Take It Personal - Ep 53 : YO! MTV Raps Tribute with Doctor Dre

"It’s not every day you get to go back to your old school and talk with your teachers. Today, we got that chance to speak to one of them. Doctor Dre was the only doctor I knew growing up besides Dr. Spock. Dre, along with Fab Five Freddy and Ed Lover, were instrumental in our early exposures to hip-hop. They helped educate and they definitely helped entertain us. If not for YO! MTV Raps, many of us wouldn’t have even known these classic rap videos existed. There was no internet back then. Certainly nothing remotely close to Youtube. If you didn’t catch Music Box, Pump It Up, Rap City or Yo!, chances are, you just missed out!

While Fab Five Freddy took on the more serious role as the teacher who dropped knowledge all day, it was the fun-loving duo of Doctor Dre and Ed Lover that really captivated you. They had you laughing from the start of the class to the end of it. They left you wanting more. Doctor Dre knew how to kick dunn language, like on Knowledge Me, and he and Ed both knew how to have fun like Back Up Off Me. There has never been a team like Doctor Dre and Ed Lover and considering how the music industry is today, especially MTV, there never will be. Before mainstream TV really embraced hip-hop, before you had In Living Color, Martin, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air or New York Undercover, it was YO! MTV Raps that was pivotal in the hip-hop movement in mainstream America.

On this episode, we pay homage to YO! with 2 ridiculously dope DJ 360 mixes. We also speak to the great Doctor Dre. We talk about his early days at Adelphi University with Chucky D and Flavor Flav. We talk Original Concept, Def Jam and some interesting stories about Rick Rubin. We cover touring with the Beasties, how Bill Cosby did a very Bill Cosby thing when on YO!. We find out Don Cornelius felt threatened by their success. We talk about RUN-DMC not giving Dre the proper credit all the way to dropping an album on Def Jam in ‘88 along with Slick Rick and Public Enemy. We talk a lot of P.E., even Dre’s love/hate relationship with Flavor Flav.

We cover a lot of ground here. From Who’s The Man, to who was the man behind the selections on the the soundtrack. But - what would this interview be without the amazing history and stories of YO!? We take you to the final episode, where that infamous freestyle session goes down between Rakim, Chubb Rock, Erick Sermon, MC Serch, KRS-One, Redman, Method Man, Large Professor, Special Ed and Craig Mack. We learn who Doctor Dre felt had the best verse on that iconic episode. So much and more. Don’t miss our YO! MTV Raps Tribute Show featuring Doctor Dre!" - Take It Personal Radio 

Todd 1 – Down With MTV feat. Doctor Dre & Ed Lover

Eric B. & Rakim – Follow The Leader
Boogie Down Productions – My Philospohy

Public Enemy – Don’t Believe The Hype
EPMD – You Gots To Chill
Kool G. Rap & DJ Polo – Road To The Riches
Big Daddy Kane – Ain’t No Half-Steppin
Biz Markie – Biz Is Goin’ Off
Special Ed – The Magnificent
Stop The Violence Movement – Self-Destruction
Heavy D – Big Tyme
MC Lyte – Paper Thin
JVC Force – Strong Island
Gang Starr – Just To Get A Rep
Nice & Smooth – Funky For You
D-Nice – Call Me D-Nice
N.W.A. – Express Yourself
Eazy-E – Eazy-er Said Than Dunn
The D.O.C. – It’s Funky Enough
Ice-T – High Roller
Boogie Down Productions – Love’s Gonna Getch’a
K-Solo – Your Mom’s In My Business
Cool C - Glamorous Life
LL Cool J – I’m The Type of Guy
LL Cool J – Jingling Baby (Remix)
LL Cool J – To Da Break of Dawn
LL Cool J – Mama Said Knock You Out
LL Cool J – Jack The Ripper
LL Cool J – The Boomin’ System
Chubb Rock – Treat ‘Em Right
Brand Nubian – All For One
Poor Righteous Teachers – Rock Dis Funky Joint
De La Soul – Plug Tunin’
3rd Bass – The Gas Face feat. Zev Love X/DOOM
EPMD – Rampage feat. LL Cool J
Das EFX – Mic Checka
Ice Cube – Who’s The Mack?
Digital Underground – Doowutchyalike
Del the Funkee Homosapien – Mistadobalina
A Tribe Called Called Quest – Check The Rhime
A Tribe Called Called Quest – Scenario feat. L.O.N.S.
Gang Starr – DWYCK feat. Nice & Smooth
Grand Puba – 360
Organized Konfusion – Fudge Pudge feat. O.C.
Ultramagnetic MC’s – Poppa Large (Remix)
Pete Rock & CL Smooth – T.R.O.Y./The Creator (Live)
Run-DMC – Down With The King feat. Pete Rock & CL Smooth
Naughty By Nature – O.P.P.
Naughty By Nature – Uptown Anthem
Cypress Hill – How I Could Just Kill A Man
Redman – Time 4 Sum Akson
House of Pain – Jump Around
House of Pain – Who’s The Man
Doctor Dre and Ed Lover – Back Up Off Me!