Biz Markie

SHOWTIME Honors 50th Anniversary of Hip-Hop with Premiere of ‘ALL UP IN THE BIZ’: A Celebratory Documentary on Biz Markie

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ALL UP IN THE BIZ

SHOWTIME has announced the premiere of the documentary feature ALL UP IN THE BIZ, directed by Sacha Jenkins, on Friday, August 11.

The film, which premiered at Tribeca Festival last month, explores the life and career of late rapper Biz Markie, best known for his hit song “Just a Friend.” Combining never-before-seen footage, interviews, musical interludes, animation, and puppetry, ALL UP IN THE BIZ offers a heartwarming portrait of Biz Markie’s journey in the world of hip-hop. The documentary showcases his impact on the genre and features interviews with prominent figures such as Fat Joe, Nick Cannon, and Tracy Morgan. Biz Markie, also known as “The Clown Prince of Hip Hop,” was a beatbox pioneer who inspired rap icons like Rakim and Big Daddy Kane.

Despite facing challenges, including a groundbreaking sampling lawsuit, Biz Markie’s contributions to hip hop earned him recognition as a true embodiment of the genre. ALL UP IN THE BIZ delves into his extraordinary tale, from humble beginnings to pop culture ubiquity, highlighting his influence on the culture and his ability to shape his own destiny.

“Biz Markie is the pure essence of hip hop. He believed in, he lived it, he harnessed its powers,” said Jenkins. “Most people don’t know that he used those powers to power up some of the culture’s greatest poets and then some. I was fortunate to meet with Biz when he was alive so to have the opportunity to bring him back to life now that he isn’t here…it’s a special film

The film is directed, co-written, and executive produced by Sacha Jenkins, who previously worked on notable projects like “WU-TANG CLAN: OF MICS AND MEN” and “Louis Armstrong’s Black and Blues.”

The post SHOWTIME Honors 50th Anniversary of Hip-Hop with Premiere of ‘ALL UP IN THE BIZ’: A Celebratory Documentary on Biz Markie first appeared on The Source.

The post SHOWTIME Honors 50th Anniversary of Hip-Hop with Premiere of ‘ALL UP IN THE BIZ’: A Celebratory Documentary on Biz Markie appeared first on The Source.

Women’s History Month: The Female Lyrical Assassins Of Battle Rap

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Female Battle Rappers

While battle rap has been primarily dominated by men, these women are lyrical assassins in the rap cypher. They step to anybody that wants heat and have broken battle rap barriers that have provided a voice for women in rap beyond the Billboard charts. From Battle Rapping In The Park … Any hip-hop head of […]

The post Women’s History Month: The Female Lyrical Assassins Of Battle Rap appeared first on SOHH.com.

Today in Hip-Hop History: Biz Markie Dropped His Debut Album ‘Goin’ Off’ 35 Years Ago

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On this date in the infamous year of 1988, the late, great “Human Orchestra” Biz Markie released his debut full-length album Goin’ Off on Cold Chillin’/Warner Brothers Records.

Produced exclusively by legendary Queensbridge superproducer DJ Marley Marl, Goin Off introduced singer TJ Swan and a then-unknown rapper named Big Daddy Kane. The Brooklyn protege of Biz Mark also wrote the first five songs on the album and was even the subject on the second verse of one of Biz’s most famous songs from the ten-track album, “Vapors.”

Forget that he was a member of the World Famous Juice Crew. With several timeless gems from the album, including “Nobody Beats The Biz,” “The Biz Dance,” and “Make The Music With Your Mouth,” Biz Mark solidified his position in the game single-handedly with his debut release. Back in 1998, this album was even listed by The Source’s Mind Squad as one of The Best 100 Rap Albums of all time.

Salute to the Biz(RIP), Marley, TJ Swan, Kane, Shante, Fly Ty, and the rest of the Juice Crew and the Cold Chillin’ crew who made this album a piece of Hip Hop history!

The post Today in Hip-Hop History: Biz Markie Dropped His Debut Album ‘Goin’ Off’ 35 Years Ago appeared first on The Source.

Today In Hip Hop History: Marley Marl Dropped The Juice Crew Debut Album ‘In Control Vol. 1’ 34 Years Ago

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The title of “super producer” is not one to be taken lightly. For every era of Hip-Hop, there is a man behind the keys set the tone. Dr. Dre, Pete Rock, RZA, Swizz Beatz, Jermaine Dupri, Timbaland, The Neptunes, Mike Will Made-It, and Metro Boomin are among the few who have dictated what Hip Hop has sounded like over the years. Super producers have even spanned genres to influenced music as a whole, bringing the Hip Hop style to the masses.

