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Ralph McDaniels Celebrates ‘‘You’re Watching Video Music Box’ Documentary Airing on Showtime
Dec 4, 2021
Nas and Mass Appeal have stepped up to direct 'You’re Watching Video Music Box', which chronicles the longest-running music video show in the world hosted by the legend Ralph McDaniels.
Video Music Box was launched and hosted in New York City by visionary DJ and MC Ralph McDaniels. With four decades of never-before-seen footage from McDaniel’s packed vault, the film spotlights the series’ global influence on Hip Hop, along with his professional and personal triumphs.
McDaniels called into Sway In The Morning to talk about working with Nas in putting this together.
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0:02
Ladies and gentlemen,
0:04
one of the most important platforms, if
0:06
not the most important platform to
0:11
expand this culture of hip hop ever
0:13
existed.
0:15
Absolutely.
0:16
Hands down, there's no platform that's
0:18
more important than this platform that
0:20
kicked off became a mainstay since 1983.
0:24
We're talking nearly 40 years that this
0:27
video platform has been running before
0:29
people even understood the importance of
0:31
video. I have to bring Rich Nice on the
0:33
conversation for this one, too, cuz I
0:36
know he was there. Rich, grand risings
0:38
to you.
0:39
Let me tell you, there's a lot of people
0:41
that um I took queue from. I worked at
0:44
MTV for 20-plus years, and I took a lot
0:46
of queue from a lot of people, and I'm
0:48
not ashamed to say it. Donnie Simpson
0:50
was one of those people that I looked at
0:51
a lot and said, "Hmm."
0:54
Um
0:55
uh another person uh that that I took
0:57
queue from uh was Sapphire Freddy. You
1:00
know, when he was on uh Yo! MTV Raps.
1:03
And Don Cornelius was probably the first
1:06
one I took queue from, but the one that
1:08
I really admired and got excited every
1:11
time I saw copies of Video Music Box in
1:15
Cali, because we didn't have it when I
1:16
was growing up. We had to get copies of
1:19
it on VHSs was the man we have on the
1:21
show with us today as we celebrate the
1:23
premiere of the documentary you're
1:25
watching Video Music Box taking place
1:28
December 3rd 8:00 p.m. on Showtime. Uh
1:31
he Wow, his line just cut off.
1:35
His line just cut off.
1:36
It was too much.
1:37
It was too much. I was giving him too
1:38
much. I was about to Yo, I was giving
1:40
him too much. Let's see if he calls
1:43
back. There he goes. Let me see if I can
1:44
pick him up real quick. Um
1:47
but this man is so important um to our
1:49
culture. Um it it's a
1:51
you know, words can't really express. I
1:54
love this man. He's always been
1:56
forthcoming with me. The one and only,
1:58
the iconic, the legendary Ralph
2:01
McDaniels is ON THE LINE. RALPH!
2:05
YO, YO, YO, YO, YO. What's the deal? Yo,
2:08
yo, yo, yo.
2:09
Ralph, I I was in my flow and then your
2:11
line cut out. I thought it was too much,
2:12
man. I thought I was putting too much on
2:14
your neck right there.
2:17
Hey, you know, hey look, you know, the
2:20
the I'm still in the hood. People was
2:21
calling me. I'm like, "Yo, I'm getting
2:22
ready to get on with Sway in the
2:23
morning." Yo, cut it out.
2:27
Hey, hey Ralph, we got Heather B on the
2:30
line. Tracy G is with us.
2:31
Hey king.
2:33
And the leg- and the iconic Rich Nice is
2:36
on the line as well, Ralph.
2:38
Oh man, Rich. Yes. Yes. Yes, sir. Thank
2:41
you everybody. Thank you so much.
2:43
Absolutely. Congratulations on your
2:45
video uh on your on your watching video
2:47
music box premiere in on Friday.
2:50
Directed by Nas, man. How did that come
2:52
to be? How did Nas get involved with
2:54
this?
2:55
It it's crazy, you know, like he he
2:57
approached me and he said, "Look, man,
2:59
you know, I want to direct this. I want
3:01
to get it right." And I looked at him
3:03
like, "What are you talking about, bro?
3:05
Like, are you crazy right now?" And I
3:07
was like, "Nas is going to direct it?"
3:11
And so, I just, you know, I had to sit
3:13
back and just, you know, it was like a
3:15
360 moment for me because I directed his
3:18
first video from Illmatic, um "It Ain't
3:21
Hard to Tell".
3:22
Mhm.
3:22
And
3:24
and I said, "Do you realize what this
3:25
is?" And he's like, "Right, I know. I
3:27
You did my first video. You did my EPK
3:29
when I first came out." And I said, "And
3:31
now you're doing something that's like,
3:32
you know, just the probably one of the
3:34
biggest things that I've done, you know,
3:36
visually, you know, and it was, you
3:38
know, it brought a tear to my eye.
