MTV launches 'Yo! MTV Raps'
MTV — which had been criticized through the early-to-mid 80s for marginal hip-hop programming — gives the genre a flagship slot. Fab 5 Freddy hosts the weekend edition; Doctor Dré (the original) and Ed Lover take the weekday shifts. The Run-DMC-anchored pilot draws the highest ratings the network has yet recorded.
Why it matters
Until 'Yo! MTV Raps,' a Bronx kid trying to follow LA or Houston scenes had to wait for crate-diggable mixtapes or *The Source*'s monthly arrival. The show makes hip-hop a national, simultaneous, visual experience for the first time — and exports it. Within five years 'Yo!' had spun off local-language versions in nine countries.
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Nearby in time
- 1988Public Enemy release 'It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back'
- 1988Follow the Leader is released
- 1988David Mays and Jonathan Shecter launch The Source magazine from a Harvard dorm
- 1988Straight Outta Compton is released
- 1988N.W.A. release 'Straight Outta Compton'
- 1988"Fuck tha Police" is released