HOT 97 FM, the influential New York City radio station which has helped break dancehall acts and songs, is making a similar attempt with deejay Konshens.

The station featured his Gal a Bubble song at its weekly promotional show at the popular SOB's club in Manhattan Wednesday. His publicist Ronnie Tomlinson said the event will likely introduce him to a wider audience.

"We expect this type of exposure to propel him to the crossover market. What we saw last night was not the hardcore Caribbean fan," she told the Jamaica Observer.

She said Konshens did a 45-minute set, built around the uptempo Gal a Bubble, and more laid-back numbers such as Popping my Headphones.

Hot 97 FM has a solid hip-hop format but in the last 15 years has helped break dancehall songs like Who Am I (Beenie Man), Gimmie the Light (Sean Paul), No Letting Go (Wayne Wonder) and Pon the River, from Elephant Man in the American mainstream.

Each made a major Billboard chart.

Last week, the station hosted Sean Paul at its SOB's gig. He is promoting his Tomahawk Technique album.

Gal a Bubble is taken from Konshens' Mental Maintenance album which was released in January. The song has done well in the Caribbean and on the Japanese club scene.

Tomlinson reckons Mental Maintenance, which briefly made the Billboard Reggae chart, has sold in the region of 30,000 copies.