3:40
Little thug Little thug moment Little
3:42
thug tear came out, bro.
3:46
Hey, uh
3:47
but see, and that's the thing about you,
3:48
Ralph. Like, I don't I don't people
3:50
realize how many people's videos you
3:53
directed, man. Can Can you give us a
3:55
just a list of some of the biggest
3:57
videos you did?
3:58
Mhm.
3:58
Yeah. Um well, you was just playing
4:00
Wu-Tang. I did I didn't do Protect Ya
4:03
Neck, but I did Cream.
4:04
Cream, yep.
4:05
Yeah. And um I did also for Raekwon, I
4:07
did Incarcerated Scarface. I did Ice
4:10
Cream.
4:12
Um
4:13
we did um Black Moon, Who Got the Props.
4:16
Mhm.
4:17
Um wow, man, so many videos. The list
4:19
just goes on and on and on, you know,
4:21
especially with the my partner Lionel,
4:23
you know, all of the Bell Biv Devoe
4:24
stuff. And um you know, all of that cool
4:28
R&B stuff, Keep Sweatin' and all of that
4:29
kind of stuff. Back in the days, Whitney
4:31
Houston, you know, just so many big
4:34
artists that we never dreamed of working
4:37
with, but I think we had a a vision
4:39
and it was similar to what Video Music
4:42
Box was. We We We were really paying
4:44
attention to what audience wanted to see
4:47
in that music video era, you know.
4:49
Mhm.
4:50
Because that's the thing, like people
4:51
don't know now. Now it's, you know, you
4:52
watch YouTube or you go to the artist's
4:55
link and, you know, and you kind of
4:56
watch it on TikTok or something. But
4:58
back then, it was the only time you saw
5:01
it was on these shows. And, you know,
5:02
and Video Music Box was, you know, it or
5:05
we had That's all we had. And so, that
5:08
was what you watched. And, you know, it
5:10
was a magical moment. If you didn't see
5:12
it then, you might not ever see it
5:14
again.
5:16
That was true, man. It wasn't no
5:17
outlets, man. When you talk about The
5:20
Vision, I always wanted to know, and
5:21
I'll let everybody else jump in,
5:23
when when did The Vision manifest for
5:26
you and Lionel? Was it Where were you?
5:28
When did you decide, man, I want to do
5:29
this thing, let's call it Video Music
5:31
Box? Where were you? What What What
5:33
triggered it? What sparked it?
5:35
Yeah, I was working I just graduated
5:37
from college. I was 21. I just graduated
5:40
from college and I was trying to figure
5:42
out, you know, what I was going to do. I
5:43
got this job working at the station,
5:46
low-power station in New York City, you
5:48
know, basically they were playing like,
5:50
you know, like like when you watch PBS
5:52
type stuff. And um and I was like, man,
5:55
it says public broadcasting at the end
5:57
of it, but I don't see no black people
5:58
on here. Like, what's up with that? And
6:01
like, yo, this guy's a troublemaker
6:02
right here, right? And so they were
6:04
like, "Well, what you want to do?" And
6:06
so I came up with this idea, this
6:09
video music box, cuz we had these tapes
6:11
of artists performing, like R&B artists,
6:13
like The Whispers and um Lakeside and um
6:18
and mostly it was was was artists on
6:19
this on this label uh Solar Records. And
6:22
then we got some Motown stuff, and I was
6:23
like, "Yo, let's put all this together
6:25
and make it like almost like a video
6:26
mixtape." And but I was like, "We got to
6:28
have some hip-hop stuff." And I was
6:30
rolling with Russell Simmons at the
6:31
time, we both from Queens, and um and I
6:33
was like, "Yo, you know, what you got?"
6:35
And he was like, "Well, we don't get it
6:37
played nowhere. If you want to play it,
6:38
you can play it." And so that's when we
6:40
started getting Fat Boys and UTini and
6:42
Run-DMC, cuz none of that stuff, you
6:45
know, Run-DMC was the first to really
6:47
break through. But prior to that, there
6:49
were videos that were out, but nobody
6:51
was playing it.
6:52
Right.
6:53
Yeah.
6:54
Uh Heather, I'mma let you jump in. Did
6:56
How did you How many times were you on
6:57
Video Music Box?
