My Friends Are Better Than Yours Featuring Ralph McDaniels

If you’re a fan of music, more specifically Hip-Hop, Ralph McDaniels should be listed as one of your heroes. Every hip-hop artist was influenced by the work that Uncle Ralph (as he is affectionately known) has done over the 40 years he has been working in this fickle industry. No matter who you support or are a fan of, more than likely, they were influenced by someone who was influenced by Ralph.

Starting as a budding entrepreneur in 1983, Ralph and his former partner, Lionel C. Martin set out to present music videos to an audience who may not have had many options as Ralph and Lionel’s show, Video Music Box, predated rap video shows like “Yo! MTV Raps!” The duo set up shop in Manhattan, NY, and landed at WNYC-TV where every weekday they showed music videos. Hip-Hop videos weren’t the staple it is today and there were very few being broadcast, but the ones that were available had a home at Video Music Box.

But, Video Music Box was just a part of the legacy of Ralph McDaniels and his partner, Lionel, who also used the name The Vid Kid. There weren’t many companies producing videos, specifically Hip-Hop videos when the company owned by the duo, Classic Concepts set out to give recording artists visuals to go along with their vocals and art. They didn’t only do Hip-Hop videos, but once they started, Hip-Hop artists found them.

The number of videos that the duo did, many companies who performed the same work couldn’t compare. Too many artists to name, mostly from New York City because that’s where the bulk of the artists were from and grew up. Classic Concepts became a mainstay in the Hip-Hop world.

As Ralph continued to make his mark in the industry, after the Vid Kid went off to Hollywood to direct some movies, Ralph stayed the course with Video Music Box adding several hosts like Tuffy, Crazy Sam, Ray DeJon, and Kevin Lawrence, to name a few. The magical moments that were caught on film included not only videos but also appearing at local events where the infamous phrase, “I want to give a shoutout to…..” became popular and a mainstay in the Hip-Hop lexicon.

We can go on, as Ralph has done SO many things for the industry, which we may discuss today, but the rich history of this man has him labeled as legendary due to, not only his popularity but, the doors he opened for others to follow him through. even those who mimicked his work, have to credit him for their success.

Nas produced a documentary, “You’re Watching Video Music Box” that premiered on Showtime in 2021 and touches on the work that Ralph had been involved in. As much as I can say about Ralph, there are layers to him that most people will never get to know, but, we can acknowledge his greatness in real time.

I would like to personally thank Ralph for his guidance and for putting up with me as he directed me in several of the videos Classic Concepts produced and worked with me through various ventures including celebrity basketball games, parties, and other functions.

Let’s thank our legends while they can still hear and see us! As Ralph continues to celebrate 40 years of Video Music Box, he also has a project called the Video Music Box Collection.

Video Music Box Collection Inc. is a nonprofit organization created by Ralph McDaniels, dedicated to the preservation, digitization, and archival of video footage to Hip Hop’s original music video show, Video Music Box. Established in 1983, The Video Music Box collection includes 20,000 hours of rare music videos and classic video content. Let’s help him make the video collection available to other nonprofit and public organizations by donating to the website, https://www.videomusicboxcollection.org/