Things have changed, the game has moved on. (And I'm not talking about the emojis in the title, because we all get how important it is) but the face of British radio.
On Thursday night I stopped my very important revision for AS Levels to have a listen to Zane Lowe's final night on the evening show on Radio One. I was actually flabbergasted at the quality of EVERY song in the brief two hours, I went from going in on 'Bitch Don't Kill My Vibe' to balling my eyes out to Amy Winehouse. Zane had every genre and every important band which happened in the past twelve years. It was an emotional listen, like saying goodbye to a family member who hollered "WHO'S ON BOARD" for the last time.
As a 17 year old I can't remember a time without that constantly vibrant New Zealander, always playing great music and always impressing with quality banter and interesting and insightful comments. I still have stuck in my head interviews he did with Eminem pre-Relapse and giving me my first listen to Arctic Monkeys, in the cringiest way Zane was a part of my musical childhood. Letting loose some of the greatest albums of our time for a full run was inspired and really made me think of what it meant to create something cohesive and beautiful. And for that I think I can partly blame Zane Lowe for my debilitating music obsession today.
And of course, he did this interview...
But all is not to cry about. Zane isn't dead, he is just being an absolute don in America working with Apple (probably sorting out iTunes' updates). Annie Mac has seamlessly taken his place, not just being the first woman to take the evening slot but also being a massive leader of dance music in Britain. If anyone was going to take this job it had to be Annie Mac to keep the last miniscule of integrity Radio One has.
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