Song:The Show
Album:The Greatest Hits
As the original human beatbox, Doug E. Fresh was a key figure in the early days of rap. The Show is probably his biggest hit. Today he's considered a hip hop legend. He was born Douglas E. Davis Sept. 17, 1966 in Christ Church, Barbados but he grew up in Harlem, New York City. His first appearance was on the 1983 single Pass The Budda by Spoonie Gee. But what really got him noticed was his performance in the 1984 film Beat Street doing the human beatbox. He released a couple of one shot singles and then he signed as Doug E. Fresh and the Get Fresh Crew with Reality Records. The first single was La Di Da Di with The Show on the B-side. MC Ricky D who would later go on to his own career as Slick Rick was the lead rapper on La Di Da Di. The problem was they had to go back and reedit that record to due an unauthorized sample. The original version of La Di Da Di doesn't exist. In the meantime, The Show was released as a single and it reached #4 on the R&B Singles chart. Of course it samples the theme from Inspector Gadget. This would turn out to be Doug E. Fresh's biggest hit single. Today it is praised as one of the building blocks of hip hop and it is frequently sampled by hip hop guys. MC Ricky D left soon after to launch his solo career as Slick Rick. Doug continued to record but he just didn't have the same success with other rappers. This comp CD which looks like it is an Amazon production, has all of Doug's hits. Doug E. Fresh and Slick Rick reunited in 1995. Doug recorded for Island and Epic but he wasn't as successful. Doug E. Fresh still performs. He last recorded in 2007. But he says he's working on new music. I guess he's a nostalgia act at this point. Here's the video for The Show by Doug E. Fresh featuring Slick Rick.
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