On this day in Hip Hop history the culture’s first super producer, Marley Marl, released his debut compilation, In Control, Vol. 1, and forever changed the sound of Hip Hop. Before this album, Marley Marl’s true importance to Hip Hop had yet to be openly stated. It was known that he had a hand in some of the biggest records to have out at the time but this album put them all in the same place, proving what Marley Marl was doing to help Hip Hop evolve.

Before Marley Marl, Hip Hop production was quite primitive: the drums were sounded synthetic, the loops were monotonous, and as a whole production was more of a skeleton waiting to be filled by an MC. Marley Marl gave the instrumental life. His signature drum loops and soulful samples brought a new tone to Hip Hop. A Marley Mal beat served less as a compliment to the artist’s ability and more as fuel to jumpstart the intensity of the rapper, bringing out the best in him or her.

Commercially, this album was the success it was bound to be. Featuring Juice Crew members Biz Markie, Craig G., Roxanne Shante, Big Daddy Kane, Kool G Rap, Heavy D, and more from Marley Marl’s private army. Pushed by the infamous Cold Chillin’ Records, the album peaked at #163 on the Billboard 200 and brought great publicity to Cold Chillin’ as a top label in Hip Hop. Following this album, the label rose to become a household name in Hip-Hop and Marl Marley grew to become an immortal icon of Hip Hop culture.

The post Today In Hip Hop History: Marley Marl Dropped The Juice Crew Debut Album ‘In Control Vol. 1’ 34 Years Ago appeared first on The Source.

Today in Hip-Hop History: Biz Markie Dropped His Debut Album ‘Goin’ Off’ 34 Years Ago

by
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On this date in the infamous year of 1988, the “Human Orchestra” Biz Markie released his debut full-length album Goin’ Off on Cold Chillin’/Warner Brothers Records.

Produced exclusively by legendary Queensbridge superproducer DJ Marley Marl, Goin Off introduced singer TJ Swan and a then-unknown rapper by the name of Big Daddy Kane. The Brooklyn protege of Biz Mark also wrote the first five songs on the album and was even the subject on the second verse of one of Biz’s most famous songs from the ten-track album, “Vapors”.

Forget the fact that he was a member of the World Famous Juice Crew. With several timeless gems from the album including “Nobody Beats The Biz”, “The Biz Dance” and “Make The Music With Your Mouth”, Biz Mark solidified his position in the game single-handedly with his debut release. Back in 1998, this album was even listed by The Source’s Mind Squad as one of The Best 100 Rap Albums of all time.

Salute to the Biz, Marley, TJ Swan, Kane, Shante, Fly Ty and the rest of the Juice Crew and the Cold Chillin’ crew who made this album a piece of Hip Hop history!

The post Today in Hip-Hop History: Biz Markie Dropped His Debut Album ‘Goin’ Off’ 34 Years Ago appeared first on The Source.

Explore the History of the Hip-Hop Remix

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Read about how the hip-hop remix was created. Continue reading…

Biz Markie Will Get A Street Named After Him In His Hometown Of Long Island

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The hip-hop community lost an important figure earlier this summer in Biz Markie after the rapper passed away following complications with Type II diabetes. His death came a year after he was hospitalized for the same complications. Markie was a member of New York’s Juice Crew alongside figures like Big Daddy Kane, Marley Marl, Roxanne Shante, Kool G Rap. Two months to the date of Markie’s death, it was announced on Thursday that the late rapper would be honored with his own street in his hometown of Patchogue, Long Island.

“HONORARY STREET NAMING DEDICATION!” the late rapper’s wife Tara Davis wrote in an Instagram post. “In honor of the contributions Biz has achieved as an actor, beatboxer, DJ and philanthropist, his hometown of Patchogue Long Island will honor him with the renaming of South Street to Biz Markie Way!” David added that the event would take place on Saturday, September 25 at 2 pm EST behind the 6th District Court at 150 West Main Street.

In the post, Davis also added that all are welcome to attend. She also thanked Of Colors Collective@Artspace, Patchogue Villiage’s Mayor, Paul Pontieri, and The Greater Patchogue Foundation for helping to make the street name in honor of Markie a reality.

The announcement comes after a funeral service for Markie was held early last month. Shanté, DJ Cutmaster Cool V, Montell Jordan, Reverend Al Sharpton, Fat Joe, Ice-T, Erick Sermon, Parish Smith, Redman, Big Daddy Kane, Kid Capri, De La Soul’s Maseo, and more were among those in attendance.

