Ralph McDaniels
Encyclopedia
Ralph “Uncle Ralph” McDaniels (born February 29 in Brooklyn, NY) is a hip-hop culture pioneer, entrepreneur, and visionary who created Video Music Box
, the first music video
show focused exclusively to an urban market—broadcast on public television. Widely recognized by the music industry as the original tastemaker of the streets, McDaniels became more commonly known as Uncle Ralph in 1995 when Kool DJ Red Alert
started calling him that on his radio show.
McDaniels is president of Uncle Ralph Productions, an on-air radio personality
at New York’s WQHT and is one of the executive producers of The Bridge
, which he also hosts. He is also a co-owner of Onfumes.com.
McDaniels influence in hip-hop culture stems from the astounding success of his 20-year hip-hop music show and spans over 25 years through the millions of viewers, fans, and consumers who have supported him throughout his endeavors in radio, television, and the fashion industry.
where he studied Communications–TV–Film and graduated in 1982. It was at this time that he started noticing an alarming array of talented hip-hop artists continuously being rejected and suppressed by mainstream media, and he wanted to give those overlooked artists a platform where they could be acknowledged by the consumers who craved them.
McDaniels decided to take matters into his own hands and approached a local TV station with an idea to host a music-video show. It was not enthusiastic about McDaniels’ idea but instead allowed him to host another popular local show with the same concept called Studio 31 Dance Party on WNYC-TV, a public-broadcasting station owned by the City of New York. After about a year of hosting that show, McDaniels got the opportunity to produce a show the way he originally wanted to do it and he appropriately named it Video Music Box
(VMB).
It was not long before VMB’s 6-day, 60-minute public television viewership began to grow far beyond what any of the cable networks had expected. By 1995, Billboard magazine recognized the show and awarded VMB as the Best Local R&B/Hip-hop Regional Show. Additionally, the show was also notably voted as the Top-10 Greatest Hip Hop TV Moments by VH1
in 2003. By 2005, over 192,000 households per week were regularly viewing VMB. McDaniels had shined a light on an undertapped urban audience and literally answered its outcries against mainstream media’s disregard of its favorite artists with VMB.
In 1985, McDaniels became the first to broadcast a hip-hop tour, Fresh Fest, on VMB, which featured many of today’s hip-hop icons such as Run D.M.C., LL Cool J
, Whodini
, and many others. It was also through the broadcast of VMB that McDaniels was able to successfully register over 10,000 voters, which earned McDaniels tremendous respect and accolades in throughout the City of New York.
In 2010 McDaniels took the ground-breaking Video Music Box a step further and launched Video Music Box Global on WNYC-TV.
, Nas
and Wu-Tang Clan
—with McDaniels producing and Martin directing these clips.
McDaniels reputation in the street was becoming as famous as it was over the airwaves. An inmate from Rahway State Prison wrote McDaniels about a government-sponsored hip-hop music program at the prison and McDaniels immediately took an interest in the story and went to the prison to film a documentary about the program called The Lifers' Group at Rahway State Prison, which aired on VMB, and was nominated for an Emmy in 1990.
McDaniels has interviewed former President Bill Clinton, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Reverend Jesse Jackson, legendary salsa singer Celia Cruz, and reported from the National Democratic Convention, just to name a few.
McDaniels hip-hop street credibility later led him to be approached by producers of the groundbreaking film Juice
, which starred Tupac Shakur
, where he was asked to serve as a consultant to the film and was given the job of associate producer. McDaniels jumped at the opportunity to contribute his talents and connections to this urban film classic and additionally assisted the film’s writer, Ernest Dickerson
, in re-writing the script.
When film production began for Who's the Man? starring Ed Lover
and Doctor Dré
, McDaniels was again called upon—this time to work in front of the camera, playing himself in the supporting cast.
and Karl Kani, the clothing of which McDaniels helped to make popular on his show. Soon after, McDaniels further cemented his place within the urban fashion scene with the launch of Uncle Ralph’s Urban Gear, a Brooklyn-based clothing store and T-shirt line.
