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Flavor Flav

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Flavor Flav

William Jonathan Drayton, Jr. (born March 16, 1959) known by his stage name Flavor Flav,[1] is an American rapper, classically trained pianist, television star, hype man, and member of the politically conscious hip hop group Public Enemy. Flavor Flav's visual trademark is an oversized clock hanging from his neck. After falling out of the public eye in former years, he has recently reappeared as a star of American reality television. He has starred in multiple VH1 programs, including Flavor of Love, and the 2007 Comedy Central Roast.

Rap Career

Chuck D, DJ Terminator X, Professor Griff, and Flavor Flav formed Public Enemy and released their debut album Yo! Bum Rush the Show in 1987.

Flavor Flav provided vocals and occasional drum beats, (according to Mr. Mr.), as well as a comic foil to the political message of Chuck D. He is able to play mutiple musical instruments. Some also credit Flavor Flav as a major influence in the development of the rap sidekick (often referred to as a "hype man"). Unlike later practitioners of the hype man role, Flavor Flav provided a much stronger stage presence and musical contributions. His clumsyness and hypeness was the center of attention on songs such as "Too Much Posse", "Cold Lampin' with Flava'" and "911 Is a Joke". On the group's 1998 "comeback" single--following a four-year hiatus--"He Got Game", the title song to a contemporaneous film by Spike Lee, Flav essentially performs a duet with Chuck D. Flav has reportedly completed two solo albums, both of which were rejected by his record label ,[3] Def Jam. A third LP, It's About Time, was due to be released in 1999 but never appeared. A self-titled album was released on October 31, 1996. In a rare guest appearance in 1999, he performed alongside Afrob and MC Rene on the track "1, 2, 3...Rhymes Galore" by the Polish artist DJ Tomekk

Reality TV career

The Surreal Life

In 2003, Flav appeared in the third season of The Surreal Life on VH1. During the season, he developed an on-screen relationship with 6' 1" Danish actress Brigitte Nielsen, who called Flav "Foofy Foofy". VH1 continued to explore the couple's odd pairing in a spin-off reality series, called Strange Love. In March 2005, Nielsen ended her relationship with Flavor Flav, choosing instead to live with her other boyfriend, Mattia Dessi. The show ended with the end of the relationship.

The Farm

In 2005, Flavor Flav was a contestant on the second series of The Farm on the UK channel five. Contestants had to complete farming-related tasks and were "chopped" - voted off - by the public weekly. Flavor Flav didn't make it into the top 5 farmers.

Strange Love

Sometime after the premiere of Strange Love, Flav came under fire from various organizations and individuals. He was also reported to have said, "Flav bangs on like a gun in the night." Episodes have shown Flav acting up at a Public Enemy concert as well as having confrontations with his children and their mother, who has received no child support from him. Chuck D went so far as to issue a statement denouncing Flav's participation on Strange Love [4]. A petition was set up in conjunction with Chuck D's criticisms in hopes of convincing VH1 to pull the show off of the air. In spite of protests, VH1 continued to broadcast the program, which showed Flav and Nielsen going their separate ways in the end.

Flavor of Love

More recently, Flav has taken a role as the star of the VH1 reality series Flavor of Love. The show premiered on January 1, 2006. The concept of the show mimicked that of the ABC series The Bachelor, and features Flav and 20 women in a search for love. The 20 is reduced to 15 in the first show, and then 10, and so on until he is down to a final two, from which he will eventually choose one lady to be his "baby." The show differs from The Bachelor in that Flavor of Love does not use the women's real names, instead a spur of the moment nickname Flav comes up with for each girl on the first night. The final three women were Punkin, New York and Hoopz. Punkin was eliminated, setting the stage for the finale.

The first season finale was among the highest-rated shows in VH1 history, where the final two met Flav to reveal the winner of a pair of gold teeth and the title of Flav's baby. Nicole "Hoopz" Alexander was chosen over Tiffany "New York" Pollard but the relationship between Flav and his first-season winner ultimately sputtered, as Hoopz admitted she did not love Flav, and so Flav and VH1 agreed to do a second season of the Flavor of Love. Flav brought Season 1 finalist New York to the house to spy on the girls and give Flav an inside scoop as to who was being "real" and who was being "fake". New York's visit to the house rekindled some sparks with Flav, and in the elimination round, Flav asked New York for a second shot at love and gave her a clock. This sparked flames among many of the contestants, as they did not get along with New York. The second season ends with Flav choosing Chandra "Deelishis" Davis over New York, leaving her as the runner-up once again. Davis and Flav had a relationship for some time, and Davis even appeared in one of Flav's rap videos. Rapper Mike Street, however ridiculed the show, stating that it was "obviously staged" and cliché. Flav reportedly responded saying that "Long Island rappers should be proud" of what he has done for Long Island.

