‘Rap City’ was the most important rap show of its time. Don’t believe it? Check out BET’s new documentary.

OPINION: Other shows elevated the culture. “Rap City” was the culture.

Editor’s note: The following article is an op-ed, and the views expressed are the author’s own. Read more opinions on theGrio.

I was so excited to see BET’s three-part documentary about “Rap City” that as soon as I started watching it, I texted my man Joe Clair, who was the show’s second host. I wrote, “This is so wack.” I’m sure he was in the midst of getting lots of congratulatory texts so I’m sure my message had him saying, What is going on right now? Not Touré hating? I continued, “It should’ve been a documentary about ‘The Black Carpet.’” “The Black Carpet” was the BET show that I hosted back when I was at the channel. At that point, Claire knew I was kidding — everyone knew “Rap City” was a monster. “The Black Carpet” got solid ratings, but “Rap City” paid the bills. It was of the most iconic shows in BET history and one of the most important shows in hip-hop history because it was part of the culture.

“Rap City,” especially when Big Tigger was the host, was a show that seemed to come to us from inside the culture. It was the culture. I mean, the show was shot on a set that made it look like they were in some brother’s basement man cave. They did interviews sitting on funky couches or leaning over the pool table as opposed to sitting in nice chairs. It felt like I was sitting in a corner of my homeboy’s hideout, watching him kick it with big rappers. The living room setting signified that you were at home. There was a DJ in the room to signal that they cared about more than just the MCs. But what “Rap City” did that almost no other TV show did was they got rappers to rap.

Some MCs are fun to talk to; some are not, but all of them come alive when they get in the recording booth — rapping is at the heart of who they are as a person so to see them do that is to see them be who they really want to be. “Rap City” had its own booth. On every episode, the guest would get in there and spit a freestyle. That was a gigantic deal. And a lot of serious MCs went in there and spat fire, which elevated the whole thing — that made it clear that you had to bring it in “Rap City’s” booth. It quickly became one of the crucial spots where you were expected to show off your talent. Every label’s marketing plan included trying to get their rapper on “Rap City” and in the booth. The one little problem is that your competition wasn’t just other rappers who’d spat freestyles in previous shows. Your competition was also Big Tigger. 

Tigger came to “Rap City” as an experienced radio DJ from D.C. Tigger was the perfect host for “Rap City” — he was from the culture, he was cool as hell, he was funny, he was good looking, and he could freestyle. And he wasn’t bad at it. Watch out — if you’re a professional rapper and you spit a weak freestyle, Tigger might slide after you and spit something hotter. He added pressure to the MCs doing freestyles. And that made the show even better. I’m telling you — “Rap City” was more than a show about rap, it was part of the culture. And it’s true that the culture suffered a little without “Rap City.” It was an outlet that the culture needed.

Touré is a host and Creative Director at theGrio. He is the host of Masters of the Game on theGrioTV. He is also the host and creator of the docuseries podcast “Being Black: The ’80s” and the animated show “Star Stories with Toure” which you can find at TheGrio.com/starstories. He is also the host of the podcast “Toure Show” and the podcast docuseries “Who Was Prince?” He is the author of eight books including the Prince biography Nothing Compares 2 U and the ebook The Ivy League Counterfeiter.

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