KMOJ, 89.9 FM, is a community-oriented station

Community radio

Community radio is a type of radio service, that offers a third model of radio broadcasting beyond commercial broadcasting and public broadcasting. Community stations can serve geographic communities and communities of interest...

 located in Minneapolis, Minnesota

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Minneapolis , nicknamed "City of Lakes" and the "Mill City," is the county seat of Hennepin County, the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota, and the 48th largest in the United States...

 airing a predominantly Urban AC format. It began in 1976 as WMOJ, a very low-power AM station at 1200 kHz that reached only a few blocks from its studios and transmitter in the Sumner-Olson and Glenwood-Lyndale public housing developments. The station expanded its reach with a move to FM in September, 1978, becoming KMOJ at 89.7 FM with 10 watts of power and its transmitter/antenna atop a highrise near its studios at 810 5th Avenue North. A frequency change to 89.9 in 1984 coincided with a power increase to 1,000 watts along with a studio move to a newly-built facility across the street at 501 Bryant Avenue North. The transmitter remained on the highrise.

KMOJ features soul

Soul music

Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...

, blues

Blues

Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...

, gospel

Gospel music

Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....

, reggae

Reggae

Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...

, jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

, hip-hop

Hip hop music

Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...

, spoken word

Spoken word

Spoken word is a form of poetry that often uses alliterated prose or verse and occasionally uses metered verse to express social commentary. Traditionally it is in the first person, is from the poet’s point of view and is themed in current events....

, and talk shows aimed at African American

African American

African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...

 listeners. It is owned and operated by the non-profit Center for Communications and Development ("CCD"), located on Minneapolis' north side. KMOJ is a member of Minnesota

Minnesota

Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

's Independent Public Radio

Independent Public Radio

Independent Public Radio is a public radio network in Minnesota. It is the second-largest public radio organization in the state, after Minnesota Public Radio...

 network. The station features several DJs including Walter "Q Bear" Banks Jr., Sonny Day, Sha Cage,E.G. Baily, Ray Richardson, Ras Bongo Jerie, Lady L, D.J. Cue, D.J. Divine, D.J. Dan Speak, Disco T, Crystle, Candice Grey, and Caddy "The Prince of Darkness."

The station has struggled with internal tension and lack of funds, among other things, since its inception. KMOJ was evicted from its Girard Terrace studios in January 2007 after severe structural damage was discovered and the building was condemned and subsequently razed.http://citypages.com/databank/28/1365/article15103.asp The station relocated its studios to a temporary location in the Uptown area of Minneapolis in March 2007

2007 in radio

The year 2007 in radio involved some significant events.-Events:*January 8: Nanci "The Fabulous Sports Babe" Donnellan returns to radio after a six-year absence, filling in for local hosts in Florida....

, until a permanent location can be established.http://www.spokesman-recorder.com/News/Article/Article.asp?NewsID=77300&sID=13http://blogs.citypages.com/ctg/2007/03/kmoj_finds_temp.asp
The station is working with the City of Minneapolis to move to a building at West Broadway and Penn Avenue.

As of November 14, 2008, KMOJ holds a construction permit to move its transmitting facility from its original north Minneapolis site to the Telefarm

Telefarm Towers Shoreview

Telefarm Towers Shoreview is a transmission site for FM radio and television broadcasting in Shoreview, Minnesota consisting of two guyed towers. The towers, commonly called simply the Shoreview Towers by local residents, are owned by Telefarm, Inc., which is a company jointly owned by the Twin...

facility in the northern suburb of Shoreview and to increase its power to 1,400 watts.