6:59
I don't know, but every time I was, I
7:00
was screaming and I was happy. And even
7:02
if I I didn't see it, somebody would let
7:05
you know that your video was on Video
7:07
Music Box. That's how And I'm talking
7:09
about the era where people didn't have
7:11
everybody have a cell phone. Like,
7:13
that's how big it was. Like, if you got
7:16
on Video Music Box or something was at
7:18
Video Music Box, you just heard about
7:20
it. Like, it it it was incredible. And
7:23
to me, the other thing was it was the
7:25
shout-outs and Ralph and everybody would
7:27
run They would be at parties at
7:29
different spots. You just never know
7:31
where they would show up. Or if you knew
7:32
they were going to be there, everybody
7:34
flooded that spot. And so you could you
7:36
would see this amazing footage, and
7:38
sometimes you would see like Nikki D and
7:40
the Lady of Rage together. Like, and it
7:42
was like that both of them together in
7:44
the same spot and is that this one and
7:46
that one all talking and hanging out?
7:48
Y'all want to give a shout out la la la.
7:49
Ralph talking to folks. Ralph, when you
7:51
went back and I know you can't give us a
7:53
lot. Going back through the footage, is
7:55
it anything that you forgot that you
7:57
shot and you saw it, you was like, oh
7:59
wow, this is crazy.
8:01
Yeah, yeah, you know, plenty of stuff,
8:04
you know, I I was like like this is a
8:06
whole bunch of stuff with Ice Cube and I
8:08
was like, I don't even remember even
8:09
being around Ice Cube this much this
8:11
much. And like so a lot of the West
8:13
Coast artists, you remember,
8:15
you know, everybody would come to New
8:16
York, you know, because that's where the
8:17
media was at. And you know, and then
8:20
they would touch down and go like, okay,
8:21
where are we going to go? And and we all
8:23
we only had a few spots at the you know,
8:25
you know, there was only a few places
8:26
that they would even allow you to have a
8:28
hip hop party, you know.
8:30
And so we all came down, you know, to
8:33
whoever it was, if it was, you know,
8:35
Snoop, if it's Sway, you know, whoever
8:38
was coming through, Too Short, you know,
8:40
whoever came through, we all hung out at
8:42
the same spot.
8:44
Y'all man, I I tell you
8:47
I and I know Rich Nice. Rich Nice was
8:49
the first rapper signed to Motown.
8:52
What was Rich like, Ralph? What you How
8:54
you remember Rich when he was wearing
8:55
the canary yellow suits dancing on stage
8:57
and stuff?
8:59
And I want to know about Cape Rich Nice.
9:01
Oh wow.
9:03
But you know, Rich had that that uptown
9:05
flavor and plus he was, you know, he
9:07
could dress. So, you know, in fact, I
9:09
don't know, maybe Rich might have been,
9:11
you know, that that that that cool swag
9:14
vibe that that Puff brought us maybe
9:16
before even Puff was doing it, if I'm
9:18
not mistaken. But Puff picked up on
9:21
everybody's vibe and, you know, and
9:23
turned that into a whole movement, but
9:25
Rich was, you know, we I think we did
9:26
Rich, we did the video for you
9:28
Outstanding, right?
9:29
You did my first video of The Rhythm the
9:31
Feeling and had Mary Mara as my leading
9:34
lady. I never forget you guys for that
9:36
cuz that was incredible. I was so big in
9:38
the hood with Mary Morrow as my leading
9:41
lady.
9:42
That's crazy. That's crazy. Yes. Yeah,
9:45
but you know, it was it was just it was
9:47
uh you know, there was so many people
9:50
that were trying to get out. It was it
9:51
was great times and the music video era
9:54
was a beautiful time from you know, from
9:57
Video Music Box. We started in '83, so
9:59
we were we were early. Then Yo! Then 106
10:02
& Park and all these shows, but we were
10:04
like the first to you know, to get it
10:05
really going. And um and I think that
10:09
you know, the footage that people are
10:10
going to see in this You're watching
10:12
Video Music Box is is crazy, you know,
10:15
it's just when people like Chuck
10:16
Chillout says it was when they were
10:18
skinny,
10:24
CHUCK GOT SOME NERVE SAYING WHEN THEY
10:25
WERE SKINNY. Look at Chuck. That's my
10:27
man, too.
10:30
That's great. That's great. Uh Ralph
10:32
McDaniels is with us and and we're
10:34
talking about uh the the documentary
10:36
that's on Showtime 8:00 p.m. That's big.
10:39
It's on Showtime directed by Nas and
10:41
it's called You're Watching Video Music
10:42
Box. Tracy, you want to jump in?
10:44
Oh my gosh, absolutely. Ralph, I'm
10:46
curious what you think is the role of
10:50
music videos today, you know, because
10:53
although there's in my opinion, there is
10:55
still a lot of creativity like thinking
10:57
about Kendrick, thinking about Doja Cat,
10:59
who is such a humongous visual artist,
11:02
you know, but there's also what
11:05
underscores that is how quickly we
11:08
consume and move on, right?
11:12
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
11:13
Or has it just taken different shape
11:15
where you get all these kind of mini
11:17
music videos because of social media and
11:20
the abundance of content that we have?
