Shade 45 Personalities Stop By the Stern Show

Photo: The Howard Stern Show

Howard welcomed Angela Yee, Cipha Sounds, and Wonder, Shade 45 personalities who have recently been in a minor feud with the show, into the studio. Howard played a clip of Cipha and Angela comparing Howard and his black security guards to the white people in the old Tarzan movies who hired only black people to carry their luggage. Following the clip, Howard pointed out that, to him, Eminem is more deserving of the label than he is, seeing as Eminem hires African Americans to run his station. Howard added that his security guards were provided by SIRIUS – not him.

Although Howard had assumed the people who work at Shade 45 were predominantly black, he pointed out that neither Angela nor Cipha appeared to be so. Angela responded that she’s half-black and half-Chinese, while Cipha told Howard he’s Puerto Rican. Howard noted that, since he grew up in Roosevelt, he was more in touch with African Americans than Cipha, who grew up in the Bronx. Howard went on to say that he didn’t understand why Shade 45 had a curtain on the outside of its window. After Cipha explained that the curtain was put up by SIRIUS employees because of rumors that oral sex had occurred in the studio, Howard said he thought the move was done to keep down “the black man.” However, Robin responded that, based on Cipha and Angela, there don’t appear to be any black people at the station to “keep down.”

Howard told Cipha and Angela that everyone who works at SIRIUS is trying to escape the “massah’s thumb,” which he noted was terrestrial radio and the religious right. Given this, Howard noted that the people at SIRIUS have one common goal: to get as many listeners and subscribers as possible. Howard went on to say that, while he’s devoting all his time to promoting the service, he doesn’t see Eminem putting in as much effort. When Angela replied that Eminem would be more visible for the company if he had Howard’s contract, Howard countered that in order to make that kind of money, Eminem will have to do more than “just stick his name on a channel.”