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...

A Tribe Called Quest "Scenario" (Live in 1992)

I mentioned the Scenario remix just the other day, got me thinking back to Tribe and Phife, of course, rest in peace. Then, I was on YouTube and because I mentioned it here, Google remembers everything (suspect!) and it suggested a live video of A Tribe Called & Quest and Leaders of the New School up at the Arsenio Hall Show in '92. Gotta appreciate all that Arsenio Hall did to broadcast Hip-Hop to a national crowd, and peep the CD longbox he's holding? Geez, I hated those things back in the day, but now I wish I had more of them, just for the unique versions of the artwork. In the interview after the live performance, Arsenio asks, "We've got problems in this country: riots here, economy problems everywhere, drugs, education, what would you like to say to the youth of America, 'cuz they need to hear positive things..." Ali Shaheed Muhammad says, "As far as those who have turned 18 years old, A Tribe Called Quest suggests that you go out there and register to vote, and that's real. That's your voice. As far as those under 18, stay in school, study, for real - it's a big game you have to learn to play. Definitely." I wish I could say times have changed. They also discuss the relationship between the title "The Low End Theory" and 808s, as well as changing stereotypes for how people look at the black youth in America. Check it all out below...

Ice-T "Cop Killer" Controversy (Spin Magazine, 1992)

"Die, Pig, Die," go the lyrics in "Cop Killer," the song that enraged police officers across America last summer. Ice-T said Body Count's song "Cop Killer" does not tell people to go out and shoot cops, but his original intent -- to portray a demented soul seeking revenge on a murderous group -- got lost in the din. Law enforcement groups jumped all over Time Warner, whose subsidiary Sire Records released "Cop Killer," and within weeks they had enlisted the support of 60 members of Congress, Oliver North, Dan Quayle, and President Bush. Alabama Governor Guy Hunt sent out an urgent Father's Day message to the nation's governors, asking them to join in a campaign against the Body Count album. By August, over 1,400 record stores nationwide had dropped the album. Very few Americans actually heard the song, but most had something to say about it. Sixty-six percent of nonblack Americans tended to support the protestors who urged that the song be pulled from public circulation... Only 37 percent of blacks did. A half-dozen cops can get blasted in an Arnold Schwarzenegger movie without music fanfare, but a different standard is applied to rap or speed-metal bands such as Ice-T's Body Count. "There's an assumption that inner-city blacks are more likely to be influenced than the rest of us," ... "There's an assumption of black inferiority in all of this." In September, Quayle blamed a rap album from Tupac Shakur for the shooting death of a state trooper in Texas. And Cummings says it's no coincidence that the controversy over "Cop Killer" erupted a couple of months after the L.A. riots. Time Warner execs backed Ice-T during the two months of controversy... but Ice-T finally decided to pull the song, ostensibly to protect Time Warner from the heat. Lesser-known rappers are worried about the fallout. Warner Bros. is said to be discouraging songs about alleged police brutality: A Warner Bros. spokesman said Juvenile Committee was asked to tone down "Justice in the Hood," and Boston crew Almighty RSO says it was dropped by Tommy Boy Records because its rap antagonized police groups. "Ice-T should have stuck to his guns," says Almighty RSO member Jeffrey "Def Jeff" Neal. "If they got him to back down, they're going to wipe out the little guy." - Spin Magazine (December, 1992). Ice-T appeared on the Arsenio Hall Show to discuss the "Cop Killer" controversy in greater detail. Full article is below. The dope illustration up above is by Warren Drummond in The Source Magazine (No. 40, January 1993).

Das EFX & Redman on The Arsenio Hall Show 7/31/92

Before there was an Instagram, Das EFX's PR team issued this "Dasogram" to media, alerting us to their performance on The Arsenio Hall Show on Friday, July 31st in 1992. The Hit Squad made its presence felt with none other than the Funk Doc, Redman; holding Skoob & Krayz Drayz down on the turntables. The group performed their lead single, 'They Want EFX,' off the smash album, 'Dead Serious.' People forget how influential and forward-thinking Arsenio Hall was to support hip-hop on his show (in 1992!) and bring the music to millions of people. Many of the live performances on his show were the biggest platforms artists could reach at the time. 25 years later, enjoy the video clip below of the performance. I'm sure you'll find the All-Star tribute if you search Youtube, too.