Romesh Ranganathan to present hip hop show on Radio 2
- Four part series Romesh Ranganathan: For The Love Of Hip Hop will broadcast on BBC Radio 2 this August
- A "beginners guide to hip hop", the series will see the comedian playing tracks and discussing the genre
- He says: "I feel like there's a big group of people that feel like hip hop isn't for them, but it absolutely is"
Romesh Ranganathan is to present a hip hop show on BBC Radio 2 this August.
Titled Romesh Ranganathan: For The Love Of Hip Hop, it will see the comedian offering up "a beginners guide to hip hop".
The BBC explains: "Recent viewers to BBC Two's Later... With Jools Holland would have seen comedian and broadcaster Romesh Ranganathan talk about his love of hip hop, and choose archive tracks from Roots Manuva, Jay-Z, Ice-T and Lady Leshurr.
"This summer, he brings his love, knowledge and passion of hip hop to Radio 2 in this new four-part series - a beginners guide to hip hop. A former battle rapper and host of the Hip Hop Saved My Life podcast, Romesh is a hip hop aficionado, from its golden era in the 90s, featuring the likes of De La Soul, Snoop Dogg, Lauryn Hill and Missy Elliot, to modern-day acts like Lizzo and Kanye West.
"Romesh has an encyclopaedic knowledge of the genre and a killer track selection to match! He will explore the music he loves, from its infancy in the 1970s, and with his usual humorous take on the unique music scene that is hip-hop, he'll make you love it too.
"Across the series, Romesh will play tracks around subjects in the genre, including looking at the relationship between comedy and hip hop and showcasing the household names that have dabbled in the genre that you might not know about. He'll play big hitters such as Wee Rule by Wee Papa Girl Rappers, and mainstream crossover tracks such as The Message by Grandmaster Flash and Numb by Jay-Z, and he'll have tunes from some of his all-time favourite artists such as Roots Manuva, LL Cool J, and A Tribe Called Quest."
Ranganathan says: "I'm incredibly excited about doing a hip hop show on BBC Radio 2. I feel like there's a big group of people that feel like hip hop isn't for them, but it absolutely is. It's such an expansive genre, it has something for everyone. I genuinely believe there is a whole raft of Radio 2 listeners who don't know how great hip hop is and I want to change that. I want to convert so many people that I start some sort of movement."