If you’re of the right vintage, you may recall that the Polly-O rapping parrot from this 1991 TV commercial sounded remarkably similar to a certain Stetsasonic member. After being outed for this spot in the Pistol Pete column of The Source, it’s unclear whether the ODAD upped his fees or just retired from voicing Lyrical…
Category: VHS Vaults
Video: Kool Moe Dee interviews A Tribe Called Quest [1990]
Part 1 Here’s a very youthful and exhausted ATCQ talking to rap legend Kool Moe Dee for the Jive’s Rap Video Hits VHS tape. Apparently the fellas has been forced at gunpoint by the label to attend this session, as they all seem pretty spaced-out and disinterested, making for some amazingly awkward viewing! Are they…
Video: Osse and Woods – The Legal Hustle [aka Combat Jack in full Rap Lawyer mode in the nineties]
Here’s a priceeless TV spot showing the late Combat Jack in his prime as a Rap Lawyer. The highlight for me is watching Combat smiling while the Problem Children are rapping in the parking lot at 4:29 – you just know he’s thinking ‘These guys are hot trash’. Fritz Celestin sez: ‘Reggie was my cousin…
Three Bizarre Incidents Involving Rap on British TV
All of these clips are equal parts bizarre and amazing. The first features interviews with Schoolly-D and Mantronix while they were on tour in the UK, while overlaying ‘witty’ comments and alleged statistics about violence at rap shows in a manner which suggests that the producers of the segment were either taking the piss or…
Searching For The Akafella – The Akinyele Video Collection
Inspired by this Martorialist Akineyele Deep Cuts compilation, I began to revisit some of Akafella’s later work, and it turns out that it’s a lot more entertaining now that the bitter taste of disappointment of him abandoning the genius of songs like “Exercise” and “Outta State” for endless variations of songs about poon have since…
Video: Mantronix On Kids TV Show In 1986 UK
All praise due to grandgood for unearthing this piece of YouTube gold. As you see, I learned everything I know about interviewing rapper dudes from the host of Lift Off.
Video: Joe Fatal Live at CBGB’s, 1992
Some rare footage of Joe Fatal’s brief rapping career, at a showcase that also included Artifacts, YAGGFU Front, Total Pack, Hard 2 Obtain and Legion of D.U.M.E. I had to emancipate this from the original account since they deaded embedding. You can catch footage of the other performances over there.
Video: Live Squad – Game of Survival: The Movie
Stretch, Majesty, K-Lowe and Biggy Smallz of the Live Squad ensured that no shorts for this outstanding VHS exclusive which features random shootings, babies getting thrown out of windows, contact killings and hooker executions. Poor old Stretch also took the fall for Tupac getting shot and robbed in New York, which allegedly resulted in his…
Ralph McDaniels – The Unkut Interview, Part 2
Continuing the session with Video Music Box legend Uncle Ralph McDaniels, he discusses his Classic Concept Productions music video company, dealing with the competition, working on the movie Juice, his Lifer’s Group documentary and why $amhill is ahead of his time. Robbie: When did it get to the stage where Video Music Box became your…
Ralph McDaniels – The Unkut Interview, Part 1
“Uncle” Ralph McDaniels is an institution in New York hip-hop. Creating the city’s first music video show – Video Music Box – in 1983, he delivered rap videos, concert footage and interviews years before Yo! MTV Raps and Rap City hit the airwaves. He was also involved on the other side of the camera, producing…
Video: LL Cool J Live In 1985
Amazing footage of Ladies Love Cool James rocking a school gym. “Mommy, what’s a super sperm?” Youtube user Kodiak Starr writes: “LL Cool J at age 17 and DJ Cut Creator perform live. 1985, Colby College, Waterville Maine. 5 months before Radio was released. My dad tried to get RUN DMC, but could not afford…
Video: Black, Rock and Ron – You Can’t Do Me None [1990]
Watch Black Rock and Ron drive around in a limo and rap over “To Be Real.” Please note the extra deep V-neck sweaters, Ron Scratch’s portable drum machine and their dancers sporting the world’s most colorful overalls. Just remember kids, “When it comes to skeezers, I lay pipe like a piper!”