Over a quarter of a century ago, Ralph McDaniels, known as Uncle Ralph by fans and music industry peers, approached WNYC TV - New York City's public broadcasting station, with the idea of airing music videos in a one hour package called "Video Music Box" (VMB) to showcase musicians who told tales of inner-city life through their beats and rhymes. Needless to say the idea was met with initial resistance but VMB's Nielsen ratings surpassed those of the station's traditional content and cleared the way for McDaniels to bolster famous and almost famous Hip-Hop artists of the past present and future. In fact it is fair to say that any Hip-Hop artist one can bring to mind, megastar or otherwise, made his/her debut on Uncle Ralph's VMB.
Continuing on with Initiative Radio's month-long Salute to Black History Makers, Angela McKenzie re-airs portions of her exclusive interview with Ralph MaDaniels along with commentary from a new generation of Hip-Hop artists and entrepreneurs; an interview with Kool DJ Red Alert, the man who bestowed the moniker Uncle Ralph upon McDaniels early in his career and shout-outs from other music industry insiders. This broadcast precedes a live event honoring McDaniels, scheduled for February 19th, in New York City at the Bowery Poetry Club.
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