By 1997, McDaniels was hired as an on-air personality to host a hip-hop radio show on New York’s Hot 97 that reached over 6 million listeners within the Tri-State area.
, introduced him to the station's then-General Manager, Arick Wierson
. Wierson proposed that McDaniels utilize his robust repository of original hip hop classic videos to develop an "old school" music video program showcasing early rap videos from the 1980s.
In 2006, McDaniels was approached with the idea to create an online version of his groundbreaking show. Two years later, McDaniels along with a business partner officially launched Onfumes.com, an interactive video hosting/on-demand Web site where registered users could have unlimited access to McDaniel’s archived collection of hip-hop and R&B videos, never-seen-before interviews, behind-the scenes footage, and access to up-and-coming urban artists and filmmakers.
Video Music Box
Video Music Box was one of the first television programs ever to feature hip hop videos primarily. Created in 1983 by Ralph McDaniels, it was one of the most influential television shows to give urban artists mainstream exposure. It aired on the New York City-owned public television station WNYC-TV...
, the first music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
show focused exclusively to an urban market—broadcast on public television. Widely recognized by the music industry as the original tastemaker of the streets, McDaniels became more commonly known as Uncle Ralph in 1995 when Kool DJ Red Alert
DJ Red Alert
DJ Red Alert is a disc jockey on 98.7 Kiss-FM, N.Y.C., and has been recognized as a hip hop pioneer...
started calling him that on his radio show.
McDaniels is president of Uncle Ralph Productions, an on-air radio personality
Radio personality
A radio personality is a person with an on-air position in radio broadcasting. A radio personality can be someone who introduces and discusses various genres of music, hosts a talk radio show that may take calls from listeners, or someone whose primary responsibility is to give news, weather,...
at New York’s WQHT and is one of the executive producers of The Bridge
The Bridge (TV show)
The Bridge is a TV show chronicling the history of hip hop in New York City. The show airs weekly on NYC TV in the New York City area. The show got its start in 2005 when NYC TV acquired broadcast station WNYE....
, which he also hosts. He is also a co-owner of Onfumes.com.
McDaniels influence in hip-hop culture stems from the astounding success of his 20-year hip-hop music show and spans over 25 years through the millions of viewers, fans, and consumers who have supported him throughout his endeavors in radio, television, and the fashion industry.
Video Music Box
Growing up in both Brooklyn and Queens, McDaniels, aspired to be a DJ. He attended New York Institute of TechnologyNew York Institute of Technology
New York Institute of Technology is a private, non-sectarian, co-educational research university in New York City. NYIT has five schools and two colleges, all with a strong emphasis on technology and applied scientific research...
where he studied Communications–TV–Film and graduated in 1982. It was at this time that he started noticing an alarming array of talented hip-hop artists continuously being rejected and suppressed by mainstream media, and he wanted to give those overlooked artists a platform where they could be acknowledged by the consumers who craved them.
McDaniels decided to take matters into his own hands and approached a local TV station with an idea to host a music-video show. It was not enthusiastic about McDaniels’ idea but instead allowed him to host another popular local show with the same concept called Studio 31 Dance Party on WNYC-TV, a public-broadcasting station owned by the City of New York. After about a year of hosting that show, McDaniels got the opportunity to produce a show the way he originally wanted to do it and he appropriately named it Video Music Box
Video Music Box
Video Music Box was one of the first television programs ever to feature hip hop videos primarily. Created in 1983 by Ralph McDaniels, it was one of the most influential television shows to give urban artists mainstream exposure. It aired on the New York City-owned public television station WNYC-TV...
(VMB).
It was not long before VMB’s 6-day, 60-minute public television viewership began to grow far beyond what any of the cable networks had expected. By 1995, Billboard magazine recognized the show and awarded VMB as the Best Local R&B/Hip-hop Regional Show. Additionally, the show was also notably voted as the Top-10 Greatest Hip Hop TV Moments by VH1
VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
in 2003. By 2005, over 192,000 households per week were regularly viewing VMB. McDaniels had shined a light on an undertapped urban audience and literally answered its outcries against mainstream media’s disregard of its favorite artists with VMB.