11:23
Yeah, I I think that, you know,
11:24
technology has, you know, just moved it
11:27
it's great, but sometimes it's bad
11:30
because, you know, some some of these
11:31
artists that you just mentioned just
11:33
create some incredible arts of work and
11:37
it's just consumed so quickly and just
11:39
kind of, you know, okay, we're done with
11:41
it in a matter of a week or two. And
11:44
this is beautiful stuff, you know, like
11:46
Tyler, his last project, like I was like
11:49
blown away by all the visuals that he
11:51
brought, you know.
11:53
And so, yeah, so to watch, you know, how
11:56
how technology kind of eats it up, it
11:59
it's tough, you know, but, you know, it
12:02
will always be important because it's
12:04
touching so many more people than we
12:06
touched, you know, back then. And I
12:09
think that it's it's important for
12:11
artists, you know, it's not just about
12:12
the music anymore. It's, you know, it's
12:14
about all of these other things that the
12:16
artists do. You know, back in the days
12:18
it was like all we had was
12:20
a vinyl record and and a and a picture
12:23
in Right On magazine or something like
12:25
that.
12:27
Now you got to do all these other
12:29
things.
12:30
The music part is only a small part of
12:33
it, you know.
12:33
Right.
12:34
Yeah.
12:34
Right. That's so true. So true.
12:36
You know what's good though, too, that
12:37
I've noticed, a positive change,
12:40
um, and I'm sure you have as well, on
12:42
Instagram when folks will post a music
12:45
video in the caption, they'll list out
12:48
every single person involved. You know
12:51
what I mean? Like, whoever was holding
12:53
camera three, whoever is involved in the
12:55
lights, and I've never seen that before,
12:58
you know? In a sense, it was just the
13:00
artist and the director that got all the
13:03
credit. And that I think that also, um,
13:07
stole away some opportunities for other
13:09
people to discover new jobs, you know
13:11
what I mean? I think a a part of that
13:13
made everyone believe the only way to be
13:16
successful is if you're like the front
13:18
man, you know? You have that that
13:20
leading role. And I and I wonder,
13:23
you know, um, in the past, thinking
13:26
about '83 and the '90s and going up to
13:28
the early 2000s, did you see any
13:30
frustration with people who were behind
13:33
the scenes but not really getting the
13:34
applause for the work that they put in
13:37
to creating a music video?
13:38
Um
13:39
well, in the beginning, you know, I I I
13:43
think that we just were just happy to
13:45
get whatever we got.
13:46
Okay.
13:47
You know, we were happy to get whatever
13:49
we got.
13:53
Yo, I'm saying hell yeah, he right.
13:55
Uh-huh, I feel you.
13:57
You know, and it's sad, you know, and so
13:59
when I talk to a 20-year-old now,
14:02
they have the ability to say, "No, I'm
14:03
not doing that."
14:05
You know, and you like, "You sure?"
14:07
Like, you know, I you know, like, "No,
14:08
not doing that because that doesn't work
14:11
for my brand." And that's the from the
14:13
work that we all put in that they can
14:15
say no now.
14:17
You know?
14:18
With confidence, you know, and you know,
14:21
you know, I talk to young people I have
14:23
young people that work with me and I'm
14:24
like,
14:25
"I I look up to y'all when y'all say,
14:26
'No, I'm not doing that.'"
14:28
You know,
14:29
cuz I couldn't do that, you know? I
14:31
didn't have the ability to do do that
14:32
when I was your age. I was like, "No, I
14:34
got to do it whatever. We might get
14:36
something afterwards." And usually we
14:37
didn't get it, but we thought we know we
14:40
thought, you know, positively, "Oh,
14:42
we're going to get something out of
14:43
this." And you they took your your
14:45
information or took your video or took
14:46
your music and just went on and kept on
14:49
moving. Now these kids can go, "Nah, I
14:51
need like 5 million for that right
14:52
there, yo."
14:54
Y'all got to stop for thinking that way
14:56
cuz a lot of folks will be like, "Well,
14:58
if you're not acting the way that we did
15:00
it in the past, then maybe, you know,
15:03
you you have a big an inflated ego, you
15:05
know what I'm saying?" Or whatever else.
15:08
It's not really seen positive or we
15:11
forget that you weren't really
15:13
necessarily supposed to be doing that in
15:14
the past as well, you know what I'm
15:16
saying?
15:16
Yeah, it's not.
15:18
No, everybody
15:18
entitlement, it's progression.
15:21
Yeah, no, I mean, every artist from Nas
15:25
to Hov to Snoop to Ice Cube, we did
15:30
whatever we could do for that
15:32
opportunity.
