James Roberts (born February 12, 1963 in Hollis, Queens, New York), better known as Ed Lover, is an African-American rapper, actor, musician, radio personality, and former MTV VJ.
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Roberts is best known for saying "C'mon, son!" and being the co-host of the weekday version of MTV's hip hop music specialty program Yo! MTV Raps Today with partner Andre "Doctor Dré" Brown (The main weekend version was hosted by hip hop pioneer "Fab Five Freddy" Brathwaite). On Yo! MTV Raps Today, Ed created his own dance called the Ed Lover Dance that became somewhat popular in the 1990s. The Ed Lover Dance was performed to the track "The 900 Number" by DJ Mark the 45 King.
Ed and Dré—who hosted the high-rated Morning Show with Ed, Lisa, and Dré on New York's Hot 97 FM from 1993 to 1998—released only one album, 1994's poorly received Back Up Off Me! The previous year, they starred as a pair of hapless barbers turned police officers in the New Line Cinema feature film Who's the Man?, which was well-received and is hailed as "the Hip-Hop whodunit".
He was later a radio personality on New York's Hip-Hop Radio Power 105.1 FM, and was recently reprimanded by Oprah Winfrey for his use of the word "bitches," leading to an Oprah show on the subject of disrespect in hip-hop to be broadcast soon. He also appeared on the VH1 program 100 Greatest One-Hit Wonders in 2002. Lover also hosted a show on HBO in 2000-2001 titled KO Nation. Ed is currently the host of the hit TV show Hip Hop Hold 'Em along with the self-produced web show called C'Mon Son!. He was also the co-host of the morning show on WWPR-FM (Power 105.1) in New York City until he was released from the station on Friday, November 19, 2010. In 2011, Lover became the host of his own show called "Friday Night Flava" on WRKS (Kiss FM) in New York City.
In 2009, Ed Lover created a series on YouTube titled "C'mon Son," in which he criticizes the errant acts of celebrities.
Before reaching fame on MTV, Ed Lover was part of an eccentric and deliberately enigmatic Hip-Hop collective called No Face primarily with fellow members, Kevon Shah and Mark "Mark Sexx" Skeete who served as the main producer. No Face first debuted in 1989 on Island Records' Club music imprint, Great Jones with their only known recording for the label, "Hump Music" -- an underground sexually-explicit parody of The Jungle Brothers' 1988 Hip-House classic "I'll House You". No Face would continue recording for another five years, but they only released one album in 1990, Wake Your Daughter Up on their own No Face label, which was operated as an imprint of the Rush Associated Labels division of Def Jam Recordings.
Though Ed Lover was clearly recognizable throughout parts of the album, his name was not credited on the album and he was not featured on any album or single covers during this period—thus rendering Ed Lover the "No Face" part of the group. (Their main logo featured two heads with the word "face" written in graffiti-style' at the bottom of the right face, while the official label logo features three heads with the word "face" in a more proper font.)
Wake Your Daughter Up spawned two singles -- "Fake Hair Wearin' Bitch", an underground cult classic which sampled The Gap Band's "You Dropped A Bomb On Me" and featured The 2 Live Crew, and "Half", an R&B-styled divorce tale which featured the hardcore female Hip-Hop duo, BWP (Bytches With Problems), who were discovered by and recorded for No Face to a slightly bigger level of success for the label than the group No Face did. For reasons unknown, other than possibly to avoid conflicting with his duties on MTV, Ed Lover had left No Face shortly after their time with RAL. His swan song to the group and to the label was his cameo appearance with partner Doctor Dré in BWP's video for their third single "Wanted" from their one and only album, The Bytches from 1991.
| Year | Title | Character |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Psych | Himself |
| 2006 | Hip Hop Hold Em | Host |
| 2004 | The Bahama Hustle | Red |
| 2003 | The Hustle | Various |
| 2002 | According To Jim | Himself |
| 2001 | Undisputed | Marvin Bonds |
| 2000 | The Jamie Foxx Show | Lucien |
| 1999 | The Hughleys | Cousin Jimmy |
| 1999 | Double Platinum | Party Ardie |
| 1999 | Battle Dome | Announcer |
| 1998 | Ride | Six |
| 1994 | A Cool Like That Christmas | Voice |
| 1993 | Yuletide in the 'hood | Voice |
| 1993 | Who's the Man? | Ed Lover |
| 1992 | Juice | Contest Judge |
| 1992 | The Cosby Show | Taxi Driver |
| Album information |
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Back Up Off Me!
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