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Flavor Flav

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Flavor Flav

William Jonathan Drayton Jr., known by the stage name "Flavor Flav" (born March 16, 1959),[1] is an American rap artist and television star and member of the politically conscious hip hop group Public Enemy. 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, most recently the Flavor of Love series.

Personal life

Born in Roosevelt, New York in Long Island, William Jonathan Drayton Jr. attended high school in New York City. He dropped out of high school in his junior year after being bullied by the local gang. Later on, he sought to become an entertainer and was given his own Saturday night radio show at Adelphi University, in Garden City, New York. While rapping at Adelphi under the name nctive, he found a new, politically active focus in his rap.

On October 23, 2006, Flav revealed on the nationally syndicated Tom Joyner Morning Show that "a shorty in Vegas" was carrying his seventh baby and was due any minute. The new baby brought Flav one child closer to his goal of having ten kids.[3]

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 drumming, and a comic foil to the political message of his counterpart Chuck D. 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. [citation needed] He 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,[4] 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, 2006. In a rare guest appearance in 1999, he performed alongside Afrob and MC Rene on the track "1, 2, 3...Rhymes Galore" by the German artist DJ Tomekk.

Reality TV career

The Surreal Life

In 2004, 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. Due to mutual jealousy, the couple was constantly fighting and yelling. In March 2005, Brigitte ended her relationship with Flavor Flav, choosing instead to live with her Italian boyfriend, Mattia Dessi. The show ended with the end of the relationship.

The Farm

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

Strange Love

Sometime after the premiere of Strange Love, Flav came under fire from various organizations and individuals including North Carolina's Reverend Paul Scott, who labeled Flav's performance a "coon act" on "a modern day minstrel show". Episodes have shown Flav acting up at a Public Enemy concert as well as having confrontations with his children and their mother, who have received no child support from him. Chuck D went so far as to issue a statement[1] denouncing Flav's participation on Strange Love. 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. VH1 continued to broadcast the program in spite of protests, which showed Flav and Brigitte going their separate ways in the end.

Flavor of Love

More recently, Drayton has taken a role as the star of the VH1 reality series Flavor of Love. The show premiered on January 1, 2006. It features Flav and 20 women (reduced to 15 in the first show, and then 10 after the January 8 airing) from which he will eventually choose one (in the style of The Bachelor).

The first season finale was among the highest-rated shows in VH1 history. The relationship between Flav and first season winner Hoopz ultimately sputtered, and Flav and VH1 agreed to do a second season of the Flavor of Love. Flav brought Tiffany "New York" Pollard, season 1 runner-up finalist, to the house to spy on the girls, in order to 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 at the elimination round, Flav asked New York for a second shot at love and gave her a chain. This sparked flames amongst many of the contestants, as they did not get along with New York. The second season ends with Flav choosing Deelishis over New York, leaving her as the runner-up once again.

In Fall 2006, Flav and seven of the season two contestants appeared on The Tyra Banks Show to discuss the series.

Tiffany "New York" Pollard from 'Flavor of Love' then got an opportunity to start her own show called I Love New York.

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

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

After Flavor of Love

Having appeared on 4 reality shows consecutively, Flavor Flav has mentioned that 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 on a development deal for VH1 in which Flavor of Love contestants would attend an academy school for etiquette and beauty, known as Flavor of Love Girls: Charm School. The show, which is hosted by Mo'Nique, showcases contestants of Flavor of Love 1 and 2 battle out for top honors at the Connecticut School of Etiquette and a cash prize of $50,000. The shows had a premiere of 7.1 million viewers, which was larger than any other previous show on VH1.

Flav will be roasted by Comedy Central. The roast will air on August 12, 2007.[5]

Other TV and media appearances

Discography

With Public Enemy

Solo albums

Guest Appearances

  • Moby, "MKLVFCKWR" (w/Chuck D)
  • Nigo, "From New York To Tokyo"

References

  1. ^ a b Jason Ankeny. "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. ^ Unknown. "Chuck D. Interview". Youtube.com. Retrieved 2006-10-28.
  3. ^ http://www.vibe.com/blog/vc/2006/10/after_taste_flavor_of_love_2_r_1.html
  4. ^ http://www.vh1.com/artists/az/flavor_flav/bio.jhtml
  5. ^ http://www.comedycentral.com/press/press_releases/2007/cctoroastflavorflav.jhtml
  6. ^ http://www.volunteer-center.org/programs_services/wevr.htm
  7. ^ http://blogcritics.org/archives/2006/06/21/173419.php
  8. ^ http://tolliveretips.blogspot.com/2006/06/lisa-tolliver-show-guests-flavor-flav.html
  9. ^ http://lisatolliver.blogspot.com/2006/05/how-my-radio-shows-publications-and.html
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