Fresh-To-Death

You can't be a slouch if your peers bless you with the nicknames of the "human beat-box" and "the world's greatest entertainer," and Doug E. Fresh knows it. Never not working, the iconic hip-hopper talks to Complex about YO!, rap's current status, and his memories of the Clydes' when he was on the come-up.

COMPLEX: A new generation of rap followers may not be schooled in the impact of YO! What did the show do for the movement?
Doug E. Fresh: Well the show brought fun to the movement and it made people feel good. It kept that hip-hop energy going and made them feel excited, and loved. It was inspirational, and I think everything we do is based on inspiration.

C: How do you think current daily rap shows match up to YO!
D: YO! opened rap up to the world. BET is like a Black and Hispanic outlet but when YO! came, hip-hop was introduced to white people and everybody was vibing off of it.

C: YO! kind of gave artists the platform to showcase how they were in real life to everyone...
D: That's what I thought. And I feel like it wasn't about trying to be so hard. You were just being you. Sometimes I think that people think they have to be a particular way, and they don't have to be. They think that they have to be hard because it's hip-hop. I was asking my sons the other day; do you think you have to have a gold chain to be hip-hop? Nah B, you ain't got to have that. That's nice to say well, that's one of the things we do, no doubt, but if you ain't got it on, that don't mean you ain't hip-hop.


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