The Lyricist Lounge Show
Encyclopedia
The Lyricist Lounge Show is an American
sketch comedy
series that aired on MTV
from 2000 to 2001 that combined hip-hop
music with raps interspersed throughout the sketches. As Wordsworth
, BabeePower, and Master Fuol rap on the theme song: "Welcome to the lyricist lounge show, it's rappin' and actin', laughin', clappin', lights, cameras, action, we're the first ones to ever place a sketch to a beat, it's the avenue the street where hip hop and comedy meet..." The show is also noted as the first program to feature Tracee Ellis Ross
prior to Girlfriends
.
's "Lyricist Lounge
", a hip hop show case founded by Danny Castro and Anthony Marshall, which featured up and coming musical artists, many of whom have gone on to huge success, including Sean Combs
, Notorious B.I.G, and Eminem
. The showcase quickly outgrew the studio apartment where it was originally held and was forced to move to larger sold out venues which eventually led to a record deal for compilation CDs featuring Lyricist Lounge performers. A national tour followed, headlined by top hip-hop artists and showcasing unsigned talent.
The series was created by Danny Castro, Anthony Marshall, Perry Landesberg and Jacob Septimus of the Lyricist Lounge in New York along with the creative vision of executive producers Stacy Bronte and Rachel Broker. The show was pitched as a freestyle comedy jam with skits shot on location and in a loose studio setting. This approach was pushed aside by initial executive producer Claude Brooks, a product of sitcom television acting and producing, who insisted on shooting the show live to tape, with a studio audience. This approach proved to be too expensive and time-consuming and doomed the show at the outset. During the second season, executive producer Jim Beiderman tried to modify the format to return to the creators' original premise, but by that time the show had already established itself.
, while lyrical acts showcased the talent of the show's resident rappers, who performed humorous vignettes with rhyming dialogue and hip hop beats. The lyrical sketches featured a variety of hip hop artists such as Q-Tip, Mos Def
, Cee-lo, Common
, Tash
, Snoop Dogg
, Erykah Badu
, Krayzie Bone
, Slick Rick
, MC Lyte
, and a host of others.
The ensemble cast of the series included rappers Wordsworth, Master Fuol, and Baby Power (aka BabeePower). All three were responsible for creating, writing, and producing the lyrical sketches. Marty Belafsky
, Tracee Ellis Ross
, Heather McDonald, Mike Ricca and Jordan Black
formed the comedic side of the cast, each with their own original brand of humor. Due to high production costs and conflict between the show's producers and MTV, the show lasted for only two seasons.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
sketch comedy
Sketch comedy
A sketch comedy consists of a series of short comedy scenes or vignettes, called "sketches," commonly between one and ten minutes long. Such sketches are performed by a group of comic actors or comedians, either on stage or through an audio and/or visual medium such as broadcasting...
series that aired on MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
from 2000 to 2001 that combined hip-hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
music with raps interspersed throughout the sketches. As Wordsworth
Wordsworth (rapper)
Wordsworth is an underground hip hop MC from Brooklyn, best known for his freestyle rap.Wordsworth grew up in Brooklyn. A graduate of the State University of New York College at Old Westbury, Wordsworth recorded with his partner Punchline on A Tribe Called Quest's The Love Movement and on Mos Def...
, BabeePower, and Master Fuol rap on the theme song: "Welcome to the lyricist lounge show, it's rappin' and actin', laughin', clappin', lights, cameras, action, we're the first ones to ever place a sketch to a beat, it's the avenue the street where hip hop and comedy meet..." The show is also noted as the first program to feature Tracee Ellis Ross
Tracee Ellis Ross
Tracee Ellis Ross is an American actress. She is best known for her lead role as Joan Clayton on the UPN/CW series, Girlfriends. She is currently starring as Dr...
prior to Girlfriends
Girlfriends
Girlfriends is an American comedy-drama sitcom that premiered on September 11, 2000, on UPN and aired on UPN's successor network, The CW, before being cancelled in 2008...
.
History
MTV's The Lyricist Lounge Show had its roots in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
's "Lyricist Lounge
Lyricist Lounge
The Lyricist Lounge is a hip hop showcase of rappers, emcees, DJ's, and Graffiti artists.It has spawned the album Lyricist Lounge, Volume One, Lyricist Lounge 2 and Lyricist Lounge: West Coast, as well as a television show, The Lyricist Lounge Show.The Lyricist Lounge was founded in 1991 by hip hop...
", a hip hop show case founded by Danny Castro and Anthony Marshall, which featured up and coming musical artists, many of whom have gone on to huge success, including Sean Combs
Sean Combs
Sean John Combs , also known by his stage names Diddy and P. Diddy, is an American rapper, singer, record producer, actor, and entrepreneur. He has won three Grammy Awards and two MTV Video Music Awards, and his clothing line earned a Council of Fashion Designers of America award. He was originally...