In 1985, McDaniels became the first to broadcast a hip-hop tour, Fresh Fest, on VMB, which featured many of today’s hip-hop icons such as Run D.M.C., LL Cool J
LL Cool J
James Todd Smith , better known as LL Cool J , is an American rapper, entrepreneur, and actor...
, Whodini
Whodini
Whodini is a hip hop group that was formed in 1981. The Brooklyn, New York-based trio consisted of vocalist and main lyricist Jalil Hutchins; co-vocalist John Fletcher, aka Ecstasy ; and turntable artist DJ Drew Carter, aka Grandmaster Dee.-Early years:Whodini was among the first hip-hop groups to...
, and many others. It was also through the broadcast of VMB that McDaniels was able to successfully register over 10,000 voters, which earned McDaniels tremendous respect and accolades in throughout the City of New York.
In 2010 McDaniels took the ground-breaking Video Music Box a step further and launched Video Music Box Global on WNYC-TV.
Film and Production
The success of Video Music Box became just one brick in the foundation that McDaniels would lay in hip-hop culture. It was not long after VMB started that McDaniels began to grow tired of the substandard quality of some of the videos that he aired. Believing he could do a better job of producing videos for some of these emerging artists, McDaniels partnered with childhood friend Lionel C. Martin (The Vid Kid) and co-founded Classic Concepts Productions, a film- and video-production company that produced over 300 music videos, commercials, films, and documentaries between 1987 and 1997. Most notably, Classic Concepts was instrumental in producing videos for such greats as Public Enemy, the Notorious B.I.G, Big Daddy KaneBig Daddy Kane
Antonio Hardy better known by his stage name Big Daddy Kane, is an American rapper who started his career in 1986 as a member of the rap group the Juice Crew. He is widely considered to be one of the most influential and skilled MC's in Hip Hop...
, Nas
Nas
Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones, who performs under the name Nas , formerly Nasty Nas, is an American rapper and actor. He is regarded as one of the most important figures in hip hop and one of the most skilled and influential rappers of all-time...
and Wu-Tang Clan
Wu-Tang Clan
The Wu-Tang Clan is a hip-hop group from Staten Island that consists of RZA, GZA, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, Masta Killa, and the late Ol' Dirty Bastard. They are frequently joined by fellow childhood friend Cappadonna, a quasi member of the group...
—with McDaniels producing and Martin directing these clips.
McDaniels reputation in the street was becoming as famous as it was over the airwaves. An inmate from Rahway State Prison wrote McDaniels about a government-sponsored hip-hop music program at the prison and McDaniels immediately took an interest in the story and went to the prison to film a documentary about the program called The Lifers' Group at Rahway State Prison, which aired on VMB, and was nominated for an Emmy in 1990.
McDaniels has interviewed former President Bill Clinton, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Reverend Jesse Jackson, legendary salsa singer Celia Cruz, and reported from the National Democratic Convention, just to name a few.
McDaniels hip-hop street credibility later led him to be approached by producers of the groundbreaking film Juice
Juice (film)
Juice is a 1992 American crime drama film that stars rapper Tupac Shakur and Omar Epps. Additional cast members include Jermaine "Huggy" Hopkins, Khalil Kain, Samuel L. Jackson, and features cameo appearances by Queen Latifah, EPMD, Special Ed, Ed Lover, Doctor Dré, Flex Alexander, Fab Five...
, which starred Tupac Shakur
Tupac Shakur
Tupac Amaru Shakur , known by his stage names 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper and actor. Shakur has sold over 75 million albums worldwide as of 2007, making him one of the best-selling music artists in the world...
, where he was asked to serve as a consultant to the film and was given the job of associate producer. McDaniels jumped at the opportunity to contribute his talents and connections to this urban film classic and additionally assisted the film’s writer, Ernest Dickerson
Ernest Dickerson
Ernest Roscoe Dickerson A.S.C. is an American film and television director and cinematographer. He directed generally urban films sometimes with supernatural stories like Juice, Tales from the Crypt Presents Demon Knight, Bones and Never Die Alone...
