Veteran media personality reflects on path to station owner 

Coming of age on the West Side of Chicago, Wesley Smith recalls, “We were so poor, the only thing we could afford was our imagination.” That imagination has served Smith well over the years, and today he is the sole proprietor of the only Black-owned radio station in Minnesota—the Twin Cities Radio Network (TCRN).

Music has always been one of the essential components of Smith’s life, even though he admits he’s yet to achieve his dream of mastering the piano. It was radio that fueled Smith’s imagination and in particular, Chicago’s legendary WVON, which was found at 1450 on the AM dial in those days.

“I was a Motown baby,” recalls Smith, reminiscing about the classic catalog that served as the soundtrack to his childhood. In fact, outside of Detroit, WVON was Berry Gordy’s first call whenever he was trying to break a new record coming out of Hitsville U.S.A.

A multitude of notable radio personalities graced the airwaves at WVON back then, including a young Don Cornelius. But perhaps the one that resonated the most with Smith was Herb Kent, “The Cool Gent,” who remains the longest-running DJ in the history of radio, having spent nearly 70 years on-air before passing away in 2016 at the age of 88. 

It wasn’t just the music, but the memorable characters and radio sketches that Kent invented that fascinated Smith and sharpened one of the lifelong skills he values most: listening.

“We didn’t always have a TV when I was growing up,” he explains. “Radio replaced the TV in our house. To me, the radio was everything. It taught me how to listen. To truly listen.” Reading was another passion of Smith’s, something his brother Lorenzo taught him when he was only four. 

As he started school, Smith read everything he could get his hands on, including the copies of Muhammad Speaks that he came across as he walked through his West Side neighborhood. His interest in the paper attracted the attention of some Nation of Islam leaders, and before long a six-year-old Smith was visiting the local mosque at their behest. 

As heady as that must have been for such a young kid in 1960s Chicago, it would hardly compare to having dinner at Muhammad Ali’s Hyde Park residence just a few days later. “I couldn’t believe it. I was eating dinner with the champ. At his house!”

This wouldn’t be Smith’s only encounter with a Who’s Who list of Chicago during that era. He would soon meet Jesse Jackson, who’d just taken over the leadership of Operation Breadbasket. It was also in 1966 that Smith marched alongside Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who himself moved to the city temporarily to lead the Chicago Freedom Movement. 

Smith fondly remembers Dr. King’s rally at Soldier Field in July of that same year, which was emceed by WVON’s Kent and featured performances by Mahalia Jackson and a 16-year-old Stevie Wonder.

Returning to radio

As he got a bit little older—skipping directly from 2^nd to 4^th grade, demonstrating his resolute passion for education and studying the social issues that defined the day—family and friends predicted that one day Smith would become a lawyer, teacher, doctor, or maybe even a preacher. 

But life doesn’t always follow the path we anticipate, and none of Smith’s hopes or dreams would easily come to fruition. He came to Minneapolis in 1989, having become familiar with the city after some of his siblings first relocated here.

Still, hard times followed. “I spent some time in the streets,” Smith explains. “I was homeless. It was rough.”

However, Smith, nothing if not resilient, found his way back to some of the same things that inspired him as a child. 

“I worked with local schools for nearly 20 years. The Minneapolis Public Schools, charter schools, alternative schools.” Likewise, Smith’s commitment to community never waned as he put in time helping at some of the city’s most venerable institutions including Sabathani, The City Inc., Turning Point, and the Minneapolis Urban League.

Ultimately, fate smiled on Smith and he found his way back to the medium that shaped his younger years in such a profound way—radio. 

Some of those in the business took note of Smith’s eloquence, his “perfect for radio” voice, and knowledge—not only of music but so much more—and put him on the air, where soon he became known as “Wes Smooth.” 

When the owners of internet-based Twin Cities Radio Network began plans to build a new brick-and-mortar station in Miami, they wanted to make Smith the station’s featured talent. After careful consideration, however, Smith chose not only to stay in the Twin Cities but bought TCRN for himself in 2015, making it the first and only Black-owned radio station in the North Star State. 

Keeping it smooth

Now based in St. Paul, TCRN’s principal format is smooth jazz. Smith cites several reasons for this, but in large part it’s because he doesn’t want to compete with other stations. 

“No one else is really doing what we are at Smooth Jazz Radio,” Smith notes. “Some people are Coke. Some are Pepsi. We’re just trying to be 7-Up—you know, crisp, clean, and no caffeine. We’re an alternative. Another option if you will.”

To honor his father, Smith does play traditional jazz on Sundays. “Growing up in Chicago, the radio only played jazz on Sundays. And my dad and I would sit there and listen. Some of my best memories as a kid.”

As an online station, TCRN attracts its audience from every corner of the United States and beyond. “We have dedicated listeners in Germany, Brazil, the U.K., Italy, Japan, France, the Netherlands, Serbia, Mozambique, and more. The vision for TCRN is to broadcast to the world.”

Of course, there’s so much more to TCRN, and Smith, too. “We’re always doing stuff out in the community, as well as for the community on the air.” 

This includes providing music for events such as the St. Paul Police Department’s Safe Summer Nights and National Night Out and supporting organizations such as I.C.A.R.E. (Increase Community Awareness Responsibility and Education) and the Rondo Center of Diverse Expression. 

Smith himself continues to serve as a “stage host” at concerts around the country. Yet, despite his success and influence on radio and the world of live performance, he’d never allow anyone to call him a DJ.

“I play music. I’m a music service provider,” explains Smith. “Being a DJ is a special skill. Q-Bear is a DJ. Brother Jules, rest his soul, was a DJ.”

Regardless, it’s clear that Smith and TCRN are making an indelible imprint here in Minnesota and elsewhere by, as Smith might say himself, just “keeping it smooth.”

To listen to Twin Cities Radio Network, visit twincitiesradionetwork.com.