May 27, 2019

Arsenio Hall Show "All-Star Cipher" (Video, 1994)


Twenty-five years ago this month, The Arsenio Hall Show dimmed the lights on a massive television platform, especially for Hip-Hop. Since early 1989, the actor/comedian/host planted his flag with a new kind of late-night talk-show with a penchant for the issues, people, and culture that inspired him. From M.C. Hammer to 3rd Bass, Wu-Tang Clan to Snoop Dogg, Rap music was front and center... In 1994, the final episode aired just as summer began. At the close of the show, a cast of MCs came together to give Arsenio a loving and thankful sendoff. Yo-Yo, MC Lyte, Treach, Phife Dawg, Q-Tip, Fu-Schnickens, C.L. Smooth, Guru, Das EFX, Wu-Tang Clan, KRS-One, and Mad Lion rocked while Pete Rock played a funky concoction of Bob James’ “Nautilus.” After his rhyme, Kris proclaimed, “If it wasn’t for Arsenio, you wouldn’t see no Rap on TV,” after a verse that said in the wake of the cancellation, he would not be tuning in to David Letterman’s program. Other MCs wove Hall into their verses, with Lyte tracing his story back to Cleveland. In his rhyme, Phife cursed in anger that the show was leaving. Click HERE for the full story behind the all-star cipher that ended the Arsenio Hall Show, via Jake Paine at AFH. This is a classic video that will live on forever...