Happy 54th Birthday Parrish J. Smith, better known as “PMD”, one half of EPMD
EPMD, the famous duo from Brentwood, Long Island, New York, is an acronym that stands for “Erick and Parrish Making Dollars”. The group has been together for more than three decades from the infamous breakup in the mid 1990s. They are one of the most prominent acts to grace the culture of Hip Hop.
After the very public split of the group because of various reasons, PMD continued to navigate the careers of Hip Hop icons Das EFX, who he was responsible for finding, before eventually making amends with Erick Sermon to make another classic EPMD album at the turn of the millennium.
Parrish Smith continues to be a recognizable force within the structure of Hip Hop’s movers and shakers and his contributions will be forever etched in stone.
Salute to PMD on his born day as we here at The Source wish him a happy one and many more!
On this day in 1970, rapper/actor Dennis Coles aka Ghostface Killah was born. The chamber of eccentricity comes almost exclusively from Tony Starks, who has been compared to the likes of Slick Rick with his signature, six inch high eagle bracelet and other excessively gaudy jewels.
At the foundation of the Wu saga, Ghost’s face was unseen and wasn’t revealed until the Chef’s Only Built For Cuban Linx classic “Purple Tape”. With ten solid solo albums under his belt, Ghostdini continues to impact the game along with his WTC family.
The Source Magazine would like to send a super shout out to the “Ironman” of Hip Hop on his degree day! Enjoy!
Even though Baby Chris didn’t recognize his own born day, we do by celebrating his works even after his untimely death.
Today would’ve been Chris Lighty’s 55th birthday, but he was raised in a very structured Jehovah’s Witness household so he never celebrated birthdays or holidays. Chris became the most influential hip hop manager through his management and marketing imprint, Violator. Violator was the real Empire before Lee Daniels hit series. The impressive roster included Missy Elliot, P. Diddy, 5O Cent, Foxy Brown, Busta Rhymes, A Tribe Called Quest, Mariah Carey, Mobb Deep, and more.
To the outside world, Chris Lighty was an alluring powerful executive who negotiated unprecedented deals with his partner, Mona Scott-Young. Outside of his insane work ethic he had layers about him that made him a remarkable human being, friend, mentor and support system to many people.
Through Violator management, Chris and Mona became the cerebrum of hip hop, developing and sustaining careers while structuring lucrative marketing and branding deals that helped grow hip hop into becoming a viable entity- cementing its place in popular culture.
“Hip Hop was everything to Chris,” says Mona.
“I’m so proud of what Chris has done for our culture. I’m proud that the young guy that I sat next to on a stoop in the Bronx was able to conceptualize a dream and really make it happen. Everything we sat out to do we did. We stayed focused and accomplished it all. So much of who I am today has everything to do with the fact that Chris had a dream. My relationships, my ability to leverage the success of hip hop into mainstream culture and our ability to provide opportunities to others came from Chris. We locked arms, came together and his dream became my dream.“
Sadly, those dreams were cut short when Chris Lighty was found shot to death in an apartment in NYC on August 30, 2012, from an apparent suicide. He will continue to be missed by the Hip Hop community.
A very big Happy Birthday shout out goes out to Hip-Hop legend and actor Redman. The Newark, NJ bred veteran turns a half-century today and is showing no signs of slowing down; his progress of constantly going strong is evident in the Hip Hop and film world.
Redman has been able to bless his fans with an impressive album catalog over the span of three decades including Whut? Thee Album, Muddy Waters, Doc’s Da Name and Malpractice. Hits such as “Let’s Get Dirty”, “Smash Sumthin”, and his classic collabo with partner-in-crime Method Man on the Blackout album has helped his fans realize that Reggie Noble has understood the complex formula for success and longevity.
Besides crushing the rap game, Redman was able to show off his thespian abilities and an underrated comedian on the big screen as well. His cameos on successful movies such as How High, Scary Movie 3 andBackstage have opened the eyes of new fans from different demographics worldwide, proving that Hip Hop can’t always be serious and that some of the best in the game can be one of the funniest individuals in entertainment. The good folks at TheSource.com would like to wish Redman a Happy 50th Birthday and many more in the future!
On this day in 1955, DJ Kool Herc was born Clive Campbell in Kingston, Jamaica. He moved to the Bronx when he was 12 years old and took on the name “Kool Herc” when he became a member of the graffiti crew the “Ex-Vandals”. The name is short for ‘Hercules’ because of his 6′ 4″ stature. He began DJing parties that he and his sister Cindy threw in their building, which was on 1520 Sedgewick Avenue(Sedgewick & Cedar) in the South Bronx.
Herc pioneered extending the breakbeat on records by playing the same record on two turntables and cueing the “break” in the record, which he noticed had the greatest effect on the dancers at the parties. This was emulated all over the NYC area during the 1970s, thus spawning the culture of Hip Hop. He coined the terms “B-Boys” and “B-Girls” for the dancers who were “breaking”, which Herc says was street slang for “acting energetically” or “causing a disturbance”.
Kool Herc has influenced other founding pioneers of Hip Hop culture including Afrika Bambaataa, Grandmaster Flash, and the Sugarhill Gang.
