Flavor Flav

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Flavor Flav
Flavor Flav performing at the Bilbao Urban Musikaldia, Vista Alegre bullring on October 8, 2006.
Background information
Birth name	William Jonathan Drayton Jr.
Also known as	Flava Flav, Flav, MC DJ Flavor Flav
Born	March 16, 1959 (age 48)^[1]
Origin	Roosevelt, Long Island, NY
Genre(s)	Hip-hop
Instrument(s)	Rapping, Piano, Guitar, Bass, Saxophone, Drums^[2]

William Jonathan Drayton Jr., known by the stage name Flavor Flav (born March 16, 1959),^[1] is an American rap artist and television star. He is a founding member of the influential, politically conscious hip hop group Public Enemy. After falling out of the public eye in former years, he has recently regained fame as a star of American reality television. He has starred in multiple highly-rated VH-1 programs, most recently the Flavor of Love series.

1 Biography
2 Discography
- 2.1 With Public Enemy
- 2.2 Solo albums
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Biography

Born in Roosevelt, New York on Long Island, William Drayton attended high school in Freeport, New York. He dropped out of high school in his junior year after being bullied by the local gang. Later on, he sought to become an entertainer and was given his own Saturday night radio show at Adelphi University, in Garden City, New York. While rapping at Adelphi under the name nctive, memorable, and relates to all aspects of life.^[3]

Chuck D, DJ Terminator X, Professor Griff, and Flavor Flav formed Public Enemy and released their debut album Yo! Bum Rush the Show in 1987.

Flavor Flav provided vocals and occasional drumming, and a comic foil to the political message of his counterpart Chuck D. Some also credit Flavor Flav as a major influence in the development of the rap sidekick (often referred to as a "hype man"). Unlike later practitioners of the hype man role, Flava Flav provided a much stronger stage presence and musical contributions. His absurd rapping style added a humanizing light-heartedness to Chuck D's intense political message. He was the center of attention on songs such as "Too Much Posse", the bizarre and unforgettable "Cold Lampin' with Flava" and most notably "911 Is a Joke", which provided one of the group's most colorful music videos. On the group's 1998 "comeback" single--following a four-year hiatus--"He Got Game," the title song to a contemporaneous film by Spike Lee, Flav essentially performs a duet with Chuck D.

Flav has reportedly completed two solo albums, both of which were rejected by his record label,^[4] Def Jam. A third LP, It's About Time, was due to be released in 1999 but never appeared. A self-titled album was released on October 31, 2006. In a rare guest appearance in 1999, he performed alongside Afrob and MC Ren on the track "1,2,3...Rhymes Galore" by Polish DJ DJ Tomekk.

Flav has six children. Their names are Shaniq, Karen, Da'zyna, Kwan, William, and Kayla. He also has two grandchildren, Brianna and Matthew. Both grandchildren belong to his daughter Shaniq.^[5]

On October 23, 2006, Flav revealed on the nationally syndicated Tom Joyner Morning Show that "a shorty in Vegas" was carrying his seventh baby and is due any minute. This new baby will bring Flav one child closer to his goal of having ten kids.^[6]

[edit] Personal trademarks

Flav acknowledges that his style is bizarre, and he is proud of his distinctiveness. His personal trademarks include a colourful and flamboyant dress style He is also known for wearing large clocks around his neck as necklaces.^[7] and several catchphrases and accessories.^[8]

One catchphrase is a loud and exaggerated "Yeeeeaaaahhhh Booooiiiii!" Another (often exclaimed by Flav, his fans and the Flavor of Love season 1 and 2 contestants) is, "Flavor Flaaav!"^[9] Another not-so-famous catchphrase he uses when he is emotionally touched is, "It touched me right here and all of that." He is often seen saying it on his show Flavor of Love. He completes it by touching his heart with two fingers of each hand and twirling both his index fingers while completing the phrase.

Flav's trademark accessories include large pendant clocks, which he has provided several different rationales for wearing. Among them:

The clock symbolizes his intense faith in God and he wears a large one around his neck so observers will "know what time it is."
When young he often couldn't get to certain places on time.
(As told by Flav on Lisa Tolliver's talk radio show^[10]) When Flav joined Public Enemy, Chuck D often wore a pendant stopwatch, in keeping with the then-current fad. At Flavor's suggestion, the entire group followed suit to achieve a unified look. Later, when the fashion trend changed, others stopped wearing the neckpieces, but Flav adopted bigger, more ostentatious pendant clocks as a personal trademark.

Flav (like Dame Edna and Elton John) is also well-known for wearing comedic sunglasses. Additionally, Flav credits himself as having originated the current platinum grill craze in hip hop fashion. Another trademark of his is the wearing of a Viking helmet.

[edit] Reality TV career

[edit] The Life

In 2004, Flav appeared in the third season of The Surreal Life on VH1. During the season, he developed an on-screen relationship with 6' 1" Danish actress Brigitte Nielsen, who affectionately called Flav "Foofy Foofy." VH1 continued to explore the couple's odd pairing in a spin-off reality series, called Strange Love. Due to mutual jealousy, the couple was constantly fighting and yelling. In March 2005, Brigitte ended her relationship with Flavor Flav, choosing instead to live with her Italian boyfriend, Mattia Dessi. The show essentially ended with the end of the relationship.

[edit] Strange Love controversy

Sometime after the premiere of Strange Love, Flav came under fire from various organizations and individuals including North Carolina's Reverend Paul Scott, who labeled Flav's performance a "coon act" on "a modern day minstrel show". Episodes have shown Flav acting up at a Public Enemy concert as well as having confrontations with his children and their mother, who have received no child support from him. Chuck D went so far as to issue a statement[1] denouncing Flav's participation on Strange Love. A petition was set up in conjunction with Chuck D's criticisms in hopes of convincing VH1 to pull the show off of the air. VH1 continued to broadcast the program in spite of protests, which showed Flav and Brigitte going their separate ways in the end.

[edit] Flavor of Love

More recently, Drayton has taken a role as the star of the VH1 reality series Flavor of Love. The show premiered on January 1, 2006. It features Flav and 20 women (reduced to 15 in the first show, and then 10 after the January 8 airing) from which he will eventually choose one (in the style of The Bachelor).

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The first season finale was among the highest-rated shows in VH1 history. The relationship between Flav and first season winner Hoopz ultimately sputtered, and Flav and VH1 agreed to do a second season of the Flavor of Love. There was a huge twist in the second season that shocked everyone. Flav brought Tiffany "New York" Pollard, season 1 runner-up finalist, to the house to spy on the girls, in order to give Flav an inside scoop as to who was being "real" and who was being "fake". New York's visit to the house, rekindled some sparks with Flav, and at the elmination round, Flav asked New York for a second shot at love and gave her a chain. This sparked flames amongst many of the contestants, as they did not get along with New York. The second season ends with Flav choosing Deelishis over New York, leaving her as the runner-up once again.

In Fall 2006, Flav and seven of the season two contestants appeared on The Tyra Banks Show to discuss the series.

Tiffany "New York" Pollard from 'Flavor of Love' then got an opportunity to start her own show called 'I Love New York'

The Show is also featured on the UK MTV.

[edit] Recent history

In 2002, Flav was incarcerated on Rikers Island for a few months for failure to pay traffic fines. After his release, he moved to Los Angeles where he met with the producers of the Surreal Life who were casting for their third season.^[11]

In 2003, Flav appeared in the Taking Back Sunday video, "You're So Last Summer". The rock band is a big change from his own musical roots, but the appearance showed his widespread character and appeal.