Many times, music mirrors history. But sometimes it creates it.

Such is the case with New Orleans' top commercial urban station, WYLD.

The history of popular music in New Orleans—that is, the music deemed to have the "New Orleans" sound—has been reflected in the development of the city's largest black-owned and -oriented station.

Prior to the founding of WYLD in 1949, there was no black station in New Orleans. Vernon Winslow, known as Dr. Daddy-O, was the first black disc jockey in N...