THIS BETTER BE TRUE…LOL AND NONE OF THAT TRAP CRAP EITHER!!!!
MTV is bringing back its iconic Hip Hop show “YO! MTV Raps”According to AllHipHop.com, the network is planning a reboot of the show, however the information is sketchy at this time. MTV also announced earlier this year they would be bringing back more of your favourite 90’s shows in the form of a new channel called “MTV Classic”.
The show, which ran from 1988 to ,was hugely successful and elevated many rappers careers.
“YO! MTV Raps” set the mould for other rap based shows including inspiring BET to start “Rap City” the following year.
No ideas or hints have been said on who will step up to the momentous task and present the new show. The original format saw various hosts including Fab 5 Freddie, Ed Lover and Dr. Dre.
With such a big name to uphold, should it just be left as a classic or is a reboot a good idea?
The cultural icon who has quite possibly the most impressive résumé in music today is adding another job to the list: internet radio host. Questlove (born Ahmir Thompson), founding member of the Legendary Roots Crew, NYU professor, “Tonight Show” bandleader, New York Times bestselling author, international DJ, Grammy winner, “Hamilton” producer, and occasional actor has found the time to enter the streaming-entertainment market alongside Pandora, the music-streaming service which debuted over a decade ago, in 2005. The partnership has been in the making for a while, but today (August 24), it culminates with the announcement of “Questlove Supreme.”
Launching on September 7 at 1pm EST, Questo’s new program is described by the New York Times as a weekly “three-hour program with wide-ranging playlists and guests” which ” shows off its host’s eclectic tastes.” Thompson himself describes it as “the Black nerd version of NPR” and an unofficial extension of his New York University courses. The marriage of Thompson and Pandora is, in part, an effort to “compete directly with Spotify, Apple Music and Tidal,” as reported by the Times’ Ben Sisario. It’s a major offensive move by the internet-radio juggernaut who at times has “has clashed with the music industry in the past.” By merging creative forces with Quest, Pandora has aligned itself with one of the most beloved figures in pop culture.
It’s a major win for music fans, too (not the mention Hip-Hop Heads and Roots fans). While icons like Q-Tip and Sway have used internet radio to host conversations that go beyond music, Questlove’s show will be following a unique format. Firstly, it will be three-hours long, giving whatever music is played and whatever discussion is inspired a chance to breathe. Context will likely be a major player on “Questlove Supreme,” where the history of songs and their creators will be given the kind of encyclopedic attention Thompson is known for. Secondly, the music featured each week will be inspired by the topics discussed and not the other way around (which is by and large the formula for most shows of this nature). Questlove will be matching the thematic elements of any given week’s topic by including songs that help illustrate the concepts at hand, a process that will likely become as inventive a history lesson as the “Hamilton” Broadway play in which he is so heavily involved.
The show has been described as “a weekly ride through the global musical landscape featuring adventurous music selections, compelling conversations and revealing interviews with music lovers from the entertainment industry and beyond,” and there is no better guide for such a ride than the man with such a diverse list of accomplishments. Heads will have interviews with the likes of Bob Power to look forward to. The selection of the veteran sound man (whose work on seminal classics like A Tribe Called Quest’s The Low End Theoryhas made him a legend) as an inaugural guest is indicative of the exceptional curation and thought that will go into to each and every episode. Questlove himself has made it known that to prepare for each installment, he listens to over 200 songs. And it’s that kind of unbounded dedication that makes him an exemplary choice to steer Pandora in its next direction. “Pandora is a company born of a musician’s experience” with a “deep respect for the craft of music and a commitment to the musicians that make it their living,” says Quest.
The company’s co-founder, Tim Westergren, described the partnership with Quest as being emblematic of the fact that Pandora is “entering into a new phase” in which they “are working more directly with labels and artists.” As such, Westergren said of the partnership with Thompson, “having someone like him bridge that and speak on our behalf is really powerful.” But the relationship is far from one-sided. After all, Pandora “has long been the most popular internet radio service, and it is one of a handful of digital music brands that have become household names,” writes Sisario. However, the company hasn’t increased its peak number of average monthly listeners since 2014, when 81.5 million people tuned in.
