Video Music Box Show In Review (Sept. 29 – Oct. 5)
Yesterday we met with Hip-Hop Pioneer and living legend in the Rap Game, Uncle Ralph of the globally recognized TV show “Video Music Box”. We wanted to know what he was up to in the community because that is how he gets down. We asked about any special events he had coming up that we needed to know about and also got his prospective on the upcoming Def Jam 30 Year Anniversary Concert at Barclays Center.
For those that do not know, Ralph launched Video Music Box in 1983, two years before Def Jam was founded. When the label finally launched, Video Music Box played a key role toward promoting their videos and helping to create a Buzz for the artists. Russell Simmons, who is the co-founder of Def Jam and a good friend of Ralph’s, knew the power and influence of Video Music Box and made sure the label gave Ralph a lot of love and respect. During that period there were only a few Rap Labels in the business and very few Music Video Shows to get your videos played. MTV and BET carried no weight in the game during this early period of Hip-Hop History. If you were an artist you had to be on Mr. Magic’s “Rap Attack Radio Show” and Video Music Box to have some “Street Cred” in the game.
So as opposed to just giving us a simple interview Ralph decided to give us the link to his video interview regarding the question. That we did not expect, but if you want to know exactly what Uncle Ralph and Jadakiss have to say about the Def Jam Anniversary concert hit the link at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXTM7YeSeUA&list=UU0XPuGoL-zb-22tB_jCdGjA
WHAT’S HOT AT THE BOX
Video Music Box links up with The Universal Hip Hop Museum and Kurtis Blow at The Krush Groove Reunion in NYC, plus Jadakiss talks about new music and Def Jam 30th Anniversary. Also new videos from Dej Loaf and Chronixx. @videomusicbox
Krush Groove Reunion with Kurtis Blow and Doug E Fresh: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDhe9YhtfaE&list=UU0XPuGoL-zb-22tB_jCdGjA
ABOUT VIDEO MUSIC BOX
Ralph McDaniels always wanted to showcase the hip-hop that was not being featured in the mainstream. After about a year of hosting Studio 31 Dance Party, McDaniels got the opportunity to produce a show the way he originally wanted to do it and he appropriately named it – Video Music Box (VMB). It was not long before VMB’s 6-day, 60-minute public access viewership began to grow far beyond what any of the cable networks had expected. By 1995, Billboard magazine had recognized and awarded VMB as the “Best Local R&B/Rap Regional Show”. In addition, VMB was also notably voted as the Top 10 Greatest Hip Hop TV Moments by VH1 in 2003. By 2005, over 192,000 households per week were regularly viewing VMB. In 1985, McDaniels became the first to broadcast a hip-hop tour, “Fresh Fest”, on VMB which featured many of today’s hip-hop icons such as RUN DMC, LL Cool J, Queen Latifah, Will Smith, and many others. It was also through the broadcast of VMB that McDaniels was able to successfully register over 10,000 voters earning McDaniels tremendous respect and accolades throughout NYC. Now in 2010 Ralph is about to expand and launch Video Music Box Global and present his show to the international Hip-Hop audience who has nothing but love for the Hip-Hop culture. For more info on 30 years of VMB and upcoming events you can contact us or you can watch the show on WNYC Ch. 25; Cablevision Ch. 22; Comcast Ch. 14/18 on Wednesday nights at 11:30PM, Fridays at 2:30AM, and Saturday at Midnight.
For weekly updates on Video Music Box and other things in Hip-Hop hit us up at RandyKFisher@gmail.com.
Posted by Charles and Randy Fisher (Twitter / FB / Instagram @HHSYC).
