Video Music Box 25th Anniversary
How many afternoons did we run home from school to hear that five minutes of funk intro? Well apparently 25 years worth of afternoons because this past Friday was the 25th Anniversary of Video Music Box (the box that rocks). Two of my hip hop heroes growing up went by the names of Ralph McDaniels and The Vid Kid. While the latter went off after a few years to conquer the world of music videos in the mid 90s as a director the former stayed to direct the VMB ship. Ground Zero for the invention of the “shout out” Video Music Box was the first video show to showcase and promote hip hop ever. It’s the blueprint for all hip hop video shows.
Which brings us to this old-school buffet of a hip hop show provided by Central Park Summerstage? The show started off with Old School NYC legends like Spooney Gee (who needed some oxygen BAD) Lovebug Starski (who could still rock a party) and the Sugar Hill Gang. The first act on the bill was the Crash Crew who you can tell has not done a show since Small Wonder was on the air. They did the first song I ever learned in hip hop (“we are here to tell the world just who we arrrreeeee.”). I loved it even if they were having a hard time on stage.
Old host from the good ole days of Video Music Box like Tuffy (who sang back up on Doug E. Fresh’s Cut that Zero single…yeah I remember it so what!) came out to co-host. He hasn’t lost his humor nor a pound since those days. Special Ed came out and rocked the crowd. He did I’m the "Magnificent", "This is a Mission" and "I Got It Made". Accompanied by two dancers from the uptown crew Zhigee, Ed repped his Brooklyn roots and kept the crowd on its’ feet.
As the evening went on stumbling acts like OC failed to keep the crowd’s attention only to be brought back by the likes of Naughty By Nature (who killed it) and Chubbrock. Now the Chubbster is known to not curse during his performances and songs. He makes it a point to let the crowd know this. So when Philly’s original gangster rapper Schooly D comes on stage yelling about bitches and motherfuckers it’s quite apparent. The crowed even booed Schooly D’s cursing. It got so bad Ralph had to come out and save the show by surprising everyone with a dope performance by the Lost Boys. Once that instrumental for "Renee" dropped the ladies went crazy. It was good to hear about Mr. Cheeks shorty who wanted to be a lawyer (in other words shorty studies law).
The show closed with the great Greg Nice and Smooth B, and Harlem should have been proud. As they opened up with "How to flow" the boys shot the crowd’s energy up. While going through hits like "Funky for you" and "Hip Hop Junkies" doing the Greg Nice dance we all just sang along. However there was one issue. THE SHOW RAN OVER TIME! So while you saw Uncle Ralph, Tuffy and Ray Dejon (VMB co-host) trying to end the show and get Nice and Smooth to comply, Greg Nice (in the audience now) gets Teddy Ted to throw on Dwyck and the crowd goes crazy. Ralph is looking visibly bewildered and frustrated while we are all chanting “ROCK FOR A FEE AND NOT FOR FREE!!” Indeed, that is how you end a show.
- In the words of Dashaun Simmons
Which brings us to this old-school buffet of a hip hop show provided by Central Park Summerstage? The show started off with Old School NYC legends like Spooney Gee (who needed some oxygen BAD) Lovebug Starski (who could still rock a party) and the Sugar Hill Gang. The first act on the bill was the Crash Crew who you can tell has not done a show since Small Wonder was on the air. They did the first song I ever learned in hip hop (“we are here to tell the world just who we arrrreeeee.”). I loved it even if they were having a hard time on stage.
Old host from the good ole days of Video Music Box like Tuffy (who sang back up on Doug E. Fresh’s Cut that Zero single…yeah I remember it so what!) came out to co-host. He hasn’t lost his humor nor a pound since those days. Special Ed came out and rocked the crowd. He did I’m the "Magnificent", "This is a Mission" and "I Got It Made". Accompanied by two dancers from the uptown crew Zhigee, Ed repped his Brooklyn roots and kept the crowd on its’ feet.
As the evening went on stumbling acts like OC failed to keep the crowd’s attention only to be brought back by the likes of Naughty By Nature (who killed it) and Chubbrock. Now the Chubbster is known to not curse during his performances and songs. He makes it a point to let the crowd know this. So when Philly’s original gangster rapper Schooly D comes on stage yelling about bitches and motherfuckers it’s quite apparent. The crowed even booed Schooly D’s cursing. It got so bad Ralph had to come out and save the show by surprising everyone with a dope performance by the Lost Boys. Once that instrumental for "Renee" dropped the ladies went crazy. It was good to hear about Mr. Cheeks shorty who wanted to be a lawyer (in other words shorty studies law).
The show closed with the great Greg Nice and Smooth B, and Harlem should have been proud. As they opened up with "How to flow" the boys shot the crowd’s energy up. While going through hits like "Funky for you" and "Hip Hop Junkies" doing the Greg Nice dance we all just sang along. However there was one issue. THE SHOW RAN OVER TIME! So while you saw Uncle Ralph, Tuffy and Ray Dejon (VMB co-host) trying to end the show and get Nice and Smooth to comply, Greg Nice (in the audience now) gets Teddy Ted to throw on Dwyck and the crowd goes crazy. Ralph is looking visibly bewildered and frustrated while we are all chanting “ROCK FOR A FEE AND NOT FOR FREE!!” Indeed, that is how you end a show.
- In the words of Dashaun Simmons
Labels: NY MG Life
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