Breaks in the AirIn Breaks in the Air John Klaess tells the story of raps emergence on New York Citys airwaves by examining how artists and broadcasters adapted hip hops performance culture to radio. Initially, artists and DJs brought their live practice to radio by buying time on low bandwidth community stations and building new communities around their shows. Later, stations owned by New Yorks African American elite, such as WBLS, reluctantly began airing rap even