‘Yo! MTV Raps’ To Commemorate 30th Anniversary With Brooklyn Concert

Lola Jacobs
Updated
The program will return across all MTV platforms as both a digital and linear series later this year.

By Lola Jacobs

This year will make it 30 since the first time Yo! MTV Raps graced the airwaves. The first show of its kind on MTV, the show placed hip-hop at the forefront and provided the genre a platform for mainstream success. It made global history, inspiring the ideas behind shows and cultural trends to come in only a seven-year run. Now, the franchise is coming back.

The program will return across all MTV platforms as both a digital and linear series later this year. It’ll be preceded by a celebratory concert. The show’s alumni and fans are invited to gather for the “Yo! MTV Raps: 30th Anniversary Experience” at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center on June 1. The event will pay homage to hip-hop’s pioneers and those who got their start on the hit show.

MTV will live stream the entire event, which will feature an all-star lineup of legends including Big Daddy Kane and the Juice Crew, Eric B & Rakim, KRS-One and Boogie Down Productions, Fat Joe, Yo-Yo, Onyx, EPMD, Flavor Flav, YBT Tap the Bottle reunion, Black Sheep, DAS EFX, Special Ed, Pharcyde, Brand Nubian, Nice & Smooth, and more. There will also be tribute videos from Redman, Method Man, and Eminem.

After the show’s first episode aired in August 1988, it became an instant hit, popularizing a genre that had previously been group-specific. Today, hip-hop is the most popular genre in the U.S. Doctor Dre and Ed Lover reached out to producer Charlie Stettler, who realized the vision for the comeback.

“Yo! MTV Raps… actually put hip-hop on the map around the globe,” Dré told Rolling Stone. “From Southeast Asia … to Peru, Argentina. Antarctica even used to watch Yo! MTV Raps. I used to get from mail from many different African nations – including Wakanda.” So you may predict that the turnout will be crazy.

Tickets to “Yo! MTV Raps: 30th Anniversary Experience” can be purchased online starting April 20 at 10 a.m. ET and at the American Express Box Office at Barclays Center beginning at 12 p.m. ET on Saturday (April 21).

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