ABOUT THE EVENT
Fab 5 Freddy
ABOUT THE EVENT
Yo! MTV Raps 20th Anniversary
Fab 5 Freddy is a pioneer, a cultural legend and one of the key architects who brought hip-hop culture worldwide and mainstream.
Born in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, Fab 5 Freddy began his journey as a young visual artist, executing graffiti pieces throughout New York City. His 1980 homage to Andy Warhol -- a subway car covered in Campbell's soup cans -- is considered one of the all-time classics of subway graffiti. Fab then began to exhibit his paintings on canvas in major galleries domestically and abroad. At that time he became the liaison between New York's downtown film, music and art scenes and the new hip-hop scene developing in Harlem and the Bronx. He was affiliated with close friends and art world titans Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring and appeared along with Basquiat in Blondie's groundbreaking 1981 music video, "Rapture," in which lead singer Debbie Harry immortalized him in the lyrics, "Fab 5 Freddy told me everybody's fly?" He's also featured in Basquiat's film, Downtown 81
Fab soon brought his vision to the big screen and produced, composed all the instrumental music, and starred in the 1981 cinematic classic, Wild Style -- the first hip-hop feature film, recently recognized by Rolling Stone magazine as one of the top 25 music DVDs of all time. His 1982 single, "Change The Beat," is a hip-hop classic that has been sampled and scratched by producers and DJs countless times.
In 1988, MTV tapped Fab 5 Freddy to be the first host of Yo! MTV Raps, which quickly became the highest-rated show on the channel. It was his idea to be the first VJ to take a show out of MTV's studios and onto the streets, across the country and then overseas. He brought MTV instant credibility with his intelligent, engaging and insightful forays into the depths of hip-hop culture and its major players.
Fab 5 Freddy is also a prolific film director, having lensed dozens of groundbreaking music videos and commercials for artists like Queen Latifah, KRS-One, Nas, Snoop Dogg and many more.
In addition, Fab has published numerous articles and essays on pop culture for publications like Vibe, XXL, Interview and The New York Times Magazine, and he penned Fresh Fly Flavor, the first dictionary of hip-hop slang
Beyond the page and the small screen, Fab 5 Freddy was an associate producer of the classic film New Jack City and a consultant on the 2007 blockbuster hit American Gangster, in which he played a small role. Fab also recently guested on Law and Order: Criminal Intent, playing the role of a gunned-down rapper. Also in 2007, Fab 5 Freddy, in addition to executive producing the show, was awarded with a VH1 Hip-Hop Honor award for his involvement in Wild Style.
A message from Fab:
My first major activity in the pop world was making art. And now, my newest venture is a fresh canvas I'm working on called Place 2 Be. Place 2 Be is an urban lifestyle destination that’s all about music, fashion, cars, etc. It’s part of the freshest new social networking site called Zude -- like MySpace on steroids! Zude gives you unlimited pages to express your personal flavor, drag and drop any element to express yourself, and custom create your own Web presence. And your Myspace and Facebook pages can live in Zude as well! Come join me at www.zude.com/place2be, and hang out with Fab!
