Borough honors Hip-Hop
legends at WOHH awards night
BY KYLE VUILLE
Coming on the heels of
Notorious B.I.G.’s induction
into the Rock and Roll Hall of
Fame, the Bronx, the birthplace
of hip-hop, honored four
of their own.
An event, epic enough
to have the street closed by
NYPD, the Windows of Hip-
Hop and the borough president’s
offi ce held their 2019
award ceremony at Beatstro
at 135 Alexander Avenue on
Tuesday, January 14 in the
south Bronx.
The Windows of Hip Hop
and the borough president
presented honorees with
the 2020 Element of Hip Hop
Awards for their contributions
to the genre, while celebrating
the rich cultural
roots of hip-hop’s history.
Grandmaster Caz said it
best as he introduced crowd
favorite Fat Joe to say a few
words.
“To artists that come from
the Bronx that keep reinforcing
our role and the role
we played in this culture, it
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Members of Windows for Hip Hop and the night’s honorees all pose for
a group shot. The honorees included owner of Source Magazine Londell
McMillian, Founder of Fever Records Sal Abbatiello, VJ and Video Director
for Video Music Box Ralph McDaniels, and Legendary producer and rapper
Slick Rick. The honorees all received the Element of Hip Hop award
for their contributions to the genre. Photo by Kyle Vuille/Schneps Media
could have been forgotten,”
Caz said. “Shout out to people
like KRS-One and all the
other artists who made anthems
and kept the Bronx on
their backs.”
Honorees included owner
of The Source Magazine Londell
McMillian, founder of Fever
Records Sal Abbatiello, VJ
and video director of Video
Music Box Ralph McDaniels,
and famous producer and rapper
Slick Rick.
Another mentionable attendee
was Melle Mel and DJ
Red Alert gave a surprise performance.
“The important part of
this event is to promote and
preserve hip-hop and this is
what it is,” CEO of the Windows
of Hip-Hop Melissa Libran
said.
The event kicked off with
an open bar sponsored by
Martell Cognac. Bartenders
served cognac cocktails
and savory lip smacking hor
d’oeuvres were passed out
while the in-house DJ kicked
up the jams.
McDaniels said to the
Bronx Times he started his
show, Video Music Box over
35 years ago, in 1983, because
no one was playing hip hop at
the time on television and he
felt the call to fi ll the void.
He would interview hip
hop artists at the clubs back
then and put them on his
Video Music Box.
On stage, Fat Joe said one
of his fondest memories as
a kid was running home at
3 p.m. after school to watch
Video Music Box.
“Ralph McDaniels gave me
a chance before I even had a
record deal,” Fat Joe said. “He
defi nitely doesn’t get enough
credit for what he’s done for
hip hop.”
Fat Joe also praised honoree
Abbatiello for being one of the
true trailblazers of hip- hop.
“I want to shout out to Sal
Abbatiello,” Fat Joe said. “Sal
helped push hip-hop to another
level.”
Abbatiello founded Fever
Records and opened the Disco
Fever in 1976, one of the fi rst
hip-hop clubs in the south
Bronx.
He pulled in talent like the
infamous Grandmaster Flash
from the streets.
In the coming years, Disco
Fever saw turntable talent
such as Luv-Bug Starski, DJ
Hollywood, Eddie Cheba, DJ
Jun-Bug, Brucie Bee, Sweet
Gee, and Reggie Wells.
The night capped off with a
speech by honoree Slick Rick,
who zealously emphasized the
future is in the hands of true
innovators.
“The world is getting boring,
it’s boring us, so we got
to use our gifts to cure boredom,”
Rick said.