Urban Contemporary

Urban contemporary is a music radio format. The term was coined by the late New York DJ Frankie Crocker in the mid-1970s. Urban contemporary radio stations feature a playlist made up entirely of hip hop, R&B, pop, house, electronica such as dubstep and drum and bass (often with hip hop vocalists or rappers) and Caribbean music such as reggae, reggaeton, zouk, and sometimes Soca (In Toronto, London, New York City, Boston and Miami). Urban contemporary was developed through the characteristics of genres such as R&B and soul. Virtually all Urban contemporary formatted radio stations are located in cities that have sizeable African-American populations, such as New York City, Atlanta, Chicago, Washington DC, Philadelphia, Detroit, Cincinnati, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Baltimore, Memphis, New Orleans and Charlotte.

The term "urban contemporary" is heavily associated with African-American music, particularly for Contemporary R&B in African-American contexts. For the Latinos, the music is more Latin urban, such as Reggaeton, Latin hip hop, or bachata.

These stations focus primarily on marketing to African-Americans between the ages of 18 and 34. Their playlists are dominated by singles by top-selling hip hop and R&B performers. On occasion, an urban contemporary station will play classic soul songs from the '70s and early '80s to satisfy the earlier end of the genre.

Most Urban formatted stations such as KJLH, KPRS, KMEL, KDAY, WRBP, UTN, and WVEE will play gospel music or urban contemporary gospel music on Sundays.

Mainstream urban is a branch of urban contemporary, and rhythmic contemporary is also a branch.