| Doug E. Fresh | |
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Doug E. Fresh at the 5th Annual Hip-Hop Summit Action Network's Action Awards in New York in February 2008. |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Douglas E. Davis |
| Born | September 17, 1966 Christ Church, Barbados[1] |
| Origin | New York |
| Genres | Hip hop |
| Occupations | Beatboxer, rapper, record producer |
| Years active | 1983–present |
| Labels | Enjoy Records Danya/Reality/Fantasy Records Bust it/Capitol/EMI Records Gee Street/Island/PolyGram Records |
| Associated acts | Slick Rick, Vicious |
Douglas E. Davis (born September 17, 1966), better known by the stage name Doug E. Fresh, is an American rapper, record producer, and beat boxer, also known as the Human Beat Box. One of the earliest pioneers of beatboxing, Fresh is able to accurately imitate drum machines and various special effects using only his mouth, lips, gums, throat, and a microphone.
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Although he began his recording career as a solo artist as one of the last artists on Enjoy Records and one of the first on Vintertainment Records (the same New York-based label owned by Vincent Davis that would later make a name of Hip-Hop artist Joeski Love and bring R&B icon Keith Sweat to ultimate fame), it was when he and a new team of DJs known as the Get Fresh Crew (Barry Bee and Chill Will) along with a newcomer named MC Ricky D (who would later achieve fame as Slick Rick) came to fledgling New Jersey-based Hip-Hop label Danya/Reality Records the following year and recorded "The Show" (which borrowed the melody of the Inspector Gadget theme by Shuki Levy),[2] and "La Di Da Di", a tune that was completely voiced by MC Ricky D and backed by Doug E's beat boxing for the entire duration of the song. It was when both of these songs were released on a single (particularly 12" single) that broke him (and Slick Rick) into stardom. Both "The Show" and "La-Di-Da-Di" are considered two of the all-time greatest early hip hop classics and, as such, make up one of the first and only Hip-Hop singles to have two hit songs on the same record.
"The Show" peaked at #7 in the UK Singles Chart in December 1985.[3]
Unfortunately, Slick Rick would leave the group almost a year after the single was released leaving many wondering what happened to him until 1988 when he became a Def Jam artist and released his debut album, The Great Adventures of Slick Rick. Doug E. Fresh and the Get Fresh Crew soldiered on, now officially signed to Danya/Reality/Fantasy and releasing two albums from that period -- Oh, My God! from 1986 (which includes the hit song "All The Way To Heaven") and The World's Greatest Entertainer from 1988—both of which are now long out of print and extremely rare. The main single from the album The World's Greatest Entertainer was "Keep Risin' To The Top" which was named after Keni Burke's then-obscure 1981 hit "Keep Rising To The Top", which, thanks to being sampled in Doug E. Fresh's song, has become Keni's signature tune. Doug E.'s "Keep Risin' To The Top" also samples the main chorus phrase of Heatwave's 1976 classic "Ain't No Half Steppin'," which Big Daddy Kane also sampled that same year for his song of the same name.
In 1992, after a four-year hiatus, Doug E. Fresh joined with MC Hammer's label, Bust It Records and issued one album, Doin' What I Gotta Do, which (despite some minor acclaim for his single "Bustin' Out (On Funk)" which sampled the Rick James 1979 single "Bustin' Out") was a commercial failure.
In 1993, Doug E. Fresh found a new home at Island Records-affiliated label Gee Street. At the time, he managed only to release one single that contained three songs—"I-ight (Alright)," which was the main song; "Bounce"; and "Freaks". Although "I-ight" (which originated the now-famous club chant "Heyyyyyy, YO!... I-iiiiight?") was slated to become the first major hit for Doug in 5 years, it was almost immediately overshadowed by "Freaks", a Dancehall tune beat-boxed entirely by Doug E. and vocalized mainly by his protege, a Brooklyn-born Jamaican teenage newcomer named Vicious. The song received major radio and club play, followed by video play when the video was finally produced a few months into 1994. The latter would soon ink a deal with Sony Music's Epic Records for three years, although he would only release one album, Destination Brooklyn.
In 1995, Slick Rick and Fresh reunited for a track on an album titled Play, which found Fresh back on his feet. The album received positive reviews; Bret Love wrote, "A welcome flashback to the days when guns, drugs, sex, and violence were not the genre's primary lyrical focus."[4]
On May 23, 2007, Fresh performed variations upon "The Show" with finalist Blake Lewis on the season-six finale of American Idol, the first ever hip-hop performance on the show.[5]
2010 saw Fresh make a small comeback in popular culture as rap group Cali Swag District brought back some of his trademark dance moves with their song "Teach Me How to Dougie." Members of Cali Swag District saw Texas college students doing a local dance created in Dallas called the D-Town Boogie. They recognized it as a modified version of Fresh's dance moves and decided to create a song that would feature the dance, but also give Fresh his due credit.
On June 27, 2010, Fresh came out and performed with Cali Swag District while they were performing their song Teach Me How to Dougie at the BET Awards Pre-show.
On Nov. 8, 2010 Doug E. Fresh appeared at the Soul Train Awards where he taught CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer how to Dougie on stage as part of the show.
On Dec. 10, 2010 Fresh appeared on ESPN First Take to speak about the phenomenon of the Dougie as a sports celebration. As part of the show he, Lomas Brown, and Skip Bayless voted on the best sports related Dougie's. The Dougie performed by Bayless himself on ESPN First Take was voted by Fresh as the best, although he rated Wolf Blitzer's Dougie at the Soul Train Awards the best but it had no sports association.
Fresh is a member of the Church of Scientology. He has performed for large audiences of its adherents at the Scientology Celebrity Center's Anniversary Gala in 2004.[6] He also performed two tracks on the Scientology music album The Joy of Creating (other artists appearing include Isaac Hayes, Chick Corea, Edgar Winter, and Carl Anderson).[7]
Fresh is the spokesperson for the Hip Hop Public Health Education Center at Harlem Hospital Center,[8] in New York City.[9]
Fresh opened a restaurant in New York City called Doug E.'s Chicken and Waffles. He also has stated he has a club called Fresh.[10] He also performed at the Paradise Theater on August 12, 2010. The concert was titled The Show, brought to you by David L David (Spinback Entertainment).
Doug, who is the father of five, manages his sons Trip's and Slims’ hip hop group Square Off. Doug E.’s brother-in-law Gleamz is also a member of the same group.