New York personality Angela Yee for 13 years was part of a groundbreaking syndicated morning show The Breakfast Club, which reaches millions of viewers a week nationwide and generates social media buzz with interviews of celebrities such as Kanye West, Nicki Minaj and Barack Obama.
But Yee, now 47, has gone solo, amicably leaving Charlemagne Da God and DJ Envy behind. Her own midday syndicated radio show “Way Up With Angela Yee” launched this month and follows The Breakfast Club on 105.3/The Beat in Atlanta.
“I’m excited!” said Yee in an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “This is what I really wanted. When you’re working hard for something that is yours, it hits a little bit different.”
This isn’t the first time she has done her own show. She had one on Sirius/XM in the late 2000s for four years. But The Breakfast Club elevated her profile and she’s gotten to meet everyone from Issa Rae and Jay-Z to comics like Tiffany Haddish, Chris Rock and Dave Chappelle.
“The best time to try something new is when you’re on top,” Yee said. “I feel like The Breakfast Club was doing really well. We made it in the Radio Hall of Fame a couple of years ago.”
She also felt confident Charlemagne de God and DJ Envy could handle The Breakfast Club on their own, whether they replace her or stay as a duo.
Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
105.3/The Beat was the first station to pick up her midday show, which is now heard on 39 radio stations nationwide and based out of New York City at Power 105.1.
“Angela Yee is a world-class talent,” said the Beat program director and afternoon jock Vladimir “DJ Loui Vee” Scott, in a statement. “I’m really glad to see her have the opportunity to touch listeners nationwide with her unique perspective and insightful grasp of the culture.”
She comes to Atlanta frequently and the radio station is planning a launch party in March. “I get booked a lot in Atlanta,” she said.
Yee, who has never married or had children, said she has matured a lot since she joined The Breakfast Club. She became an entrepreneur investing in real estate, a coffee shop and a pressed juice business. She has become more politically and socially aware.
“I think I’m a lot smarter than when I was younger,” she said. “I’ve grown in how I report stories. Times have changed. After going through a pandemic, I wake up every day grateful of being alive and being where I am. That changed my whole mindset.”
Just a few years ago, midday shows were considered the least glamorous of the time slots, when program directors tended to focus more on music than personality. But COVID-19 changed listening habits. More people are now listening to radio shows on demand, working at home and waking up later. So she wanted to fill a gap and make “Way Up With Angela Yee” a personality-based show in a way that would make it virtually indistinguishable from a morning show.
On Valentine’s Day, for instance, she spoke to singers John Legend and Mario. She took calls from fans who shined a light on people they admire. She also had Ray J as a guest host and he talked about an altercation he had with singer Raz-B.
Not every day will be packed with celebrities, she said: “It doesn’t always require a guest to have a great show. Make sure you’re on top of it with topics and your show is carefully planned out to show how much you care. I do a lot of prep.”
The toughest part, she said, is the timing. While The Breakfast Club had freedom to start or stop when it needed to, her show has to go to commercial breaks or music at specific times down to the second to accommodate local stations. “We had Ray J pop in today and I had to keep cutting him off,” she said. “You have to be super conscious of the clock. You don’t want to get off but you also don’t want dead air.”
But from a lifestyle perspective, she likes the hours better, too. “I get a full seven hours of sleep now,” she said. “If you asked me to go to dinner at 9 p.m. last year, it was not happening.”
IF YOU LISTEN
“Way Up With Angela Yee,” 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. weekdays, 105.3/The Beat and 38 other stations
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