Hip Hop’s Outlier – Uncle Ralph McDaniels Interview Part I

In his best selling book, Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell argues that world changing success has just as much to do with circumstance and opportunity as it does with hard work and determination.

The story of Uncle Ralph reads like something straight out of Outliers.

Ralph McDaniels was born to Caribbean parents in the Bed Stuy section of Brooklyn. His uncle introduced him to the Motown sound at an early age. His mother’s first cousin, Geoffrey Holder, was a successful Broadway and film actor (most notably for this writer, as Punjab in the movie adaptation of Annie). His family was always supportive. Music was always in the air.

In the mid-seventies, during Hip Hop’s infancy, Uncle Ralph began DJing.

“I’m in Queens by this time, so you know, the whole DJ thing is becoming really popular. We’re out in the park doing our thing. Break beats are starting to evolve. The commercialization of Hip Hop is starting to happen.”

After completing high school, while still DJing, he attended Laguardia Community College in Queens. There, during an internship at Manhattan Cable Television (the founders and operators of the America’s first urban underground cable system), his interest in film and television was officially ignited.

“Nobody around me had ever seen cable before. I hadn’t seen it before that time because nobody had cable here — in New York — and I don’t think anywhere else. I think that must’ve been around 1980, so this was the beginning of the whole cable television explosion. And that was what sparked my interest because I always wanted to combine the visuals with the audio. I was into the audio already from DJing and being around certain artists…but now I had an opportunity to get involved with the video side of it.”

From that rarified experience — interning at the United State’s first cable company right on the cusp of cable TV’s communications takeover — Ralph not only honed in on the ultimate path that would define his legacy, but began learning the tools to bring his vision (combining the audio with visuals of New York’s musical revolution) into fruition.

After receiving his bachelors degree from the New York City College of Technology (New York Tech), Uncle Ralph started his career working for WNYC-TV, channel 31, as a cable technician. Hip Hop was still in its nascent stages — inching towards commercialization — as the music video movement took hold of the national consciousness.

Artists like U2, Bob Marley, Michael Jackson, and Madonna not only etched themselves forever into music history through their planet shaking sound, but also through their iconic music videos. Some artists were only popular because of their music videos, and rarely received radio play at all.

“There were groups that were popular that just made popular videos. They didn’t necessarily get played on the radio or anything like that. So there was a whole music video movement going on as well as the music side of it. There were groups that were popular only because of their video. Thats why Michael Jackson put so much into the videos, because that was a big thing at that time. It was like a mini movie. You could make a very big impact on people through music videos. So, I’m in that founding group of music video pioneers.”

The video medium was on the verge of international fulmination. Hip Hop culture officially seized control of New York City’s urban underbelly. Cable TV, home to the first 24 hour music television station, MTV, was still a niche market with little reach.

Who else but a Brooklyn born DJ with professional knowledge of cable technics and production and a desire to unite the audio and visuals of this world rattling musical renaissance would possess the opportunity and experience necessary to launch the most groundbreaking television show in Hip Hop history: Video Music Box.

“I was passionate about the music and the artists and about the scene, so I knew that it was something that people wanted to see. And at this point, the idea of my show is becoming a reality, so I just wanted to have stuff to put on the show. [At this time] theres no videos for any Hip Hop songs, but why don’t we just shoot them live and get them performing? Like Soul Train, but ghetto style.”

CLICK HERE FOR PART 2