Yo! MTV Raps Concert Lines Up Big Daddy Kane, Eric B. And Rakim, Doug E. Fresh, KRS-One, EPMD, Onyx, Black Sheep, Das EFX, & More
Since MTV had so much success with its TRL reboot, the network has apparently decided to bring another classic property back: Yo! MTV Raps. And, as Rolling Stone reports, they’re doing it with a big concert. On 6/1, MTV is throwing a Yo! MTV Raps: 30th Anniversary Experience show at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, and the lineup features a whole bunch of artists that appeared on the show, which originally ran from 1988 to 1995.
That includes Daddy Kane and the Juice Crew, Eric B. and Rakim, Doug E. Fresh, KRS-One and Boogie Down Productions, EPMD, Flavor Flav, Melle Mel & The Furious Five, the Pharcyde, Brand Nubian, Nice And Smooth, Onyx, Black Sheep, Das EFX, Special Ed, Yo-Yo, Kid Capri, and Young Black Teenagers, who who will be performing for the first time since they disbanded in 1994. Hosts Fab 5 Freddy, Ed Lover, Doctor Dré, and T-Mone and DJs Skribble, Red Alert, and Chuck Chillout will also be there, and special tribute videos from Eminem, Method Man, Redman, and more will play at the concert too.
The event, which will be livestreamed on MTV, is just the beginning of the channel’s plan to “reinvent the franchise for a new generation as a both a linear and digital series across its platforms,” according to a press release. “The actual star of the show is the Yo! MTV Raps brand and all the iconic groups that either started their career or got their mainstream light through that show,” says DJ Skribble, one of the show’s co-producers. “So many people from my age group, we lived and died by that show.”
Tickets to the Yo! MTV Raps: 30th Anniversary Experience show go on sale this Saturday, 4/21, at noon ET.