The station began targeting the Memphis area in the late 1980s with an All-Blues format. In 1996 it flipped to a Mainstream Urban direction, but it wouldn't be until 1997 when it shifted to a Rhythmic Contemporary Hits direction and adopted the KXHT calls and the "HOT 107.1" moniker. Today the station focuses mostly on Hip-Hop product (they phased out most of the vocal-driven R&B hits, especially the slow songs), complete with non-stop mixes and capitalizing on the Southern Rap genre, especially the Crunk tracks.
In August 2006, Nielsen BDS had moved KXHT from the Rhythmic Airplay panel to the Urban Contemporary Airplay panel, but by May 2007 it placed the station back on the Rhythmic panel, as their direction and playlists reflected what was currently being played on the BDS-monitored Rhythmic chart rather than Urban. By April 2014, BDS returned KXHT to the R&B/Hip-Hop panel after adjusting its playlist and direction.