To address such concerns, Pandora “plans to introduce a multitiered new service that, in addition to its basic radio version, will add levels of on-demand access — the ability for customers to listen to any song they want — for prices of up to $10 a month.” “Questlove Supreme” is an introductory offering into that type of dynamic content. On his first episode, longtime friend and superstar comedian Maya Rudolph will join Thompson (as will Power). The inaugural installment will be the first chapter in what he describes as “a commitment deeper than any girlfriend I’ve ever had.” But his show is just one facet of his partnership with Pandora. Unsurprisingly, the endlessly affable personality is also functioning as an ambassador, a duty which involves his “evangelizing for the service among fellow artists.”
This is an identifying facet that could prove to be Pandora’s secret weapon. “Pandora is eager to promote the marketing platforms it makes available to artists, such as audio messages that can be delivered to fans and detailed data about the popularity of particular songs,” reports Sisario.
For Heads already counting down the days until September 7, Questlove offered up a glimpse of his artistic vision for the show. “I want a world in which Drake’s ‘One Dance’ can also live with Frank Zappa’s Uncle Meat can live with James Brown’s ‘Talkin’ Loud and Sayin’ Nothing.’” For even more of an introduction, check out this celebratory mix created by the man himself.
Few people would expect a tourist hotbed such as Hawaii to be the target of political protests but make no mistake: there are those individuals who will never let the lavish vacation settings of palm trees cloudless skies distort their own reality as to what’s actually going on in the world.
The consecutive deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile at the hands of law enforcement sent shockwaves across the entire country and the city of Honolulu was no exception, thanks to the studious efforts of local rap sensation Prizzy Prie and a handful of others with their March For Peace initiative.
On July 11, I just happened to be in the heart of said tourist hotbed in the area of Waikiki when I saw roughly 50 protestors marching up the street; stoic visual reminders to anyone who had slunk away to the regions of utopia figuring that the world wasn’t as sunny as their vacation allowed them to believe. Some onlookers expressed immediately shock while others tried their best to ignore it in hopes that the moment would soon pass. As I sat in the most convenient of stalwart traffic, a lesbian couple broke their hand embrace to enthusiastically cheer them on from across the street. The march was a success.
As I came to find out, it was Prie who had organized the protest, who he says is boosted by the reggae/Hip Hop drummers The Late Ones, for they are an invaluable asset when it comes to coordinating sponsors and create ideas.
The success has not only transcended to a second march recently being announced for the month of September, the mayor of Honolulu, Kirk Caldwell, has also put his support behind the movement.
While shooting a segment for the upcoming television episode of mydiveoLive with Roslynn Cobarrubias, I sat down with Prie to gauge his thoughts on speaking out on injustice all the way from Hawaii.
A versatile lyrical delivery. Social commentary. Action outside of the booth. This is what being a great MC is all about, right?
HipHopDX: So what propelled you to organize this protest?
Prizzy Prie: Just to open critical dialogue and bring people together through communities with positive ideals and to help inspire the adults and the youth to come together.
DX: How did you organize it? Was it through social media or did you just get in the streets and recruit people?
Photo: Melanie Shih-Lan Tjoeng
The police were amazing, they were definitely cooperative and they were there to make sure that everybody was safe. After that, we actually all got together and had food and drinks with the police. They were awesome, they are local brothers and they know [the deal].
Prizzy Prie: I put together the flyer and I had this idea and just told my friends that I see so many people on social media just pouring out their feelings but not enough people taking action.
DX: This is after the Dallas shooting?
Prizzy Prie: Yeah. So I don’t really like to go on social media because of that, but that’s what I’ve seen. And I figured every time we walk out the door people’s perception changed off of what they see from social media whether that’s positive or negative, but a lot of that is negative because it’s based off of world media and what they promote. So me and my friends were all just like we have to bring people together from all backgrounds and just open this critical dialogue that’s needed and let’s get together, let’s bring some ideals together. We can bring people of different cultural backgrounds together and unite communities and take a stand against all this negativity and the smoke screen that they try to put to divide people.
DX: Being from Hawaii, it seems like there might be a disconnect. It seems like you guys don’t have anything to worry about because it’s like a vacation town — maybe outside of a volcano erupting — but what were people in the community saying following Dallas and Alton Sterling and Philando Castile?
Prizzy Prie: They were saying a lot, they were expressing their feelings,
DX: And this is black and white people?