The Source would like to give Kool Herc his proper salute because without him and his contributions, none of us would have the opportunity to experience this global phenomenon known as Hip Hop!
Nicki Minaj just took to Instagram to wish her husband Kenneth Petty a happy birthday. Not only that, but she took the chance to reference what role he plays in her Barb fandom. “HBD KEN LOVE BARBIE,” she captioned a picture of the two of them together, presumably a recent one. Currently, both are dealing with Petty’s legal troubles, which stems from two decades ago and is ongoing for various reasons. For one, he reportedly failed to register as a sex offender in certain jurisdictions and threatened his former accuser, trying to get her to drop charges and her side of the story.
Furthermore, many criticized Nicki Minaj for seemingly turning a blind eye to many of these accusations and court developments. However, that’s not to say that she stands completely separated from her husband’s legal woes. In fact, Minaj recently tried to sanction Petty’s accuser and her legal team to no avail. To elaborate, Jennifer Hough claimed that the couple harassed her and her daughter to try to get her to drop the case, in addition to bribing her.
However, this case is not that simple. Moreover, recently leaked footage seemingly shows Hough stating that she was pressured into pressing charges in the first place. “There’s no statute of limitations on perjury,” she said in the leaked footage. “Perjury is when you lie under oath. And regardless, if I made a statement or didn’t make a statement, that is the reason why I stood up in court and I said, when the judge asked, ‘Like, yo does anybody have anything to say before he is sentenced?’
“I stood up and I said, ‘Your honor, I’m the person who pressed the charges,’” Hough continued. “‘I would like to drop the charges. I made a huge mistake. This was a –‘ this was in court. In front of his family, in front of friends, in front of everybody. Whatever. And they was like, ‘Take it to the D.A. and nobody wanted to hear s**t.’” Given the case’s complicated nature, stick around on HNHH for the latest on Kenneth Petty and Nicki Minaj.
On this day in Hip Hop history, Biz Markie (real name Marcel Theo Hall), one of the most respected and successful DJs in Hip Hop, was born. Growing up in Harlem, New York, The Biz has been moving the crowd with his unique style of rhyming since he was 14. From his earliest gig as Roxanne Shante‘s beat boxer to a headliner at Grammy Awards after parties, he’s done it all. Whether it be on screen, on the mic, or on the 1s and 2s, The Biz has remained a consistent brand in entertainment booking, averaging 175 shows a year across the globe.
Over the past four decades, Biz Markie has established himself as one of the most prolific rappers/DJs in music. Since his 1988 debut Goin’ Off (which peaked at #90 on the Billboard 200), he has grabbed hold of the hearts and ears of Hip Hop lovers everywhere. His second album, 1989’s The Biz Never Sleeps, contains his timeless hit “Just a Friend,” which has made a permanent impact on pop culture.
During the ’90s, The Biz retained his place as an icon. His third LP, I Need A Haircut, unintentionallychanged the scope of Hip Hop forever. The closing track from the album, “Alone Again,” contains a sample of the song “Alone Again (Naturally)” by Gilbert O’Sullivan, which had not been cleared by Warner Bros. Records. In turn, Warner Bros. sued The Biz for his unlawful use of the sample, causing the courts to rule all samples must be cleared by the owning party before reuse from then on. The lawsuit prompted the title of Markie’s fourth LP All Samples Cleared!.
As the new millennium approached, Markie never saw much of a decline in popularity. In 2002, he made his first major motion picture appearance in Men in Black 2. From then, he continued to make a plethora of television and big screen appearances. From Nick Cannon’s Wild N Out to Grand Theft Auto, The Biz is seen and heard throughout visual media.
During this decade, he also started his endeavors as a child educator through the children’s program Yo Gabba Gabba. Through entertainment, Markie has helped educate young children on music and artistic expression on the Nick Jr. hit show.
Biz lost his battle with diabetes in the summer of 202. He was 57 years old. Even though he is gone physically, the music and legacy of the human orchestra will live on forever!
On this day in 1973, the seemingly ageless producer, singer, rapper, author, designer, creative director, and label head Pharrell Williams was born 48 years ago. His music has touched the hearts and minds of literally billions of people, his humanitarian efforts have helped toward preserving the planet for the next generation to enjoy, and his actions to promote happiness and equality have helped move society in a positive direction.
Pharrell Lanscilo Williams was born in Virginia Beach, Virginia to Pharaoh and Carolyn Williams. He is the eldest of three sons. His love for music and art started at a young age. He met the other half of the legendary production duo The Neptunes, Chad Hugo, at band camp in the seventh grade. Pharrell at the time played the piano and the drums and Hugo played the tenor saxophone. In the early 90s, Pharrell and Hugo formed the group The Neptunes and signed with Teddy Riley of Interscope Records upon graduating high school.
Success began to come in 1993 when Pharrell met fellow Virginia rappers Clipse. The rap duo signed to Artista Records under Pharrell’s Star Trak Entertainment. In 1994 Pharrell and Chad Hugo officially established themselves at The Neptunes and produced part of Blackstreet’s self-titled album. By the 2000s the Neptunes had a name for themselves and in 2001 got their first international #1 hit with Britney Spears’ “I’m a Slave 4 U.”
