ABOVE PHOTO: Diddy and DJ Damage
By Kiarra Solomon
@KiarraTweets
Earlier this month, Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs launched his new highly anticipated television network, Revolt TV. According to statements, Combs wants Revolt TV to
be the ESPN of music. Currently, the network boasts a well curated playlist of music videos from French DJ and producer Gesaffelstein, to the British
electronic music duo Disclosure. Diddy also promises that Revolt will examine the music industry from a journalistic perspective, giving viewers the inside
scoop on industry.
For now, Revolt will air videos almost exclusively with a few news reports sprinkled in until January, when a new studio in Los Angeles opens for artist
interviews and concerts.
The network can be seen on Comcast and Time Warner Cable in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles. For the first few days Revolt TV did live-stream its
content on the website, but the stream was marred with technical difficulties the network blamed on demand.
The network launch kicked off with Diddy standing on the stoop of the Brooklyn home where the late rapper Christopher ‘Biggie’ Wallace grew up. The first
video aired on Revolt was Biggie’s 1994 hit Juicy, which was produced by Diddy.
Currently, Philly can only get doses of Revolt from its highly interactive website and social media platforms, but the new network does have a Philly
connection. One of the station’s newest hosts is Philly native, and former Hot 107.9FM personality, Abdul ‘DJ Damage’ Muhammad.
DJ Damage, the Temple University graduate who started his career in radio at Philadelphia’s Radio One, actually started working for the network on his
birthday this year, just days before the network’s launch.
Damage began his on air career while still enrolled as a full time student at Temple University. Prior to graduating from Temple in 2011, he began hosting
his own web-series ‘The Damage Report’, which he accredits with preparing him for some of his bigger hosting roles. “Boogie D (the former programming
director for 100.3 The Beat) was the one who gave me the contract to become a personality and not just a DJ at Radio One.” After that he quickly grew in
popularity in Philly radio, playing five mixes everyday on the new Hot 107.9 FM and hosting ‘The Home Team’ with Mia Mendez.”
Damage went on to appear on BET’s 106th and Park as a guest host, as well as BET’s ‘Notarized Top 100 Countdown’. “The Damage Report [and BET] really
helped me prepare for this role, not just being on camera, but I learned what goes into TV production. Revolt is a new network, and building a new network
takes a lot of work. It’s great because I get to see it built from the ground up.–not a lot of people have that experience.”
Unfortunately, DJ Damage can’t disclose any behind the scenes information, but he did say viewers should expect something really big from Revolt in
January. “This month’s launch was kind of a soft launch, in January, the network is going big!”
Earlier this month Combs released a video earlier this month dispelling the rumors about the type of music that will be played on the station. One of its
two announced shows will focus exclusively on rock. “People have made an assumption, because I’m a hip-hop artist and I’m African-American, that I’m going
to try to make a second version of BET,” Combs said, “which I’m not.”
During the weeks that DJ Damage couldn’t announce his new job, he began posting photos on Instagram and other social media networks, alluding to his next
big move, all with the hashtag #FollowTheDream. His fans speculated about what the DJ was up to next, since he has developed a knack for surprising
listeners and keeping them intrigued.
“#FollowTheDream is really about just that”, he said. “I could have gotten stuck in one lane, I could have spent my whole life doing the same thing. But I
had to take that leap. Taking a job with a brand new TV network is not something that most people would just do. But I took a leap of faith and challenged
myself to go to the next level. That’s following the dream”.
Not surprisingly, both Diddy and Damage have said in recent statements the Revolt TV is “the most exciting thing I’ve done in a long time”.
As Revolt TV continues to work out the kinks and expand its viewing areas, Diddy (and Damage) are encouraging fans to call their cable provider and ask
them to start airing Revolt TV.
For more information about Revolt TV visit: www.Revolt.tv
Twitter: @RevoltTV Instagram: @RevoltTV
DJ Damage on Instagram @TheRealDJDamage
Twitter: @TheRealDJDamage
Kiarra Solomon was the Executive Producer of The Damage Report.
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