LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION honoring Ralph McDaniels upon the occasion of his
designation for special recognition by the Museum of Contemporary Afri-
can Diasporan Arts

WHEREAS, It is the sense of this Legislative Body to recognize that the
quality and character of life in the communities across New York State
are reflective of the concerned and dedicated efforts of those individ-
uals who would devote themselves to the welfare of the community and its
citizenry; and
WHEREAS, This Legislative Body is justly proud to honor Ralph McDan-
iels upon the occasion of his designation for special recognition by the
Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts, to be celebrated on
Saturday, March 10, 2012, in Brooklyn, New York; and
WHEREAS, This special event is an exhibition opening for "The Box That
Rocks: 30 Years of Video Music Box and the Rise of Hip Hop Music and
Culture"; and
WHEREAS, The Box That Rocks consists of contemporary art that visually
charts and highlights the global influence of "Video Music Box", as well
as the show's historic contribution to urban music and culture; the
exhibition will feature photography, video installation, and interactive
digital art; and
WHEREAS, In 1983, Brooklynite Ralph McDaniels, launched "Video Music
Box", a groundbreaking television program that ushered in the art form
of music videos; he was ahead of his time, and can rightly be called a
music industry pioneer; and
WHEREAS, It is safe to say that hundreds of Hip-Hop, R&B and Dancehall
artists owe a great deal of their commercial success, including record
sales and "street cred" to Video Music Box; and
WHEREAS, Ralph McDaniels is a Hip Hop culture pioneer, entrepreneur,
and visionary who created "Video Music Box", the first music video show
focused exclusively to an urban market, broadcast on public television;
widely recognized by the music industry as the original tastemaker of
the streets, he became more commonly known as Uncle Ralph in 1995 when
Kool DJ Red Alert started calling him that on his radio show; and
WHEREAS, Ralph McDaniels is president of Uncle Ralph Productions, an
on-air radio personality at New York's WQHT and is one of the executive
producers of The Bridge, which he also hosts; in addition, he is a
co-owner of Onfumes.com; and
WHEREAS, Growing up in both Brooklyn and Queens, Ralph McDaniels
aspired to be a DJ; he attended New York Institute of Technology where
he studied Communications-TV-Film and graduated in 1982; and
WHEREAS, It was at around this lime that Ralph McDaniels started
noticing an alarming array of talented hip-hop artists continuously
being rejected and suppressed by mainstream media; he wanted to give
those particular artists a platform where they could be acknowledged by
the consumers who yearned for them; and
WHEREAS, Ralph McDaniels decided to take matters into his own hands
and approached a local TV station with an idea to host a music-video
show; the station was unenthusiastic about his idea, but instead allowed
him to host another popular local show with the same concept called
Studio 31 Dance Party on WNYC-TV, a public-broadcasting station owned by
the City of New York; after about a year of hosting that show, he got
the opportunity to produce a show the way he originally wanted to do it
and he appropriately named it "Video Music Box"; and
WHEREAS, It was not long before "Video Music Box's" six-day, 60-minute
public television viewership began to surpass what any of the cable
networks had expected; by 1995, BILLBOARD MAGAZINE recognized the show

and awarded it as the Best Local R&B/Hip-hop Regional Show; addi-
tionally, the show was also notably voted as the Top-10 Greatest Hip Hop
TV Moments by VH1 in 2003; and
WHEREAS, By 2005, over 192,000 households per week were regularly
viewing "Video Music Box"; Ralph McDaniels had exposed an untapped urban
audience and literally answered its outcries against the mainstream
media's disregard of its favorite artists with "Video Music Box"; and
WHEREAS, In 1985, Ralph McDaniels became the first to broadcast a Hip
Hop tour, Fresh Fest, on "Video Music Box", which featured many of
today's hip-hop icons such as Run D.M.C., LL Cool J, Whodini, and many
others; and
WHEREAS, Ralph McDaniels's reputation in the street was becoming as
famous as it was over the airwaves; in 1990, he filmed a prison documen-
tary called "The Lifers' Group at Rahway State Prison", which aired on
"Video Music Box", and was nominated for an Emmy Award in 1990; and
WHEREAS, It is the sense of this Legislative Body that those who
enhance the quality of life in their community and have shown a long and
sustained commitment to the maintenance of high standards in their
profession, certainly have earned the recognition and applause of all
the citizens of this great Empire State; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
honor Ralph McDaniels upon the occasion of his designation for special
recognition by the Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts; and be
it further
RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be tran-
smitted to Ralph McDaniels.