Biz Markie’s DJ Remembers Him Recording The Iconic ‘Just A Friend’ Hook In Only One Heartwarming Take

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Biz Markie’s iconic hit “Just A Friend” is a prime example that technical skill isn’t everything when it comes to music. While the late rapper wouldn’t be considered by many to be a skilled singer in a traditional sense, his passionately sung hook on the song remains one of the most memorable in the history of recorded music. Markie’s producer/cousin DJ Cool V recently spoke about the moment he and Markie recorded that hook, and he paints picture of a heartwarming scene.

He told HipHopDX:

“People called me crazy for letting him do that record. I’m in the studio, he wanted to do it so bad, but I got to get the whole album done before the deadline. I was almost done except for maybe three or four records, because Biz didn’t like to stay in the studio. So, I made him fight and fight and do records and do records. He was coming along so good with the other records. I said, ‘OK, OK, you finally can do it.’

I got him in the booth and he was singing, and even though it might not be perfectly correct to anybody else, the feeling of it was good. He had his fist balled up and he was really trying. He was really, really crooning, and I said, ‘That’s it.’ And he had one take. Then he had another take that was not as good as the first one. So I took the first one and put it with the next one. So it’s the same one, twice. He did both of them and he did them very well and maximized it too. He did it as best he could do it — and it was good enough for me.

Everybody called us crazy, like, ‘Yo, you going to really let him do that?’ I said, ‘Man, he feeling it. I got a good feeling about this record.’ And we did it. It just took off. It morphed into something that we could never imagine.”

Cool V went on to note, however, that neither he nor Markie ever made any money from the song. Citing Markie signing “an incredibly bad contract” and other factors as the reason for that, he said, “The sweetness comes in that we were able to perform it for almost 31 years. And now comes the other side of it — we never made money off the record. I still haven’t got paid for that record. It trickled down. So, we never made money off the record. But, we made the money off the shows and we had a great performing career. But now it gets back to the bittersweet because every time I hear it, it’s going to remind me of Biz, but it’s also going to remind me of how I can’t make more money off of it. Everybody’s feeding their family off our work and we’ve never made money off that record.”

Revisit “Just A Friend” below.

Biz Markie’s DJ Remembers Him Recording The Iconic ‘Just A Friend’ Hook In Only One Heartwarming Take

by
Getty Image

Biz Markie’s iconic hit “Just A Friend” is a prime example that technical skill isn’t everything when it comes to music. While the late rapper wouldn’t be considered by many to be a skilled singer in a traditional sense, his passionately sung hook on the song remains one of the most memorable in the history of recorded music. Markie’s producer/cousin DJ Cool V recently spoke about the moment he and Markie recorded that hook, and he paints picture of a heartwarming scene.

He told HipHopDX:

“People called me crazy for letting him do that record. I’m in the studio, he wanted to do it so bad, but I got to get the whole album done before the deadline. I was almost done except for maybe three or four records, because Biz didn’t like to stay in the studio. So, I made him fight and fight and do records and do records. He was coming along so good with the other records. I said, ‘OK, OK, you finally can do it.’

I got him in the booth and he was singing, and even though it might not be perfectly correct to anybody else, the feeling of it was good. He had his fist balled up and he was really trying. He was really, really crooning, and I said, ‘That’s it.’ And he had one take. Then he had another take that was not as good as the first one. So I took the first one and put it with the next one. So it’s the same one, twice. He did both of them and he did them very well and maximized it too. He did it as best he could do it — and it was good enough for me.

Everybody called us crazy, like, ‘Yo, you going to really let him do that?’ I said, ‘Man, he feeling it. I got a good feeling about this record.’ And we did it. It just took off. It morphed into something that we could never imagine.”

Cool V went on to note, however, that neither he nor Markie ever made any money from the song. Citing Markie signing “an incredibly bad contract” and other factors as the reason for that, he said, “The sweetness comes in that we were able to perform it for almost 31 years. And now comes the other side of it — we never made money off the record. I still haven’t got paid for that record. It trickled down. So, we never made money off the record. But, we made the money off the shows and we had a great performing career. But now it gets back to the bittersweet because every time I hear it, it’s going to remind me of Biz, but it’s also going to remind me of how I can’t make more money off of it. Everybody’s feeding their family off our work and we’ve never made money off that record.”

Revisit “Just A Friend” below.