classics. Other than that, I could listen to the radio to hear all the crap that they are playing on the stations now. THE ONLY REASON I MAY STICK AROUND IS BECAUSE OF SUBSONIQ, BUT I AM NOT PLEASED WITH WHAT THIS MERGER HAS TO OFFER. I have listened to SIRIUS in the past and their ol school channel was cool. I am trying to figure out how both of them got the axe during the merger. Where there not enough listeners? Words cannot express how I feel. I might as well have regular FM radio. I am going to call to express my anger! I might take the money I save on this subscription and use it towards the purchase of those classic songs I use to here on satellite.
GOOD GRIEF!!!!!
November 14th, 2008 at 9:21 am
WTF!!! its a sad day freakin day..I thought some shit was wrong with the radio..say it aint so!!! R.I.P the rhyme… No reason to pay for XM now…whats the world coming to…
November 14th, 2008 at 6:41 pm
Everyone on here that is upset at what happened PLEASE CALL XM RADIO and voice your concerns. We can at least try. I listened to The Rhyme probably 90% of the time and the rest was Leo G blaze sessions and Subsoniq. What also pisses me off is that we have to pay extra for NFL. That’s some bullshit. So is Leo G being censored!
November 14th, 2008 at 7:14 pm
R.I.P. The Rhyme! I listen to it on DirecTV, and now I’m just listening to The Groove all day, but it’s not enough! 11/12 I will never forget…..I duno how XM gonna discountinue the rhyme AND 66 raw?! I guess they don’t care about the Hip Hop listeners….and now it’s one big ass “The City” type channel (yea I kno its Hip Hop Nation or whatever now) but this is bullshit!!
The first thing I do in the morning is turn on the TV and listen to The Rhyme when getting ready to work, coming home from work, going out and coming home 2 or 3 am and just jamming the hell out of The Rhyme…..sigh
“Call up the Request Line” I will miss the little commercial jingles too
“Two turntables and a mic….one phat emcee on the set”
RIP 65 The Rhyme and 66 Raw!!
Sad day in Hip Hop!
***but the thing that killed it for me before was when DJ Shame left….one of the BEST DJs on 65
November 16th, 2008 at 1:02 am
FYI a petition is now up
http://www.petitiononline.com/RAWRHYME/petition.html
November 20th, 2008 at 1:56 pm
The only reason I still had xm in the car. WE NEED IT BACK
November 20th, 2008 at 2:48 pm
petition signed. This is just unacceptable program replacement. I suspected a change was coming, but this is a major L.
November 26th, 2008 at 5:26 am
I’ve emailed and called everyday since the three days it took me to get over the shock of not having the Rhyme with me all day. I’d have it on at least 10 hours a day while running my business. Now I just leave my XM on channel 1, love Subsoniq and Shaheed. Going to keep calling, it ubsured that they wouldn’t give us at least on option. Total disregard for the listeners. We should all leave our radios on the blank 65 s they can really see how manyof us there are. I’m changing mine right now and it will stay there until the rhyme comes back.
YOU FEEL ME GOD!
December 4th, 2008 at 4:22 pm
What a sad sad day! On November 12, when I turned on my XM radio, I thought something was wrong with it. My three favorite channels were chrome, the rhyme and raw. I can not beieve that the stupid low life programmers discontinued those channels! I can’t tell you guys how upset, angered, annoyed and shocked at this. I love old school dance, old school hip-hop and the like. I’ve been calling XM eversince I discovered that they robbed me of what I subscribed to them for in the first place in 2001. How could they have such very little reguard for their fan base? When I first heard about the merger, I told my friend that there was going to be some drastic changes and they were all for the worst!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can go on and on but I won’t Bring back those channels!
January 6th, 2009 at 1:46 am
The last bastion of real hip-hop… killed. I already cancelled my subscription over the loss of the Rhyme.