"Empire State of Mind" - Alicia Keys & JZ

Empire State Of Mind (Part II) Broken Down received most of its airplay at AC stations followed by R&B. It also had some airplay on the Top 40 stations.

budaniel wrote: They used to play the duet version on mainstream radio, but lately here on Long Island, the ONLY version I hear on radio all the time is her solo version--on the lite stations, which would make sense since they want to seem 'cool' by playing modern music but most likely have no interest in having a hit that includes a rap--which is ironic when you consider that since lite stations these days play mostly music from 'the 80s, 90s and today', they are targeting the very audience that has been listening to rap since the days of White Lines and Jam On It...

I've noticed many Adult Contemporary stations also play a version of Katy Perry's "California Gurls" with Snoop Dogg's rap verses edited out. It's hard for me to imagine rap ever evolving into a staple on AC playlists, even with today's young adults, because folks simply don't tune in to a "lite rock" format to hear that type of music. By the same token, we may have begun to see the boundaries being tested... I believe Timbaland was the first rap artist to ever successfully crossover onto the AC chart a couple of years ago with his multi-format smash "Apologize" featuring One Republic. Granted, Timbaland doesn't even rap on that song as his role is relegated to simple "ay, ay, ay" chants.