When the Saturday edition of Yo! MTV Raps used to air, when Fab 5 Freddy was the host, he toured a variety of locations to meet rappers, usually in their home town or on the location of a video shoot. On one of those occassions, the MTV budget stretched a little further than usual and they paid for Freddy to grace the shores of the UK and present this edition of the series.
I would love to know the reasoning behind the selection of artists for this particular show. MTV had shown the London Posse some love and previously played several of their videos, but to present Black Radcal Mk II to the international stage was a surprise to me. I'm not saying they shouldn't have been there as they'd put out a lot of good material at the time, but in the early 90's there were so many excellent and successful artists in the UK, I just feel some others should also have been given a chance to shine and better represent the UK's hip hop diversity. On the up side, it's was great to see MTV recognise some of the more underground groups.
Nevertheless, this little selection of interviews is still interesting and it's great that MTV took the time to explore hip hop beyond the US.
December 27, 2013
December 16, 2013
Unsung: Heavy D
TV One continues the Unsung series with a history of Heavy D and the Boyz. It follows the usual format of tracing their roots through to their success, but with 2 members of the 4 piece outfit having their lives cut drastically short, it's a little more of a tribute, and rightfully so.
I was never much of a fan of Heavy D, or his absurd wardrobe of outfits that didn't flatter a bigger man's figure. But having watched this episode, it did remind me just how much Waterbed Hev (I still can't believe he actually called himself that!) contributed to hip hop, and that he never compromised his unique style. It's also good to see that Eddie F gets his props too, such an underrated producer in his era.
I was never much of a fan of Heavy D, or his absurd wardrobe of outfits that didn't flatter a bigger man's figure. But having watched this episode, it did remind me just how much Waterbed Hev (I still can't believe he actually called himself that!) contributed to hip hop, and that he never compromised his unique style. It's also good to see that Eddie F gets his props too, such an underrated producer in his era.
December 4, 2013
Straight Buck Wylin In The Place To Be...
November has been a busy month for me, so I've not been keeping up with all the goodness that the internet has to offer, but that doesn't mean that there hasn't been a few things that caught my attention. So here's a few things that you may want to check out if you haven't spotted them already.