Prizzy Prie: This is all, this is a melting pot, but what people don’t realize is there’s a lot of struggle here. There’s a lot of oppression, there’s a lot of discrimination definitely gentrification where the Hawaii homestead people are getting ran off because of the prices of millionaires coming and buying up the land and upping the price of living so people can barely live. How I know is because I live in the public housing and my grandmother has been living in Kalihi for 40+ years and been helping give back to Kalihi and I see so many different people and different cultures come in and out. And what’s affecting it is black folks, Polynesians, Micronesians that recently got their island bombed and the U.S. was to blame for that so they brought them here and now they’re putting them on 50-something years of paying for that because the kids all have radiation and stuff like that and are all deformed. So it’s crazy and for me, I was lucky enough to get the best of both worlds.
Prie’s video for his #DXLive-stealing song, “The Life & A Day of a Madd Nigga.”Being raised in Vegas and being around the gang violence and then coming back here, and then seeing a whole different thing where everybody else is just as much as affected. That’s what gave me the idea to put this together and to see the responses from the people that didn’t know that were fighting for Alton Sterling and all that, they were like wow this is crazy I had no idea that this was going on here because I thought this was all palm trees, plastic cups, and sunny. They only promote that just to attract tourism but there’s seriously so much going on.
DX: How far did you guys travel the day of the protests?
Prizzy Prie: Straight from Ala Moana Beach Park [in Oahu] to the world famous Waikiki Strip. We wanted to make a bold statement with all the people there, even the people that forgot and had slept on the idea of raising awareness and being a voice to bring people together because a lot of people doubt that by saying “you’re not going to do anything together.” But it’s way better than just sitting on a couch and venting your feelings and not doing anything about it. You’re getting in your feelings and not actually taking action and uniting different communities from all over the place and different backgrounds from all over the place and come together with positive ideas, find a solution, and make a move and not just sit on your butt behind a computer screen or scroll on your phone.
DX: What was the police presence like during the protests? It was a peaceful protest, right?
Prizzy Prie: Yeah, it was peace marching and social gathering. The police were amazing, they were definitely cooperative and they were there to make sure that everybody was safe. After that, we actually all got together and had food and drinks with the police. They were awesome, they are local brothers and they know. They wear the badge but they know and some aren’t even afraid and some are shocked that someone my age could even put this together.
DX: How old are you?
Prizzy Prie: I’m 24. So they were really shocked and were like, “Man, this is crazy.” and I was even shocked myself because people were telling me, “You’re like a young MLK.” And I was like “Woah, chill. I’m just here bring people together so we can get some ideas going and create this critical dialogue that needs to be amongst the people.”
DX: It’s interesting that you said that because I think that’s an issue that a lot of people have is that the police are not connected with their community, but out here it seems like it’s a little bit different story.
Prizzy Prie: Yeah, because they are families. And it’s the same thing up there, but they try to blur the line between the police and the people but with the police officers, that’s their family members so they’re basically fighting each other and the system has put that smoke screen to divide people like that. The police are the same people as your family and your neighbors but they fail to realize that and that’s why [the] Mainland and America is going through so much because they fail to see the bigger picture, but here you have no choice but to see it because we all live together.
It’s like one big community. And it’s the same thing for America but again they try to put that line across with police and citizens but they’ve got families too. They’re the same. So if that understanding is there, I think a lot of that conflict that they’re going through right now would be solved. Just like the same family members of the officers who arrested a lot of people at Mount Mauna Kea for building the telescope. Those same officers were arresting their own family members based off of what? A check? Just to pay their bills and to feed their family? But if that’s what comes into play and that’s the system and that’s the game we have been adjusted to play. Its all one big game at the end of the day whether people want to believe it or not but it definitely is.
ALOT OF HEAVY WEIGHTS ON THIS SO MAKE SURE AND FOLLOW HIM ON FACEBOOK AND STAY CONNECTED NOW!!!!
Can’t wait to drop this solo Album on y’all this Summer… “ThaManAndThaMyth”
Featuring- Q Unique- MC JUICE- Tragedy Khadafi- PawzOne- Planet Asia- Kevlaar 7- Rustie Juxx- Chi King- Keith Murray and many more!! Entire Album produced by: SpitSavage #TGP #G6DSIX #HipHopDontStop… #ThaManAndThaMyth
Dirty Doggs 