That same year Pharrell, Hugo, and Shae Haley released their first album as the group N*E*R*D titled In Search of… in Europe, where the first Kelis album, produced by The Neptunes, had its best reception. After realizing that the album sounded much like their other work, the group decided to reproduce the album with Spymob. In 2002 the re-release of the album came with amazing reception and Pharrell was named Producer of the Year by Billboard and The Source.
In 2003 The Neptunes released their only album The Neptunes Present…Clones which was a compilation of songs and remixes by Pharrell and Hugo. The album featured Busta Rhymes, Clipse, Ludacris, Jay-Z, Nelly, Snoop Dogg, Jadakiss, ODB, Kelis, and Nas and debuted #1 on the Billboard 200. It also claimed the #1 spot on the UK R&B Albums chart and the Dutch MegaChart.
The next year N*E*R*D released their second album Fly or Die which was more popular than the first. It had a very positive international reception. That same year Pharrell received two Grammy awards, one for Producer of the Year and a second for Best Pop Vocal Album for his work on Justin Timberlake’s Justified album. He also put out the hit single “Drop It Like It’s Hot” that year with Snoop Dogg, which was Pharrell’s first #1 single in the US.
In 2006, Pharrell released his first solo album. In My Mind was released on July 25 and debuted at #3 on the Billboard 200 chart where it peaked. The album is full of hits with artists likeKanye West, Gwen Stefani, Nelly, Snoop Dogg, and more.
Over the next few years, Pharrell continued to produce hit songs as well as build his fashion empire with his brands Billionaire Boys Club and ICECREAM. His work with a designer and BAPE founder Nigo helped him to rise to prominence in the early 2000s as a streetwear designer. His popularity grew as a designer was almost simultaneous with his growth as an artist.
During the 2010’s Pharrell has continued to have a creative influence. His 2013 single “Happy” from his second album Girl has become the international anthem for happiness around the world and can be considered his most popular record. This decade he has also begun hisi am Other campaign which is a multimedia creative collective and record label that serves as the overarching brand over his many endeavors including: Billionaire Boys Club, ICECREAM, Bionic Yarn and the Youtube channel that launched as i Am Other’s founding platform. Most recently, Pharrell can be seen as a host of the popular TV show, The Voice. He has also just been named the creative director of the well established denim brand G-Star Raw.
Pharrell’s has become synonymous with Hip Hop and his brand is one that has inspired many in the generations under and above him. On behalf of everyone here at The Source we’d like to wish Pharrell Williams a happy born day, may he see many more years of success.
On this date in 1957, filmmaker, actor and New York Knicks enthusiast Shelton “Spike” Lee was born in Atlanta, Georgia. He moved to Brooklyn as a chid, which became the backdrop of Lee’s most famous movies including Do The Right Thing, He Got Game, Summer Of Sam She’s Gotta Have It and Crooklyn.
With two dozen feature films under his belt, the Academy Award winning director has faced his share of criticism. From his depiction of women to accusations of “blaxploitation” to antisemitism, Lee has always stood in the eye of the storm when it comes to controversy on film.
Lee’s 40 plus years as the eagle eye of the Black experience in America will always be remembered for generations to come. The Northstar Group/The Source Magazine would like to wish Mr. Lee a happy birthday today and wish him many more in the future!
In 1959, William Jonathan Drayton, better known to the world as Flavor Flav, was born in the world in NYC. Flav is the former hypeman of the iconic Rock N’ Roll Hall Of Fame Hip-Hop group Public Enemy.
Growing up on Freeport, Long Island is where A young Flavor developed his love for music, teaching himself to play the piano, drums, and guitar on his own. In Long Island, a young adult, Flav met Chuck Ridenhour, who later became known as Chuck D, the frontman of Public Enemy. The two linked at Adelphi University on the Island, where the two attended college and learned about each other’s love for Hip Hop.
As one of the founding members of PE, Flav was there in 1984 when the song “Public Enemy #1” was recorded, the first known track by the group. In 1986, the crew signed with Rick Rubin on Def Jam. However, Rubin did not initially want to sign Flav because he didn’t understand his role in the group.
Ever since PE’s debut album Yo! Bum Rush The Show, Flav was the hype jester to the ultra-serious, politically charged group, including Chuck D, Terminator X, and a security force known as the S1Ws. Songs such as “Fight The Power,” “911 Is A Joke”, and “I Can’t Do Nothin’ For Ya Man” featured the comedic darts of Flav, which brought a balance to PE.
Drugs and domestic issues hindered Flav for a short while during his career. However, he bounced back into the public eye as a reality show pioneer, with shows like Surreal Life and The Flavor Of Love breaking ground in reality TV. Earlier this year, Chuck D announced that Flavor Flav was indefinitely fired from the group for his response to PE publicly endorsing Sen. Bernie Sanders in the 2020 Presidential race.
Big ups to Flav on his born day and TheSource.com wishes the Flavor Man many more!
