Society & Culture
This week's guest is the epitome of "day 1." Ralph McDaniels is the creator of Video Music Box, the longest running music video show in the world. After 37 years, McDaniels has a lot of history to share and here he talks about his time as a video director, DJ and now film producer. 1:30 Here Uncle Ralph talks about how he's been able to make sure VMB stands out in a time when everything is on demand. We also get him to talk more about the time he met the Hon. Minister Louis Farrakhan. 6:00 - Ralph talks about how he's transitioning from music videos into producing documentaries and short films. He also talks about keeping the VMB brand alive on Instagram through video mixing. He then talks about how he met his longtime business and creative partner Lionel Martin. 13:00 - Ralph has been around since day one, but he says early 90s Hip Hop is his favorite era, hear him explain why. He also gets into shooting videos for Nas and Wu-Tang Clan very early in their careers and some of the crazy situations he's seen. 25:00 - Ralph has been going through the process of digitizing the decades of footage that he has from filming VMB. Here he talks about the importance of doing this so it can be displayed at universities and museums and the non-profit he founded to get help doing it. Ralph also talks about the work he's been doing with the Queens Public Library. 32:00 - DJ Clark Kent designed a Nike Air Force 1 honoring VMB and one pair wound up going for nearly $6400 at a Sotheby's Hip-Hop auction. Here Ralph talks about some of the other artifacts he's sitting on and what he plans to do with them. 38:00 - Ralph is credited as the man who coined the term "shoutout." Here he talks about the day he saw the term blow up. He also talks about the likelihood of him greenlighting a VMB documentary or book. 45:00 - Ralph closes us out telling us what his favorite Hip Hop video of all time is. Day 1 Radio podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, IHeartRadio, Spotify, Stitcher, Radio Public, and CLNS Mobile Media app. Follow us on Twitter, FB, and IG at @day1radio