15:33
You know, and you know, and and and you
15:36
knew that you were just playing yourself
15:38
sometimes, but you did it because you
15:40
hoped that something would happen. And
15:42
that was how hip-hop was because there
15:44
was no lane for us. You know, there was
15:46
no lane, and you were like, "Please,
15:48
just let me get on this show, and I know
15:50
I'm going to be hot if I get on this
15:52
show."
15:54
That was what I could tell you.
15:56
No, it's crazy because not only that,
15:58
not only did you beg to get on the show,
16:00
you begged to get on a free show. Like,
16:03
it it's like, I'm I want to get on, you
16:05
ain't got to pay me nothing, I'll come,
16:06
it cost me money to get here, it cost me
16:09
money for my fit, and then I got to spit
16:11
my dopest whatever in hopes that
16:14
somebody, anybody, would see me. And
16:17
then the hook is that we talk about all
16:19
the time here, then you sign your life
16:21
away because the first deal that you
16:23
make is always so bad, you sign your
16:25
life away for it. So, it's crazy, but I
16:28
wanted to go back to something that
16:29
Tracy said, Ralph, and just that the
16:32
power of the visual that you did with
16:35
Video Music Box. If you guys could go
16:37
back, Sway, Rich Nice for sure, don't
16:40
you remember when that Method Man video
16:42
dropped for Bring the Pain and you
16:44
watched this thing over and over again
16:46
on that bus? And when Salt-N-Pepa
16:48
Everybody Get Up, and you saw you had to
16:51
run home and see Video Music Box just to
16:54
watch the same video 15 times. Like, you
16:57
just didn't even care, you noticed
16:59
something different every single time in
17:01
the video, and that was the purpose of
17:03
us watching it. I remember when Rock Box
17:05
came. I remember all of that. So, thank
17:08
you for those memories, and it's it it's
17:10
a shame to some degree that we don't
17:12
have the patience that we had back then
17:15
and the appreciation for the art like
17:17
you guys were saying because man that's
17:19
all we did and and Ralph might have
17:21
played it was the album Ralph might have
17:23
only been able to get in four or five
17:25
videos but man it was everything to us
17:27
during that time. It was everything. So
17:29
thank you for that Ralph. Salute for
17:31
real.
17:31
Oh you're welcome. Thank you. Thank you
17:33
so much.
17:34
The best thing was when you get the
17:35
Friday show that would sometimes repeat
17:38
on Saturday cuz if your video PLAYED ON
17:40
FRIDAY
17:42
TUNE IN TOMORROW MY VIDEO ON
17:45
THEY'RE GOING TO REPEAT THE SHOW
17:46
TOMORROW.
17:47
AND YOU WOULD CALL everybody you know to
17:50
make sure they tuned in on the next or
17:52
the Saturday cuz your video played cuz
17:54
it was crazy. But Ralph I got to say you
17:57
know I never do this. I'm speaking for
17:59
all of hip hop. We are so proud of you
18:02
and this film and this moment because
18:05
this is this is part of all of our
18:07
lives. This is part of all of our lives
18:10
and DMC said something very profound to
18:12
me inside of the film.
18:14
And he said when MTV showed hip hop it
18:17
was people outside the culture showing
18:19
us but when Video Music Box played hip
18:21
hop it was us showing us.
18:23
And and how did that make you feel to
18:25
even to even hear that because you know
18:28
I mean there was something that you did
18:30
called the word segment and that was
18:32
created to inspire but you know
18:35
the other networks stole so much from
18:37
you but they didn't steal that. Like why
18:39
do you think that is? Why do you think
18:41
they picked and choose what to steal and
18:43
what not to steal and and the
18:44
inspirations that you gave all of these
18:46
other networks to actually create video
18:49
music countdown shows and shows.
18:52
Yeah.
18:52
No I I think that for me I was so
18:55
engulfed in the community that I wasn't
18:59
like I knew that I had to do something
19:01
you know on 125th Street. I had to do
19:03
something on Fulton Street you know I
19:06
had to be in these areas. I had to go to
19:09
this birthday party that some drug
19:10
dealer had cuz it was a popular thing
19:13
and showed the party and I was so
19:15
engulfed in it that I wasn't really
19:18
paying attention to what other networks
19:20
were doing but I understood when DMC
19:23
said that he he that was the best line I
19:25
I heard, you know, and I was like,
19:27
you're right, you know, because
19:30
we came before, you know, it was we were
19:32
trying to find figure out content to
19:34
keep people watching. So, you know, we
19:37
just aligned ourselves so in so much
19:39
with the community and I think that
19:42
even radio back then and any other
19:45
media, you know, was really in tune with
19:48
what was happening. Once corporate kind
19:50
of jumps in, it turns into something
19:52
else. And you know, and I I think I say
19:55
in the film, you know, I didn't want to
19:57
take money because I knew it would turn
19:59
into something else
20:01
that we couldn't control. I couldn't
20:02
play that new artist
20:05
from Staten Island, you know, RZA. I
20:08
couldn't RZA couldn't bring me Protect
20:10
Ya Neck the way it was done and I I
20:13
would be able to play it. They would
20:15
have asked for it to be looked better or
20:17
whatever. Quality should have been
20:18
better. That that Protect Ya Neck video
20:20
was the dustiest video that I played
20:23
every day, you know.
