Let me be the first to say that the world just hasn’t been right since March 2013. Although the statement sounds like an overreaction reach for a radio show, it’s the honest to God truth. Understand my plight as a media savvy young black male with a passion for literature and ambitions to be one of the most well-known and followed social media personalities in America. Michael Baisden made everything I wanted to achieve seem possible. He started out his career as a Chicago Transit Worker, putting all of his free time and life savings into his dream of being an author. His hustle took him all the way to the top as he sold over 100,000 physical copies of his first book Never Satisfied: How And Why Men Cheat. Mind you, he moved all these books back in the 1990’s! The internet wasn’t popping like it is now, social media had yet to be invented and Amazon was only a small rookie company.

After publishing his first novel Men Cry In The Dark, he rose to national prominence. Soon, he was given his first TV show called Talk or Walk. Although his first show didn’t last, it gave him the template for what would make him one of the top syndicated radio hosts in the country. Sensationalist, reality-TV show content wasn’t destined to propel him to the top. His sincerity, sharp wit and talent for connecting with his audience on issues that matter the most would make him a stand-out among his peers! After a late night radio gig in North Carolina, he moved to New York and started doing what eventually became the first ideation of The Michael Baisden Show for free. That’s right: for free! He did it all for the love and a platform to speak to his people! He took his show to #1 in the biggest media market in the world, even going head-to-head with Wendy Williams in the afternoon ratings wars.

After accomplishing the great feat of making his show #1 in the New York market, he gave the station an ultimatum: syndicate The Michael Baisden Show or he walks away. The big wigs at then-ABC network fell right in line with his wishes and syndicated The Michael Baisden Show around the nation! Michael Baisden’s show didn’t come on in my hometown of Macon, Georgia until February 2007 when V101.7 was added to his syndication lineup. At the time, I was a 4th grader with a undying love for media. I’d urge my Mom to turn from her gospel sermons just to listen to a couple of segments of The Tom Joyner Morning Show before I arrived at my elementary school. It was literally a tradition at my house to watch the local news (13WMAZ), the world news (CBS World News), then Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy. I knew what I wanted to do and where I wanted to go in my life!

I remember first hearing Michael Baisden on the radio. I came from the gym of Alexander II, hopped in my Dad’s gray 2005 Chevrolet Impala and heard him for the first time. Normally non-stop music would be on at this time. Talk shows were only reserved for in the morning with Tom Joyner and, at the time, Russ Parr. Who was this man talking on the radio after 10 AM? I literally asked my Dad that question and he had no clue. Later on, I became more familiar with who he was.

I literally grew up on Michael Baisden. I listened to his show almost religiously every afternoon after school. It was a routine that continued through my three years of middle school all the way up to my sophomore year of high school. Then, January 2013 happened. School had just let out at Hutchings Career Center (my high school) and I had just left out of my math class with my earphones in connected to the school issued iPads listening to The Michael Baisden Show on the Tunein app. What I heard was unsettling. Michael Baisden sounded fed up and blatantly said, “I don’t have to be doing this.” Paraphrasing, he said that he didn’t have to do all the things he did. He could’ve left radio a while ago and started doing television projects. However, he stayed on radio because it was his passion. He stayed in his position because he wanted to connect with people and affect change, both personally and politically.

In his comments, I knew something wasn’t right. I did research and found out that he’d recently lost WDAS as one of the stations his show was syndicated on. I could tell that hurt him to no end. He worked his hardest to build his show to the socio-political force that it became and affiliates just started dropping out of nowhere, especially after the reelection of President Obama. Then, March 19th happened.

Just as always, I was listening to Michael Baisden after school, this time I stayed longer for tutoring. I hopped in the car with my dad and he was listening to the show. We were coming towards a red light when Michael Baisden came from his music break once again sounding somber. He said that if the show ended that day, he’d want to be remembered for his activism. He’d want be recognized for his on-air work with finding missing children, promoting mentorship, inspiring his listeners to live their dreams and start businesses. I turned to my dad and said, “That doesn’t sound right. Is the show about to end?”

Surely enough, Michael Baisden posts on his Facebook page the infamous post “It’s Not The Job, It’s The Journey (Yes, I’m Leaving Radio)” the next day on March 20th after he finished his on-air 3 PM-7 PM shift. He said he was setting up a run of farewell shows where all of the best guest and greatest contributors to the show would come back on air and bid farewell. However, that didn’t happen. My dad comes and get’s me from school on the afternoon of March 21st. I ask him if Michael Baisden had addressed his departure on the latest edition of the show. My dad informed me that they were playing previous episodes of the show, called “The Best of The Michael Baisden Show”.  I instinctively knew something wasn’t right. That’s when I went to his Facebook page, where he let the world know that he was locked out of his Florida studios and unable to do his final shows. The show was set to end on April 1st, 2013 and “The Best of The Michael Baisden” show would be airing until then.   

The story behind the ending of his show was vague. Many believe that his social influence is what caused him to get the boot from his radio position. Others turned to the business of radio, saying that contract disputes is what brought the syndicated show to a standstill. Even more checkered was when, or if, he’d return to the airwaves. First he was embarking on “a new chapter in his career”, then he was boldly expressed that no one could silence him and that he was coming back better than ever. He gave his criticisms of the placement of first radio veteran Skip Murphy and then renowned comedian DL Hughley into his afternoon drive slot. He continuously teased his return to the airwaves, even going on the Steve Harvey Morning Show and saying that it was definitive that he was coming back soon. “Soon” was October 2013. Eventually, soon became later and we all waited for his return back to the airwaves.

Since then, he’s released two more books (Raise Your Hand If You Have Issues, Woman Up!) social media base has experienced exponential growth with over 4 million followers on his Facebook page and hundreds of thousand on his other social media outlets. His announcement that he was returning back to radio went viral through social media. Stations lined up ready to get him back in their weekday schedule. They even started to restructure their lineups to give Michael Baisden his regular afternoon drive slot. It’s almost like he never left.

The significance of Michael Baisden’s career to me lies more in his rise to success than his social accomplishments. Sure, you helped President Obama in his election and reelection campaigns in 2008 and 2012 but look at the hustle behind him  even creating the platform to make that happen. He showed me that I could succeed and make it to the top of the world against all odds. He’s partly the reason why I’m even writing this article right now. Had it not been for him, the notion behind writing novels would be foreign to me. The idea of expressing thoughts and opinions that people like, share and comment on around the world would be something out of my wildest dreams. The fact that his whole mission is to be entertaining while also enlightening and positive is motivation to me. We don’t understand what we have until it’s gone. And, in these nearly four years of Michael Baisden being off air, I learned to appreciate is impact on me and the world around me. I will definitely be tuning in every afternoon from 3 PM-7 PM, creating a college tradition that hopefully will last until I walk across that stage to get my bachelors degree in 2019!

Even moreso, my aim is to become a guest on The Michael Baisden Show! Nothing would be more vindicating than being interviewed by the man that inspired a young kid out of Macon to live his dreams!

Listen to the return of The Michael Baisden Show at the websites below starting on January 16th from 3PM-7PM EST:

Kiss 104.1 Atlanta: http://www.kiss104fm.com/

WHUR 96.3 Howard University Radio: http://www.whur.com/