Part of Ego Trip’s “Under The Influence…” film series, the documentary was filmed in 1988 and broadcast on Philly public access channels. Focuses on three main acts: DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince, Schoolly D and Yvette Money. link

Q: One of the really cool things about the film is how you were able to get access to the families of the artists featured. How difficult was it to convince Schoolly to do that given his on record persona?

A: It’s my favorite part of it too, because it reveals so much about a person. I remember loving the shoot on Schoolly-D’s steps. And loving his mom. I don’t think it was that difficult to arrange (his manager helped, I’m sure). I have to give him credit, it was a brave thing to do for an artist whose image was so wrapped up in a street persona. He was thoughtful and cooperative and it was great to see him in the neighborhood – with his mother, and especially with neighborhood children.

Produced by Joe Logic. From a project for Werunphilly.org, peace to Hav

(via)

Mike Allen Interviews Schooly D & DJ Code Money / 1987

link

B.B. King Blues Club & Grill
237 West 42 St.
New York, NY 10036

Not sure why we never threw this up. Lots of great footage and timely interviews with community organizers and artists like Grandmaster Flash, Doug E Fresh, Roxanne Shante, Schoolly D, and more. Major takeaway: Life is fresh, crack is wak. (last seen on Bronx Rap)

update: as Conga points out, it’s dutch

The Video Music Box 25th Anniversary Show was a historic event. The artists either performing or in attendance was a virtual who’s who of Hip-Hop aristocracy (partial list below). The whole concert lasted about three hours with 10-15 minute sets for each act, which meant a steady stream of classic material. If you couldn’t make it to the show and want to get a sense of what tracks were performed, just throw on your best of 80s and 90s hip-hop mixtapes.

I gotta give props to Ralph McDaniels and crew for a few things that added to the show’s success. One is keeping the event so organized. Even with the hustle and bustle of artists continuously going on and off stage, everything ran smoothly. Also, the set lengths. There was always enough entertainment throughout the night to keep the crowd involved and on their toes. Of course, major props are due for the line up. Honestly, when was the last time you heard Spoonie Gee, Schoolly D or Milk Dee rock the mic? Let alone at the same free event! Throw on the fact that none of the artists who hit the stage got paid a cent. They all did it out of love and respect for Uncle Ralph and Video Music Box. Hip-Hop unity at its finest.

Obviously, there are plenty of highlights I could run through like Ralph showing off his DJ Clark Kent designed Air Force One’s made specifically for the anniversary. Or July 18th being officially declared Video Music Box Day by Mayor Bloomberg and Governor Paterson. However, the livest part of the whole show was when the Sugar Hill Gang hit the stage to the tune of Rapper’s Delight. By now, most of us should know the back story behind Big Hank’s verse. After Wonder Mike finished up, I wondered how the crowd would react to Hank’s part of the song. The answer was that they didn’t get a chance to because Grandmaster Caz suddenly ran onto the stage and started spitting the rhymes! The icing on the cake was when Rahiem and Mele Mel of Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five joined everybody up there. Amazing.

Big ups to Ralph for being the first and putting in 25 years of hard work. And here’s to another 25+! I got video footage for most of the sets but until those are edited and uploaded onto our youtube channel, check out some pictures I snapped in between recordings (after the jump).

Sugar Hill Gang
Grandmaster Caz
Rahiem
Mele Mel
Lovebug Starski
Crash Crew
Chubb Rock
Naughty By Nature
Nice & Smooth
Special Ed
Milk Dee
Spoonie Gee
Schoolly D
Dana Dane
DJ Jazzy Joyce
O.C.
A.G.
Fab 5 Freddy
Kool Herc
Awesome 2
Mr. Cheeks
Kool DJ Red Alert
Large Professor
Dres
Hakim (of Channel Live)

Sugar Hill Gang, Grandmaster Caz, Rahiem and Mele Mel

Special K

Smooth B

Ralph McDaniels and Kool Herc

Ralph McDaniels

Rahiem

Naughty By Nature

Mele Mel

Kool DJ Red Alert

Greg Nice

Greg Nice

Grandmaster Caz and Rahiem

DJ Jazzy Joyce

Dana Dane

Chubb Rock

Schoolly D interviewed by URBNN after what appears to be a show in the Netherlands. Peace to Ryan Proctor