20:25
Before they didn't even have a deal yet,
20:28
you know, and I was playing the video.
20:31
So, I wouldn't have been able to play
20:32
stuff like that or other artists that,
20:34
you know, were, you know, just we knew
20:37
was it was good. It didn't It might not
20:39
have looked like, you know, it had a lot
20:41
of money behind it, but we knew that it
20:43
was a great song and we already were
20:45
hearing it in the club and we were like,
20:46
no, it's popping in the clubs already so
20:48
we got to play it.
20:49
So.
20:50
I think it's
20:51
I think it's
20:52
I think it's interesting what Rich
20:53
brought up, uh especially when it comes
20:56
to the the networks that really stole
20:58
your concept and gentrified it, you
21:01
know, and uh
21:03
and put it and put it on these major
21:05
networks.
21:06
Let's talk about two things. I'm going
21:08
to talk about Video Jukebox, the box
21:10
originally named Video Jukebox that was
21:12
around in the mid-80s and 2001 and they
21:16
was charging people to watch videos,
21:18
right? And um and it was very
21:21
successful. I don't remember how much
21:22
you played paid like a dollar and then
21:24
labels would
21:26
buy up video times and allotment spaces
21:29
and the real estate on this it was a
21:30
satellite network.
21:32
Yep.
21:32
That network
21:34
parent company was Viacom.
21:37
Oh, okay.
21:37
Which owns You see the note is that
21:40
owned MTV.
21:42
Yes.
21:42
So,
21:43
here's the interesting thing. Before Yo!
21:46
MTV Raps came to be, did MTV ever
21:48
approach you about doing a coming on MTV
21:52
network and doing a video music box with
21:55
them?
21:56
Um they didn't approach me, but after I
21:59
taped the um the Fresh Fest in 1985
22:03
and I I realized it was so much
22:05
diversity, you know, in the audience,
22:07
you know, you know, prior to that, you
22:09
know, I was just going to, you know, the
22:11
Bronx, Brooklyn, certain areas and
22:13
listening to to to music and jam and
22:15
going to jam. But, when we went to the
22:17
Fresh Fest it was in an arena and it's
22:18
the first time hip-hop had been
22:19
presented in an arena of, you know,
22:21
15,000 people
22:23
and it was very diverse. There was white
22:24
folks there, Asian, Latinos, black,
22:27
everybody was there and they all dressed
22:29
the same and they all knew the lyrics to
22:30
all the songs. You know, Run-DMC was the
22:32
headliner. Um Fat Boys
22:35
they all everybody knew the the music
22:37
and I realized then that this was for
22:39
everybody and I said, "Okay, it's time
22:42
to go to MTV." So, I called up my boy
22:44
and we went to MTV and they were like,
22:45
"Nah, nah, nah, nah, it's too early for
22:47
this right here, bro." And I was like,
22:49
"Nah, I'm telling you everybody's into
22:51
it." And um and they passed on it. And I
22:54
you know, I was disappointed at that
22:56
point, but when when Yo! came out, I was
22:58
happy because I said it's good for the
23:00
culture, you know, you know,
23:02
and and that was it. You know, that's
23:03
all I could think of. You know, now a
23:05
video that I directed, let's say by Big
23:08
Daddy Kane or Big Daddy Kane or uh or uh
23:11
Biz Markie,
23:13
and it's besides me just playing it on
23:15
my show and other local shows, now in
23:17
one shot gets played across the country
23:20
on on on Yo! And so, people always say,
23:23
"Oh, you you were mad, right?" when they
23:25
when they I was like, I wasn't mad at
23:27
that I was mad at the first time I went
23:29
because I knew it was supposed to happen
23:31
then. And they they didn't want to go
23:33
with they didn't want to do it at the
23:34
time. But when they did it, you know, it
23:37
was it was I couldn't be mad. It was
23:39
bigger than me. It was big it was good
23:40
for hip-hop.
23:41
Well, let me tell you what the hood
23:42
said. Remember that moment when Wu-Tang
23:44
said, "Yo, yo, they bit the nah
23:47
They bit the nah shit." The hood was
23:48
saying, "Yo, they bit Ralph McDaniels
23:50
They bit Ralph McDaniels shit."
