Music Inner City, a show that reaches out to inner city youth through urban music, is entering its 15th year on television and recently began a trial period with Comcast's 24-hour On Demand service.
The show's creator, South End resident Gordon Curvey, ends every episode with a positive message about staying in school, a routine that exemplifies his activism in the Seattle community.
"He's trying to show kids that there's more to it than just the inner city life here," said Raymond Fernandez, the show's regular cameraman.
Music Inner City, which airs on Public Access Channels 77 and 29 on Sundays at midnight, plays music videos from underground artists like Caz and Pretty Byrdie that don't get airtime on MTV, VH1, or BET.
With this do-it-yourself spirit, Curvey believes there aren't enough venues for local artists to play their music, and hopes his show can be an exception. But for the show to be worthwhile, he asserts some reforms need to be made in the local music scene.
"They're not working hard enough to make it big," Curvey said. "I'm constantly preaching to the artists around here to put away a little money and get a video made."
E-dawg, a local who worked with hip-hop icon and Seattle native Sir Mixalot, agrees that Music Inner City is a beacon in a city that lags behind musically, playing rap from Los Angeles and New York that made the top 40 list on the East Coast weeks before.
"I just think there's no more creativity, and I blame that on radio," E-dawg said. "They're not letting people be who they are, they're telling people who to be... Gordon gives us what we can't get."
E-dawg also sees Curvey's show as one of the very few places where kids can watch videos without cursing or smoking in them. Curvey avoids the homogeny and offensiveness of images-scantily clad women, cars with big rims, drugs-he sees on the videos overplayed by many of the popular music channels.
"I had to edit a Snoop Dogg video because they showed a pack of buzz, marijuana," Curvey said.
He enlists entertainers to spread his message as well, and he has interviewed such celebrities as James Brown, Stevie Wonder, Al Green, and Oprah Winfrey.
"Gordon is actually hands-down the best interviewer I've seen," Fernandez said. "It's almost like every time he gets in front of the camera he turns on his magic switch or something."
Outside of the show, Curvey's activism doesn't stop. He has brought entertainers like Public Enemy, Genuine, Tyrese, Queen Latifah and Jaime Foxx into local community centers and high schools to encourage Seattle youth to pursue their dreams.
According to Donna Kirvin, a Teen Development Leader for Seattle Parks and Recreation, the events always get impressive turnout and have a powerful effect on the kids.
"Aaliyah went to every event, trying to make that connection," Kirvin said of one student. "She had a hunger for it: she wanted to be a star."
Aaliyah later got a spot on American Idol. Although Curvey has touched youth like her through his show and events, the community reception to his involvement has run the gamut from positive to critical to downright strange. One woman watched his show from prison and asked him to find her son.
Surprisingly, a source of criticism revolves around Curvey's age, which he didn't reveal. As a result, he feels a lot of artists don't ask him to play their music because he's older, and he's picked up the nickname "Old G" from some of the locals artists and South End youth.
His age also opens up a technological gap as well. Four years ago, when Fernandez came onto the show as a new cameraman, he insisted the show needed to switch to digital video. It took two years, and some bad footage of an Oprah interview, for Curvey to comply.
Now, the 32-year-old Fernandez harps on Curvey for not having shows available on his website, www.musicinnercity.com.
However, Curvey has struggled most with the difficulty of getting local coverage, something he attributes to a lack of unity and support within the black community.
"My people have been my worst enemy," Curvey noted. "I tried to rack my brain just to figure out why, and the only word that I can think of is jealousy."
As a result of this lack of unity, Curvey has made significant sacrifices for his show, which he considers unsuccessful money-wise but very successful in other respects, such as reaching the youth and creating a venue for lesser-known artists.
"Because of this show I don't have too many friends. And that really hurts me," said Curvey. "And it seems like over the years all my friends have decreased because I'm doing Inner City... all my friends have kind of run away."
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