Charlie Sloth joins Apple Music's Beats 1 radio station

Charlie Sloth has announced that he's joining Apple Music's Beats 1 radio station.

The DJ left Radio 1 and 1Xtra at the end of last year after almost 10 years.

In an interview with fellow former Radio 1 DJ Zane Lowe, Charlie described Apple Music as a platform that's "future-proof": "For me, I was like I need to be where the future is, because I am the future."

The Charlie Sloth Rap Show will air on Saturday nights in the UK.

Charlie said that UK music "is in a place that it's never been" during his career.

"I feel like it's desired in a way it never has been globally.

"With the Apple Music and Beats 1 platform I feel that I offer something to these artists in the UK that no other platform can offer at the moment," he said.

The DJ said that since his departure from Radio 1 and 1Xtra, where he hosted The 8th and The Rap Show, he's been "trying to keep a low profile".

• Tiffany Calver is Radio 1's new Rap Show host

"It's hard walking down the street and people are like, 'Yo, Sloth, what's happening?'

"I kind of isolated myself from the world apart from doing shows - I still had to do gigs."

Charlie didn't see out the final 10 radio shows he was scheduled to do on the BBC after storming the stage and delivering a sweary rant at an awards show in October - after which he apologised.

Charlie, who's won radio DJ of the year at the GRM Daily Rated Awards every time it's been a category, said he was seeking a "new challenge" when he left the BBC.

And he told Zane Lowe he's been "itching" to get started.

"I just felt the way people were consuming content was changing, it's changed forever.

"And I feel that Apple Music and Beats 1, they provide a service that caters for the new consumption of content," he said.

Charlie thinks musicians now "only care" about the likes of Spotify and Apple Music.

"The artists, especially the younger generation, don't care if their record is getting played on the TV. They don't care if their record is getting played on the radio. They only care what playlists they're sitting on on the streaming providers.

"These kids who are 18, 19, they've grown up in a totally different era.

"They've grown up knowing streaming and YouTube. They're the only two assets that matter to the modern day artist."

Charlie's popular Fire In The Booth freestyle segment, which has been running for more than 10 years and racked up hundreds of millions of views on YouTube, will be following Charlie to Apple.

He's promised "a few returning heroes" and "a few big names".

Last year, he managed to get Drake on the show - telling Newsbeat at the time that it was "four or five years" in the making.

Tiffany Calver is the new host of The Rap Show on Radio 1 - becoming the first woman to host the Saturday night 9pm slot when she took over at the beginning of 2019.

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