23:53
Because at that point we no longer had
23:56
any access to them. We had access to
23:58
you. We could come to the parties and
24:00
even if you didn't have a record out,
24:01
you could get a shout-out. If you didn't
24:03
have a record or or or a record company
24:06
rep, you could get on Yo! MTV. So, it
24:08
was different. It was it was completely
24:10
different. I mean, I think I told you
24:11
this one time in the conversation,
24:12
Ralph,
24:13
when my video played on Video Music Box,
24:16
it meant more to me than when MTV played
24:19
my video and MTV was global and I was
24:22
still like, "Yeah, that's cool, but how
24:23
many times did Video Music Box play it?"
24:25
And the label reps would look at me
24:26
like, "Is this kid stupid? Like we just
24:28
told him his video played on MTV." And
24:30
it I was so unconcerned with that
24:33
because I guess I couldn't see the
24:35
connection that it made. But in New York
24:38
and the tri-state area, I would go to
24:39
Jersey to do shows and they'd go, "I saw
24:41
you on Video Music Box." And I was like,
24:43
"Who?
24:43
I'm the I'm the man." You know, and and
24:45
it leads me to this.
24:47
Before they had the MTV basketball
24:49
celebrity games, Video Music Box had
24:52
celebrity basketball games. And I
24:54
remember I mean, I got the receipt right
24:56
in front of me. I got a t-shirt. I'mma
24:58
send you a picture, Ralph. Dominique
25:00
Productions and Video Music Box July 4th
25:02
weekend jam in Virginia. And my number
25:05
was one. And on the back it says Video
25:07
Music Box All-Stars. And this is
25:10
Wow. You know, that's the first time I
25:11
met Pharrell when we went down there.
25:14
Wow.
25:14
to Teddy Riley's studio.
25:16
We We Yeah, we played against Teddy
25:18
Riley's team. Who Teddy Riley brought
25:21
Allen Iverson to the game. And who he
25:24
was in college.
25:27
I didn't know who Allen Iverson was. And
25:29
so I was like, yeah, all right, no
25:31
problem. I learned that day.
25:35
Wow, man.
25:36
What What year was that, Rich?
25:38
This was 1993. But this was the Virginia
25:41
version of the game. There was New York
25:42
versions of the game before the Virginia
25:44
version.
25:45
Yeah, before that. Yeah.
25:46
Hey Ralph, you got a few callers, man.
25:49
Round of applause, man, for this icon,
25:51
man.
25:52
Good Hey Hey Ralph, hold up.
25:54
And Rich is
25:55
Right, cuz not everybody in the hood had
25:56
cable. Everybody was like, yo, I ain't
25:58
got a
26:00
Right.
26:01
Hey Ralph, we did a sit-down, man. Did I
26:03
make Did I make the cut?
26:05
Oh, yes, absolutely, sir. We had to have
26:08
journalism in it, you know. So we made
26:10
sure that we got And I really made sure
26:13
that it was you that represented for the
26:16
journalist the the unapologetically
26:19
black journalist.
26:20
Oh, okay.
26:22
There we go. Hey
26:24
Hey Make sure y'all watch Friday ON
26:27
SHOWTIME.
26:28
ON SHOWTIME.
26:30
You're watching Video Music Box. That's
26:33
Friday at 8:00 p.m. Hold on, let me take
26:34
a couple calls, man. We got Ralph
26:36
McDaniels here.
26:37
Markette is in North Carolina. Real
26:39
quick, uh how you doing, Markette?
26:41
Hey Markette.
26:42
y'all? How y'all doing?
26:44
Hey.
26:44
First and foremost, I want to say, Mr.
26:46
Daniels, you're like a pioneer. I
26:48
consider I don't even call it hip hop, I
26:49
call it rap. You're like the steering
26:51
wheel. Cuz I'm 46, so when I grew up,
26:54
the only outlet we had in North Carolina
26:55
was to watch the fashion, you know,
26:57
besides the Cosby Show and A Different
26:59
World TV shows, all you had was videos.
27:01
So, and we had mixtapes and stuff. But
27:03
my my question to you is this, I'm not
27:05
going to take up too much time cuz I
27:06
know how Sway gets.
27:07
This is my This is my problem. Videos
27:09
back then were had big budget, they cost
27:11
a lot of money. If I was an artist, I
27:13
would be pissed off right now knowing
27:15
half of my budget took money out my
27:16
table, you know, food out my mouth for
27:18
my kids, and they don't show videos
27:19
anymore. So, fast forward. Why does VH1,
27:22
MTV, BET show nothing but Love & Hip
27:25
Hop? I'm not I'm not knocking those
27:26
shows, but it's a music television
27:28
thing. I got to watch my videos through
27:29
YouTube now, which pisses me off. So,
27:31
man, I got to pay extra to subscribe to
27:33
MTV Classics because they have the old
27:35
yo you know, hip hop shows. They'll show
27:37
I Love the '80s. That's the only way I
27:39
can catch the videos nowadays. You know,
27:41
and then it's sad that we created the
27:42
culture, but they still control it. So,
27:44
now if I go to BET, I'm watching all
27:46
these sister shows and Tyler Perry
27:48
shows. That's not music. That's not
27:49
videos. So, are you doing anything
27:52
Yeah, yeah, it's changed. It's changed.