In fall of 2006, Flav and seven of the Season 2 contestants appeared on The Tyra Banks Show to discuss the series, and to announce another spinoff, Charm School starring MoNique.

VH1 announced 'Flavor of Love 3' by asking people to create profiles as possible contestants and to vote for people who already have signed up, similar to the process used to produce some of the contestants in I Love New York 2. The winners were announced in January 2008, and the season premiere was on February 11, 2008, in which Flav eliminated all but one of the online winners.

New York from Flavor of Love then got an opportunity to start her own show called I Love New York, in which she seeks a mate.

In March 2007, MTV UK added the second season of Flavor of Love after Season 1's stellar success on VH1. The show was an integral part of MTV's 'Phat Tuesday', alongside other popular shows such as Jackass, Nick Cannon's Wild n Out and Drawn Together.

The finale of the second season, which aired April 17, 2007, was the highest-rated episode - with audiences of up to 3 million. The show was a success for MTV UK, bringing in more audiences on prime-time Tuesdays than any other channel.

After two successful seasons of his reality dating show aired in 2006, Public Enemy rapper Flavor Flav is returning to VH1 next month for the third and final season of Flavor Of Love. The new season, which will present 20 female contestants with various challenges aimed at proving their devotion to Flav, will culminate with a final showdown in Paris. The previous two winners of the show, Nicole “Hoopz” Alexander and London “Deelishis” Charles, broke up with Flav shortly after their respective seasons ended. The third season premiered at 9 p.m. on Monday, February 11. [5]

After Flavor of Love

Having appeared on four consecutive reality shows, Flav has said he would not appear on TV unless he has a contract. However, comedian/actress Mo'Nique has signed a deal with Flav to endorse his name on television. The two worked together after meeting at a local bar, where they discussed a development deal for VH1 in which Flavor of Love contestants would attend an academy for etiquette and beauty, known as Flavor of Love Girls: Charm School. The show, hosted by Mo'Nique, showcased contestants of Flavor of Love 1 and 2 as they battled for top honors at the Connecticut School of Etiquette and for a cash prize of $50,000. The show had a premiere of .1 million viewers, which was larger than any previous show on VH1. The winner Of Flavor Of Love: Charm School was Saaphyrii from Flavor of Love season 2

Flav was roasted on Comedy Central. The roast first aired on August 12, 2007.[6] Guests appearing at the roast: Snoop Dogg, Brigitte Nielsen, Jimmy Kimmel, Carrot Top, Lisa Lampanelli, Ice T, Jeff Ross, Katt Williams, Patton Oswalt, Greg Giraldo, and Sommore.

Other TV and media appearances

Discography

With Public Enemy

Solo albums

Guest appearances

  • Moby, "MKLVFCKWR" (w/Chuck D)
  • Nigo, "From New York To Tokyo"
  • P.Diddy, Music video for "P.E. 2000"
  • Tuesday August 14, 2007 Flavor Flav was the guest of honor on Comedy Central's Roast.

References

  1. ^ a b Jason Ancceny. "VH1 Bio". vh1.com. Retrieved 2006-10-28. Cite error: The named reference "VH1 Bio" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  2. ^ Un-J (October 04, 2006). "Chuck D. Interview". Youtube.com. Retrieved 2006-10-28. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ^ cuz they call him Flava' Flava' Flava' Man...Rock your Town Breakdown.. !YEAH BOY!.Flava' Flav is comin 2 ya Town..now tell me son who'z ya daddyVH1 - Flava' Flav Biography
  4. ^ Chuck D Blasts Flava Flav For 'Strange Love'
  5. ^ Flava' Flav Returns To VH1 For Third Season Of Dating Show
  6. ^ Comedy Central Press Release - Roast of Flava' Flav
  7. ^ Westchester Emergency Volunteer Reserves-Medical Reserves Corps (WEVR-MRC)
  8. ^ Blogcritics Magazine - Flava' Flav Celebrates National Safety Month
  9. ^ Lisa Tolliver show notes blog
  10. ^ Lisa Tolliver's Blog
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