Alexandra Mayo stood up in front of her class last year and made an announcement.

Mayo, a junior in the Bandier Program for Music and the Entertainment Industries, spoke about a lack of awareness of rhythm and blues music on campus, and her desire to start a club on campus to change it.

Little did she know that it would lead to her co-hosting a radio show.

Sitting in her class that day was Destiny O’Loughlin, a junior political science major. After listening to Mayo speak, the two planned to start a club dedicated to R&B music. Although the club was never approved, the two were able to start their own hour-long, weekly radio show on WERW.

The show, titled The Republic Believes in Crescendo, or RBC, airs every Saturday at 7 p.m. on WERW and has been on the air since September. It is DJed by both Mayo and O’Loughlin, who go by the DJ names Mayo and DK, respectively.

During their hour-long time slot, Mayo and O’Loughlin play various R&B songs from playlists they have compiled and discuss events in the music world, particularly in R&B. The duo considers it a goal to feature and interview local artists on the show, as well as conduct phone interviews with artists outside of Syracuse. But they have not been successful so far.

“We’re trying to do something to make people heard, especially people in R&B, but in all genres as well,” O’Loughlin said.

RBC, which plays off the acronym for R&B at ‘Cuse, strives to satisfy a need for R&B on campus. The word “republic” in the name refers to the show’s audience. The musical word “crescendo,” which signifies an increase in loudness, refers to the duo’s goal of spreading awareness about R&B and playing R&B music.

Although the show is based in Syracuse, the duo has listeners from all over the country, including Atlanta, O’Loughlin’s hometown. Cheryl Middlebrooks, a listener from Atlanta, said although the show is based in Syracuse, she is still able to connect to it online and enjoy it.

“(O’Loughlin) and Mayo have such a great chemistry,” Middlebrooks said. “I’m enjoying it. They crack me up. I also like how they put the new and the old together — it’s great.”

O’Loughlin said part of the reason she loves R&B is because it reminds her of home.

“I think R&B is an important genre because it’s all about love, it’s about what connects you to somebody else,” O’Loughlin said. “It’s about what brings people together, what tears them apart.”

Both O’Loughlin and Mayo are singer-songwriters, and the two have collaborated musically together. Mayo performed at Nourish International’s “Nourish the Soul” event at Funk ‘n Waffles on Nov. 6, and O’Loughlin is a former member of the Redemption a capella group on campus.

“I think being able to make music and share it with everyone here at Syracuse is really a great way to connect to other people here in our community,” O’Loughlin said. “Everyone can come together, because music brings people together and I just think that it’s a great opportunity that we have.”

Mayo said the passion she and O’Loughlin have for R&B helps make the experience a positive one.

“We get to collaborate sometimes and then sharing that with the world and then being able to share other people’s music with the world, too — it’s like being able to share a passion with people,” Mayo said.

Mayo and O’Loughlin also use social media platforms to educate followers about R&B and interact with listeners and aspiring artists.

The DJs hope to continue promoting new artists while also playing music that doesn’t get the attention they feel it deserves.

“We just want to show people that R&B is not boring. It’s not a dying genre,” Mayo said. “R&B talks about life, it has a message. And that’s what I love about music — I love the passion behind music and everything it has to say. It’s like the unspoken words that people can’t put out there. It’s your emotions in your music.”

Published on November 18, 2014 at 12:01 am

Contact Isha: idamle@syr.edu