27:53
It's changed, brother. And you know, and
27:56
that's all to do, I guess, with
27:57
advertising and stuff like that. The
27:59
technology has changed. I miss, you
28:00
know, a lot of that, you know, and
28:02
things are going to change because now
28:04
everybody's on their phone. And um and
28:07
that's the You know, some of these young
28:09
people, they don't even know what TV is.
28:10
They just look at their phone like,
28:12
"What are you talking about, daddy?" You
28:14
know, that's for us older folk, you
28:16
know.
28:16
Yeah, man. Man, my daughter is 23. When
28:19
she moved into her apartment, I said,
28:21
"I'm going to get you a housewarming
28:22
gift. I'm going to get you a TV." She
28:23
said, "For what?"
28:27
I was like, "Huh? What?" I
28:29
I didn't even question it. I I just I
28:31
was just perplexed like,
28:33
um
28:34
yeah, never mind. Never mind. I just got
28:35
old. Um Ralph, I can't thank you enough
28:40
for your inspiration, your contribution.
28:43
Man, I bit your style.
28:45
Thank you, man. When I got on TV, I had
28:47
a little bit of you in me. Um
28:51
Don Cornelius and Donnie Simpson. You
28:53
know, and I and I watch you and Rich.
28:55
When we sit and watch Ralph, what do I
28:57
say every time I watch him? What do I
28:59
What kind of comments do I make?
29:01
It's like, man, I wish we had this in
29:03
California. I wish we had this in
29:04
California cuz this is the blueprint.
29:07
This is the blueprint.
29:08
And your professionalism.
29:10
And I can't think of what was the live
29:12
stream we were watching.
29:14
Oh my gosh, we was watching the live
29:16
stream and and they was throwing
29:18
everything at you, Ralph. I was like I
29:20
was like, are they going to hit this guy
29:21
in the head with a bat or something? And
29:23
Sway just kept saying, "Yo, look at him.
29:24
He's not even nervous. He's handling
29:27
everything that comes to him. His His
29:28
professionalism is unmatched in hip-hop.
29:31
Look at this, Rich. Do you see it?" And
29:33
I was like, "Bro, I grew up with it."
29:35
Yeah, Ralph, let me tell you something,
29:36
man. Ralph, I I've done
29:38
red carpets all around the world. I've
29:41
done moderated panel discussions at the
29:44
United Nations a few times. I've done
29:47
all kind of things. So, I know what it
29:49
what it's like to be the White House, to
29:51
be live. And and man, when I watch you,
29:54
brother, it's like watching
29:56
it's like watching Jordan, like classic
29:58
Jordans, or it's like watching like I
30:01
like to watch old Mayweather fights, you
30:03
know, when he was in his in his prime.
30:05
And I watch you today and I get that
30:08
sense today, like in 2021, that this
30:11
dude is still moving in his prime. You
30:13
set a blueprint, brother, that's always
30:16
going to be in the DNA of this culture.
30:17
Congratulations. I'm glad you and I got
30:20
together to do this.
30:21
And I'm looking forward to seeing it in
30:23
its entirety. And thank you, bro. Thank
30:25
you for incorporating me, you know,
30:27
giving me whatever. If I got 2 seconds,
30:29
I'm good. I'm on the documentary. I'm
30:31
like, "Have to be in Rich nice."
30:34
You all up in there, bro. Hey, look,
30:35
it's Friday, uh December 3rd, 8:00 p.m.
30:38
Make sure you're tuned in on Showtime.
30:40
If you don't have Showtime, hack it. I
30:41
don't care. Get it somehow.
30:43
There you go. Ralph McDaniels, man.
30:45
Y'all follow him at Video Music Box and
30:47
show him some love. Ralph, thank you for
30:48
being on the show today, brother.
30:50
No problem, cuz. Thank you. Thank you,
30:52
everybody. Have a great weekend.
30:53
Love Ralph. Happy holidays, too.
30:55
Love Ralph. Yes, happy holidays.
30:57
Wow, man. Rich, thank you for being on.
30:59
Rich, I appreciate you, brother.
31:01
Oh, man. Listen, I couldn't miss that.
31:03
That's That's the That's the big homie
31:05
right there. It's a fantastic. Thanks
31:06
for making sure I was here.
#Arts & Entertainment