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.

Regrets

 Most of us have some sort of regret in life.  We either did or didn’t do something that every now and then comes back to haunt us.  Personally, I have a few regrets that center on hip-hop.  Albums that I shouldn’t have bought or a concert I missed for some unnecessary reason.  Some of these regrets are embarrassing and others are ones that I believe any person could have made.  So, I’ve decided that every now and then, I’m going to share some of these regrets with you.  Please don’t judge me…

Midnights Marauders for Mokenstef 

 

A Tribe Called Quest had released Midnight Marauders in November of 1993 and the album was considered a classic by most fans.  I was a Tribe fan.  I enjoyed their previous album, the Low End Theory, but back then, I didn’t have the appreciation for Tribe that most of my friends had.  Midnight Marauders had joints like Award Tour and Electric Relaxation, but I had never fully got into the album.  The main attraction of the album for me at the time was the dope album cover that featured a who’s who of hip-hop stars at the time.  I don’t believe I bought the tape when it was first released, but I bought the CD some time during my senior year in high school in ’95.

Check out this article about the making of the album cover.

Now, I’m not sure who I completed this transaction with, but I’m pretty sure it was my boy Shun because there’s not many people I would have traded music with.  There was this R&B group that had come out in ’95 named Mokenstef and their first single was called He’s Mine.  At the time, I thought it was dope.  Almost twenty years later, not so much.  Anyway, Shun had their CD and we were talking one day and I must’ve mentioned how I wasn’t really into the Midnight Marauders album.  So, Shun suggests a trade.  Midnight Marauders for Mokenstef.  Like I said, please don’t judge me and forgive me for my ignorance, but I really liked He’s Mine at the time.  I thought the song was dope.  I would like to say that it took some arm twisting and pleading by Shun for me to agree to the trade, but it didn’t. 

In retrospect, this trade was as lopsided as the Lakers trading Vlade Divac to the Hornets for Kobe Bryant in ‘96.  A Tribe Called Quest is considered one of the greatest rap groups of all-time while, if you weren’t a fan of R&B music in ’95, you probably have no idea who I’m talking about when I say Mokenstef.  As time passed, I would grow to regret my decision and wouldn’t bring it up in fear of damaging my reputation as a connoisseur of fine hip-hop.  Last year, I did finally buy the Midnight Marauders album again and after giving it a thorough listen, I cried in shame at my mistake.  I can never go back and erase my mistake, but in an effort to redeem myself, a couple of years ago, for my acknowledged nieces and nephews, I started buying them classic hip-hop albums for Christmas and Midnight Marauders will most likely be the choice for 2014.  In closing, I tell this tale not for you to ridicule me as some of you will, but to be a cautionary tale of what can happen when making haste decisions.  So, please, I implore all of you, if anybody ever approaches you about making a music trade (although with downloading, who actually trades CDs anymore?), remember this story and choose wisely before making the trade.