R Dub! Secures Federal Trademark for “Slow Jams™”

Radio personality and entrepreneur R Dub! has officially been granted ownership of the federal trademark for the term “Slow Jams™,“ marking a major milestone in a career spanning over three decades.

R Dub! created Sunday Night Slow Jams™ in 1994 at the age of 17, and what started as a small local radio show has grown into a worldwide phenomenon. Today, R Dub! is the most listened-to Slow Jams™ DJ in the world, with his shows airing on over 250 radio stations across more than 17 countries and territories.

In 2001, R Dub! founded Fusion Radio Networks™, a production company that syndicates his shows, including Sunday Night Slow Jams™ and the weeknight version, Slow Jams™ with R Dub! The company, along with syndicator Benztown Radio, has played a pivotal role in expanding the reach of Slow Jams™ programming, connecting millions of listeners globally with R Dub!’s signature blend of love songs and listener dedications.

Benztown founder and CEO Dave Denes said, “The trademark solidifies R Dub!’s role as the global authority on Slow Jams™, the genre he has championed since the 1990s. With federal trademark protection for “Slow Jams™,” R Dub! further cements his legacy as the face and voice of Slow Jams™. The move not only protects the brand but also honors the decades of work R Dub! has invested in making Slow Jams a staple in radio culture around the world.”

The phrase itself has a history that reaches much farther back than many people realize. While the term “Slow Jam” is often associated with Midnight Star’s classic 1983 song of the same name, the earliest known use of the phrase in print dates all the way back to July 1, 1961, in The Chicago Defender, the legendary Black newspaper that documented and shaped generations of African-American culture. There, “slow jam” appeared in a music column more than 22 years before Midnight Star would bring the phrase to a new generation. So while artists, DJs and radio programmers would eventually turn the Slow Jam into an entire musical institution, the trail—as far as we can currently document it—leads back to Chicago and The Defender, coining the term Slow Jam publicly in the summer of 1961. READ MORE HERE