, in re-writing the script.
When film production began for Who's the Man? starring Ed Lover
Ed Lover
James Roberts , better known as Ed Lover, is an African-American rapper, actor, musician, radio personality, and former MTV VJ.-Biography:...
and Doctor Dré
Doctor Dre
André "Doctor Dré" Brown is an African American radio personality and former MTV VJ.-Career:Doctor Dré is best known for being the co-host of MTV's hip hop music specialty program Yo! MTV Raps with partner Ed Lover. The duo also starred in the 1993 film Who's the Man?...
, McDaniels was again called upon—this time to work in front of the camera, playing himself in the supporting cast.
Hip-Hop Tastemaker
With radio, TV, and film under his belt, McDaniels had his feet firmly planted in almost every facet of hip-hop culture. In 1996, McDaniels would go on to add fashion to his repertoire with the creation of a New York Urban Fashion show called “The Phat Fashion”, which would feature the urban clothing lines of designers such as FUBUFUBU
FUBU is a clothing company. It includes casual wear, sports wear, a suit collection, eyewear, belts, and shoes for the African-American community in the sense of economic investment but not to be exclusively worn by African Americans...
and Karl Kani, the clothing of which McDaniels helped to make popular on his show. Soon after, McDaniels further cemented his place within the urban fashion scene with the launch of Uncle Ralph’s Urban Gear, a Brooklyn-based clothing store and T-shirt line.
By 1997, McDaniels was hired as an on-air personality to host a hip-hop radio show on New York’s Hot 97 that reached over 6 million listeners within the Tri-State area.
The Bridge
In 2006, Matthew Tollin, formerly of NYC TV, who had gotten to know McDaniels because of the station's longstanding association with Video Music BoxVideo Music Box
Video Music Box was one of the first television programs ever to feature hip hop videos primarily. Created in 1983 by Ralph McDaniels, it was one of the most influential television shows to give urban artists mainstream exposure. It aired on the New York City-owned public television station WNYC-TV...
, introduced him to the station's then-General Manager, Arick Wierson
Arick Wierson
Arick Wierson is an American-born media executive and entrepreneur. His has business interests that span television and film production, political consultancy, and a variety of business interests in the Middle East, Latin America, Europe and Africa...
. Wierson proposed that McDaniels utilize his robust repository of original hip hop classic videos to develop an "old school" music video program showcasing early rap videos from the 1980s.
Multimedia Technology
Recognizing a need to keep up with today’s technology and sense a of responsibility to his audience, McDaniels developed the Video Music Box archives and offered MTV and VH1 access to feature music programming from his vast library of over 20,000 hours of video.In 2006, McDaniels was approached with the idea to create an online version of his groundbreaking show. Two years later, McDaniels along with a business partner officially launched Onfumes.com, an interactive video hosting/on-demand Web site where registered users could have unlimited access to McDaniel’s archived collection of hip-hop and R&B videos, never-seen-before interviews, behind-the scenes footage, and access to up-and-coming urban artists and filmmakers.
Additional Awards & Honors
- 1993- America’s Best & Brightest Award, Dollars & Sense Magazine
- 1994- Awarded Role Model of the Year by the City Council of New York
- 1995- Award for Emmy Nomination of The Lifers Group at Rahway State PrisonRahway State PrisonEast Jersey State Prison , originally Rahway State Prison, was established in 1896 as the first reformatory in New Jersey. It is a maximum-security institution operated by the New Jersey Department of Corrections, housing approximately 1,900 men .The prison is actually located in Avenel in...
, Billboard Magazine - 2001- Honored by Urban Network Magazine for dedication & service
- 2007- HeinekenHeinekenHeineken is a Dutch beer which has been brewed by Heineken International since 1873. It is available in a 4.6% alcohol variety in countries such as Ireland. It is the flagship product of the Heineken company and is made of purified water, malted barley, hops, and yeast. In 1886 H...
Red Star Soul Award recipient