, Notorious B.I.G, and Eminem
Eminem
Marshall Bruce Mathers III , better known by his stage name Eminem or his alter ego Slim Shady, is an American rapper, record producer, songwriter and actor. Eminem's popularity brought his group project, D12, to mainstream recognition...
. The showcase quickly outgrew the studio apartment where it was originally held and was forced to move to larger sold out venues which eventually led to a record deal for compilation CDs featuring Lyricist Lounge performers. A national tour followed, headlined by top hip-hop artists and showcasing unsigned talent.
The series was created by Danny Castro, Anthony Marshall, Perry Landesberg and Jacob Septimus of the Lyricist Lounge in New York along with the creative vision of executive producers Stacy Bronte and Rachel Broker. The show was pitched as a freestyle comedy jam with skits shot on location and in a loose studio setting. This approach was pushed aside by initial executive producer Claude Brooks, a product of sitcom television acting and producing, who insisted on shooting the show live to tape, with a studio audience. This approach proved to be too expensive and time-consuming and doomed the show at the outset. During the second season, executive producer Jim Beiderman tried to modify the format to return to the creators' original premise, but by that time the show had already established itself.
Synopsis
The Lyricist Lounge Show combined traditional comedic skits with the breakthrough concept of lyrical sketches, an innovative convergence of hip-hop music and theatrical narratives. Farcical comedic sketches pushed the envelope of political correctnessPolitical correctness
Political correctness is a term which denotes language, ideas, policies, and behavior seen as seeking to minimize social and institutional offense in occupational, gender, racial, cultural, sexual orientation, certain other religions, beliefs or ideologies, disability, and age-related contexts,...
, while lyrical acts showcased the talent of the show's resident rappers, who performed humorous vignettes with rhyming dialogue and hip hop beats. The lyrical sketches featured a variety of hip hop artists such as Q-Tip, Mos Def
Mos Def
Dante Terrell Smith is an American actor and Emcee known by the stage names Mos Def and Yasiin Bey. He started his hip hop career in a group called Urban Thermo Dynamics, after which he appeared on albums by Da Bush Babees and De La Soul. With Talib Kweli, he formed the duo Black Star, which...
, Cee-lo, Common
Common (rapper)
Lonnie Rashid Lynn, Jr. , better known by his stage name Common , is an American hip-hop artist and actor....
, Tash
Tash (rapper)
Rico Smith, better known by his stage name Tash, is an American rapper. He is most known for his work as a member of West Coast hip hop group, Tha Alkaholiks alongside J-Ro and E-Swift. He has released two solo albums, Rap Life and Control Freek, and has worked on five albums with Tha Alkaholiks...
, Snoop Dogg
Snoop Dogg
Calvin Cordozar Broadus, Jr. , better known by his stage name Snoop Dogg, is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Snoop is best known as a rapper in the West Coast hip hop scene, and for being one of Dr. Dre's most notable protégés. Snoop Dogg was a Crip gang member while in high school...
, Erykah Badu
Erykah Badu
Erica Abi Wright , better known by her stage name Erykah Badu , is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. Her work includes elements from R&B, hip hop and jazz. She is best known for her role in the rise of the neo soul sub-genre, and for her eccentric, cerebral musical...
, Krayzie Bone
Krayzie Bone
Anthony Henderson better known as Krayzie Bone, is an American rapper and is a former member of the rap group Bone Thugs-n-Harmony.-Solo career:Krayzie Bone recorded his solo debut, Thug Mentality 1999, in 1998...
, Slick Rick
Slick Rick
Richard Walters , better known by his stage name Slick Rick is a Grammy-nominated English-American rapper...
, MC Lyte
MC Lyte
MC Lyte is an American rapper who first gained fame in the late-1980s becoming the first solo female rapper to release a full album with 1988's critically acclaimed Lyte as a Rock.-Early life:...
, and a host of others.
The ensemble cast of the series included rappers Wordsworth, Master Fuol, and Baby Power (aka BabeePower). All three were responsible for creating, writing, and producing the lyrical sketches. Marty Belafsky
Marty Belafsky
Marty Belafsky is an American actor/comedian born in Los Angeles, California. He began acting professionally at age 13 and was soon cast as Louis Plumb on the short-lived NBC series Hull High. Shortly thereafter, Marty landed the role of Crutchy in the Disney musical film, Newsies...
, Tracee Ellis Ross
Tracee Ellis Ross
Tracee Ellis Ross is an American actress. She is best known for her lead role as Joan Clayton on the UPN/CW series, Girlfriends. She is currently starring as Dr...
, Heather McDonald, Mike Ricca and Jordan Black
Jordan Black (actor)
Jordan Black is an American comedy writer and actor.He was born in Kankakee, Illinois. Black has written for Saturday Night Live and starred in the Comedy Central show Halfway Home as Sebastian "C-Bass" Yates, an ex-convict for internet fraud...
formed the comedic side of the cast, each with their own original brand of humor. Due to high production costs and conflict between the show's producers and MTV, the show lasted for only two seasons.