Yo! MTV Raps
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[edit] Headline text
Yo! MTV Raps was a two-hour American television music video program, which ran from August 1988 to August 1995. The program (created by Ted Demme and Peter Dougherty) was the first showcase of hip hop music on the network, and was hosted by Doctor Dre (not to be confused with N.W.A alumnus Dr. Dre), Ed Lover and Fab 5 Freddy, premiering on MTV on August 6, 1988.
[edit] Pilot episode
Run-DMC hosted the pilot episode. Also featured in the pilot were DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince. Eric B. & Rakim's video for the title track of the album Follow the Leader was the first video to be shown on Yo! MTV Raps. The pilot was one of the highest rated programs to ever air on MTV at that point. Only the Video Music Awards and Live Aid received greater ratings.
[edit] The weekend and weekday versions
In addition, the show featured interviews with rap stars, Friday live studio performances, and comedy. At first, it aired only once a week, but expanded to six days a week after its popularity grew. Yo! MTV Raps initially aired only on weekends (with Fab 5 Freddy as the host), but provided popular enough to warrant weekly editions (with Ed Lover, Doctor Dre as well as T-Money and Todd-1 as the hosts). Ed Lover and Doctor Dre didn't know each other prior to MTV hiring them to host the daily version of Yo! MTV Raps in 1989.
The weekend version of Yo! MTV Raps that Fab 5 Freddy hosted ran for two hours. The weekday show that Ed Lover and Doctor Dre hosted ran for one hour and was billed as Yo! MTV Raps Today. Generally, the weekend show with Fab 5 Freddy was shot on location with Freddy interviewing one special guest a week. The Ed/Dre show was typically shot in a studio in New York City.
[edit] "Down With MTV"
One of the most popular artists to be featured on Yo! MTV Raps was Naughty by Nature. When MTV started their Down With MTV advertising campaign in 1992, Naughty by Nature's smash hit "O.P.P." was used as the basis.
[edit] Censorship and declining popularity
The ratings fell after pulling Public Enemy's video By the Time I Get to Arizona in 1991, claiming it was too violent. Yo! MTV Raps also came close to refusing to air the video for Cypress Hill's "How I Could Just Kill a Man." It was only after an intervention from Vice President of Music and Artist Development at MTV, Sheri Howell, that MTV changed their minds. By 1993, MTV scheduled Yo! MTV Raps to only once a week, for two hours, on Fridays after midnight.
[edit] The end of Yo!
Yo! MTV Raps had its series finale on August 17, 1995. The final episode was notable from the perspective of numerous high-profile names in the world of hip-hop closed the show out with a freestyle rap session. Salt-N-Pepa hold the distinction of appearing on the first (technically, the first episode to feature Fab 5 Freddy) and last episodes of Yo! MTV Raps.
From 1996 to 1999, MTV repackaged it as simply Yo! the repackaged version was far more stripped down. Instead of Fab 5 Freddy, Ed Lover and Doctor Dre hosting, Yo! for the most part, had a weekly slate of special guest hosts. By 1998, Yo! had no guest hosts and became a one hour program every Friday late nights. Angie Martinez and Fatman Scoop served as the official hosts.
In 2000, MTV's outlet for hip-hop videos became Direct Effect, known since 2006 as Sucker Free. It airs three times a week around 7:00 PM (Eastern Standard Time) and is one of few music video outlets for MTV besides its late-night/early-morning music video rotation hours and Total Request Live, as MTV continues its focus on non-music video programming, especially reality television shows.
[edit] Rivalry
In January 1989, former rival BET created competition when the network premiered Rap City (also a two-hour long program). Today (as of December 2006), the show is the longest-running hip-hop program because of its 17 year run.
[edit] Noteworthy episodes
- Ed Lover and Doctor Dre on one occasion, "filled-in" for the other Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dogg as live performers. Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg missed their plane which resulted in the two hosts performing "Deep Cover" (which Ed Lover didn't know all of the lyrics to) in the place.
- During a 1990 visit from MC Hammer (who was accompanied by Fab 5 Freddy), one of the dancers for whom Hammer was holding auditions turned out to be then-unknown Jennifer Lopez.
- During a 1993 interview with Tupac Shakur and his Poetic Justice director John Singleton, Shakur boldly acknowledged on camera the fact that he assaulted the Hughes Brothers, who dismissed Shakur from a role in their movie Menace II Society. Ultimately, the interview proved to be enough evidence needed (since there weren't any known witnesses to the assault) to earn Shakur a 15 day jail sentence. During Shakur's on camera "confession", Ed Lover tried to restrain him before Shakur could say anything more considerably outrageous or incriminating.
- In 1993, Fab Five Freddy presided over a considerably awkward interview with The Leaders of the New School. What made the interview seem awkward was the noticeably despondent demeanor of group member Charlie Brown, who was believed to be growing increasingly annoyed by the growing popularity of co-member Busta Rhymes. Incidentally, Leaders of the New School (who were caught on camera holding a pow-wow sans Charlie Brown) would disband shortly after their 1993 Yo! MTV Raps appearance.
- During one 1995 episode (the last year of Yo! MTV Raps), an apparently drunken Ol' Dirty Bastard still managed to come up with a freestyle rap, even after host Ed Lover tried to stop him from continuing. ODB must have ultimately come to his senses since he soon asked Ed Lover about what he had just said.
[edit] References in Songs
- Ice Cube's popular 1992 song "It Was a Good Day" had the lyric "Went to Short Dog's house and they were watching Yo! MTV Raps."
- The hip-hop group EPMD's 1990 song "Give the People" referenced Yo! MTV Raps with the lyric "To get airplay and a spot on TV, like Ed Lover and Doctor Dre from Yo! MTV Raps". It meant that if you want to become a successful rapper, you need to come to Yo! MTV Raps.
- Underground hip-hop group Cunninlynguists' 2003 song "Seasons," which likened the history of hip-hop to the changing of the seasons, featured the lyric "No more gold, no more Yo! MTV Raps, now we got R&B cats stealin' classic rap tracks."
