Arsenio and Hip-Hop

From http://blogs.houstonpress.com/rocks/ArseSnoop%200213.jpg

When I was younger, around my junior high and high school years, hip-hop was my life.  I spent my hard earned money on tapes and tried to watch every show that my favorite rappers were on.  I had stacks of VHS tapes that I had recorded countless videos and television appearances on.  Besides the music videos, I loved seeing my favorite rappers perform on shows like Yo! MTV Raps, Soul Train, In Living Color and any other show they popped up on.  This was before hip-hop went mainstream, so there weren’t a lot of shows for rappers to appear on like there is today.  This was especially true for the late night shows, but that all changed in 1989 when The Arsenio Hall Show hit the airwaves.

The Arsenio Hall Show only lasted for five years, but those five years were the bulk of my junior high and high school years, so it felt like a lifetime to me.  Before The Arsenio Hall Show came on the air, there wasn’t a late night talk show for rappers to appear on, but Arsenio had no problem embracing rappers and the hip-hop community.  During his first run Arsenio would give a host of rappers a chance to shine such as 2Pac, Queen Latifah, Snoop and Pete Rock and CL Smooth.  I was checking out TV.com (click here) for some of his past guests and he had a lot of entertainers on before they got big and the list isn’t limited to just rappers.  Jamie Foxx and Chris Rock both appeared when they were in the early stages of their careers and there’s a ridiculous amount of NBA stars that appeared on the show that probably wouldn’t have appeared on any other late night show.  He also had Christian Laettner on his show and I’m not sure why he would have a Duke player on his show.  I considered nixing this blog post after I found this out, but I’m going to take the stance that the positives outweigh the negatives.  Anyway, I have no idea why I woke up thinking about the original Arsenio Hall Show this morning, but as a tribute, I’m going to give you five of the most memorable performances from rappers.

2Pac – I Get Around

Pac was actually on Arsenio twice as a solo artist from what I remember.  He also performed Pain from the Above the Rim soundtrack which is probably my favorite Pac song of all-time, but most of the videos were really poor quality, so y'all get I Get Around which was still dope.

Snoop Doggy Dogg – Tha Shiznit

This is probably from late ’93 or early ’94.  I swear this was on like a Friday night and I remember waiting all night for Arsenio to come on.  I might be confused, but I believe Snoop performed What’s My Name? first and then Arsenio brought him back out to do Tha Shiznit.  I remember I had this on a VHS tape and I taped over it by mistake.  I still cry on the inside about it, but luckily we have YouTube now.

A Tribe Called Quest and Leaders of the New School – Scenario

I feel like this shouldn’t even need an introduction.  I mean this is Scenario, probably one of the dopest posse cuts of all-time and they performed it on Arsenio.

N.W.A. – 100 Miles and Runnin’

This video is longer because it includes an interview with N.W.A. before they performed.  This performance is significant because I can’t think of any other late night TV show host that would’ve had N.W.A. on their show in 1990.  There was controversy over the group name and lyrics and they even got the attention of the FBI.  However, that didn’t stop Arsenio from bringing the group on his show and giving them a platform to express themselves.

Hip-Hop for Arsenio

This was from Arsenio’s last show in 1994.  I remember watching this episode and I probably have it on VHS tape somewhere in my mom’s house.  He’s doing his opening monologue and the curtain lifts up and a bunch of rappers come out to pay tribute to Arsenio.  Yo-Yo and MC Lyte start it off followed by the likes of A Tribe Called Quest, Guru, CL Smooth and KRS-One.  It was a fitting tribute to a man who gave a voice to the hip-hop community for five years on the late night talk show circuit.