Kid Mero Takes Over Hot 97 and Becomes the New Voice of New York
For years, Joel “The Kid Mero” Martinez built a career by sounding exactly like New York. Loud, funny, fast, honest, Dominican, Bronx born, and completely unfiltered, Mero turned everyday conversations into a media empire. Now, he has landed one of the biggest jobs in the city, becoming the new co-host and lead voice of Hot 97’s morning show.
This article will reveal how a Dominican from the Bronx became Hot 97’s new voice
In January 2026, Hot 97 announced that Mero would take over the station’s most important time slot, weekday mornings from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. The move came after the end of “Ebro in the Morning,” which had been the station’s signature show for more than a decade. Replacing a New York institution is not an easy job, but Hot 97 believed Mero was the right person to do it.
The decision made perfect sense. Mero has spent the last decade proving he can connect with New Yorkers in a way few media personalities can. He knows the city, he understands the culture, and most importantly, he sounds like the people who actually live here.
How Kid Mero Got the Job
Mero did not get the Hot 97 role because he was a safe choice. He got it because he was the most New York choice.
Hot 97 executives were looking for someone who could bring energy back to the station’s mornings, while also connecting with younger listeners who no longer grow up listening to traditional radio. They wanted someone who understood podcasting, social media, streaming, hip-hop, sports, politics, and internet culture, all at the same time.
Mero checked every box.
By the time Hot 97 called, Mero already had one of the most unique résumés in entertainment. He had become a bestselling author, an award-winning television personality, a podcaster, a comedian, and one of the internet’s most recognizable voices.
According to Mero, getting the offer felt surreal because he grew up listening to Hot 97. As a kid in the Bronx, the station was always on. He listened to Funkmaster Flex, DJ Clue, and the legendary radio battles that once defined New York hip-hop. To him, joining Hot 97 was more than another job. It was a chance to become part of the station that helped shape him.
Mero has said he wants the new show to sound like New York again, funny, chaotic, opinionated, multilingual, and full of the kind of conversations people actually have in barbershops, bodegas, subway platforms, and apartment kitchens.
Growing Up in the Bronx
Mero’s story begins in the Bronx, where he was born to Dominican parents and raised in a working-class neighborhood. His upbringing would eventually become the foundation of his entire career.
He often talks about growing up in a home where there was always noise, music, and strong opinions. Dominican culture was everywhere, from the food and language to the way his family joked with one another. That rhythm and personality later became the heart of his comedy.
Life was not always easy. Mero grew up during a period when many Bronx neighborhoods were dealing with poverty, crime, and lack of opportunity. Like many kids in the borough, he saw both struggle and creativity at the same time. There were difficult moments, but there was also music, basketball, hip-hop, graffiti, neighborhood characters, and a sense that everyone had a story.
Those experiences gave Mero something that many polished television hosts never have, authenticity. He did not have to invent a personality because his real life was already interesting.
He attended school in the Bronx and later worked a variety of regular jobs before finding his way into entertainment. Long before television deals and radio studios, Mero was just another Bronx kid with a sharp sense of humor and an opinion about everything.
How He Broke Into Media
Mero’s first break came online.
In the late 2000s and early 2010s, he began writing funny posts on Twitter about sports, hip-hop, family life, and New York culture. At a time when many celebrities were still treating social media like a press release, Mero used it like a conversation.
His tweets were hilarious, brutally honest, and written in the same voice he used in real life. Before long, thousands of people were following him.
That online success led him to blogging. Mero started writing for music and culture websites, where he mixed hip-hop criticism with jokes and stories from his own life. He was never the polished media insider. Instead, he sounded like the funniest guy at the corner store who somehow knew everything about rap, sports, and current events.
Then came the partnership that changed everything.
Desus and Mero
Mero teamed up with fellow Bronx native Desus Nice, and together they quickly became one of the funniest duos on the internet.
Their chemistry was immediate. Desus was sharp and sarcastic. Mero was loud, animated, and endlessly quotable. Together, they created a style that felt fresh and completely different from traditional media.
The pair first gained major attention through podcasts and online videos before landing “Desus vs. Mero” on Complex. From there, they moved to Viceland, where “Desus & Mero” became one of the network’s breakout shows.
The show worked because it felt real. Instead of polished celebrity interviews and fake television energy, Desus and Mero talked the way people in New York actually talk. They mixed jokes with commentary about politics, race, sports, hip-hop, and everyday life.
Eventually, they took the show to Showtime, where they interviewed everyone from athletes and rappers to politicians and movie stars. Suddenly, two kids from the Bronx were sitting across from Barack Obama, Cardi B, and Denzel Washington.
But even as Mero became more famous, he never lost the personality that got him there. He still talked like the same guy from the neighborhood.
Life After the Breakup
When Desus and Mero split in 2022, many people wondered what would happen next.
Instead of disappearing, Mero kept building.
He launched new projects, including “Victory Light with The Kid Mero,” a sports and culture series, and “7PM in Brooklyn,” a show with NBA legend Carmelo Anthony. He also continued doing stand-up comedy and appearing on television.
Those projects showed that Mero could succeed on his own. He was not simply one half of a famous duo. He had become a full-fledged media personality with his own voice and audience.
That independence likely made him even more attractive to Hot 97. The station was not hiring someone who needed training. It was hiring someone who had already spent years building his own brand.
Why Kid Mero Fits Hot 97
Hot 97 has always been at its best when it reflects the energy of New York City. The station helped define hip-hop radio because it sounded alive, unpredictable, and connected to the streets.
That is exactly what Mero brings.
He understands hip-hop history, but he also understands where the culture is headed. He can talk about old-school rap one minute, social media trends the next, then somehow turn a random subway story into a ten-minute comedy routine.
Mero also represents a version of New York that often does not get enough attention in mainstream media, Black and Latino neighborhoods, immigrant families, working-class communities, and the people who keep the city moving.
For many listeners, especially Dominicans and other Latinos in New York, seeing Mero land this job feels important. A Bronx-born Dominican kid who grew up listening to Hot 97 is now the voice of Hot 97.
That kind of story still matters.
A Full Circle Moment
Mero’s rise to Hot 97 is not just another career move. It is a full circle moment.
He went from listening to the station as a kid, to joking about it online, to becoming one of the most recognizable voices in media, and now, to leading the station’s morning show.
In many ways, Mero represents the future of entertainment. He is not limited to one platform. He can do radio, podcasts, television, social media, live events, and comedy, all while staying true to the voice that made people pay attention in the first place.
Hot 97 did not just hire a host. It hired someone who embodies New York.
And for Kid Mero, the kid from the Bronx who grew up listening to the station, that may be the biggest victory of all.
