Senate Resolution No. 5581

BY: Senator COMRIE

WELCOMING "Uncle" Ralph McDaniels upon the
occasion of his visit to Albany, the Capital City of
New York on June 19, 2018

WHEREAS, It is the custom of this Legislative Body to honor and pay
tribute to those individuals whose commitment and creative talents have
contributed to the entertainment and cultural enrichment of their
community and the entire State of New York; and

WHEREAS, Attendant to such concern, and in full accord with its
long-standing traditions, this Legislative Body is justly proud to
welcome "Uncle" Ralph McDaniels upon the occasion of his visit to
Albany, the Capital City of New York, in conjunction with the observance
of National African American Music Appreciation Month on Tuesday, June
19, 2018; and

WHEREAS, African American Music Appreciation Month is an annual
celebration of African American music in the United States, commemorated
with special performances and multi-day festivals in musical genres
ranging from rap to jazz to gospel throughout the nation; and

WHEREAS, Ever since he was a young boy growing up in both Brooklyn
and Queens, "Uncle" Ralph McDaniels aspired to be a Dee Jay; he attended
New York Institute of Technology where he earned his Bachelor of Arts
degree in Communications, TV and Film; and

WHEREAS, At this time, "Uncle" Ralph McDaniels approached a local TV
station with an idea to host a music-video show; the station instead
asked 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; and

WHEREAS, After about a year of hosting that show, "Uncle" Ralph
McDaniels got the opportunity to produce his own show, the way he
originally wanted to do it, and he named it Video Music Box (VMB); it
was not long before VMB's 6-day, 60-minute public television viewership
began to grow far beyond what any of the cable networks had expected;
and

WHEREAS, "Uncle" Ralph McDaniels was the first producer to broadcast
a hip-hop tour, Fresh Fest, on VMB; the tour featured many of today's
hip-hop icons such as Run D.M.C., LL Cool J, and Whodini; through his
efforts, he was instrumental in registering over 10,000 voters, which
earned Ralph tremendous respect and accolades throughout the City of New
York; and

WHEREAS, In 1995, VMB was named the Best Local R&B/Hip-hop Regional
Show by Billboard magazine; in 2003, the show was voted by the fans as
the Top-10 Greatest Hip Hop TV Moment by VH1; and

WHEREAS, By 2005, through "Uncle" Ralph McDaniels' vision, over
192,000 households per week were regularly viewing VMB; he had

successfully created a show which focused on the urban audience; five
years later, he launched Video Music Box Global on WNYC-TV; and

WHEREAS, In addition to his success with VMB, "Uncle" Ralph
McDaniels partnered with childhood friend Lionel C. Martin (The Vid Kid)
and co-founded Classic Concepts Productions, a film- and
video-production company which produced over 300 music videos,
commercials, films, and documentaries between 1987-1997; and

WHEREAS, "Uncle" Ralph McDaniels' reputation was far-reaching; an
inmate from Rahway State Prison wrote to Ralph about a
government-sponsored hip-hop music program at the prison; shortly
thereafter, Ralph visited the prison and filmed a documentary entitled
"The Lifers Group at Rahway State Prison"; the documentary was aired on
VMB, and was nominated for an Emmy Award in 1990; and

WHEREAS, Due to his hip-hop street credibility, "Uncle" Ralph
McDaniels was asked to serve as a consultant and the associate producer
for the groundbreaking film Juice, starring Tupac Shakur; in this
capacity, he assisted the film's writer, Ernest Dickerson, in re-writing
the script; and

WHEREAS, Upon the success of the urban film classic, "Uncle" Ralph
McDaniels played himself in the supporting cast of Who's the Man?
starring Ed Lover and Doctor Dre; and

WHEREAS, "Uncle" Ralph McDaniels had become an important fixture in
almost every facet of hip-hop culture; in 1996, he created a New York
Urban Fashion show called "The Phat Fashion," which featured start up
urban clothing lines of designers such as FUBU; soon after, Ralph
launched Uncle Ralph's Urban Gear, a Brooklyn-based clothing store and
T-shirt line; and

WHEREAS, In 1997, "Uncle" Ralph McDaniels was hired as an on-air
personality to host a hip-hop radio show on New York's Hot 97; the show
quickly reached over six million listeners within the Tri-State area;
and

WHEREAS, "Uncle" Ralph McDaniels then developed an old school music
video program showcasing early rap videos from the 1980s; recognizing a
need to keep up with today's technology and a sense of responsibility to
his audience, Ralph developed the Video Music Box archives and offered
MTV, BET, TV One and VH1 access to feature music programming from his
vast library of over 20,000 hours of video; and

WHEREAS, In 2016, "Uncle" Ralph McDaniels served as a consultant for
various documentaries featuring artists such as Nas, Tribe Called Quest,
and Wu-tang Clan; currently, Ralph is the Hip-Hop Coordinator for the
Queens Library system where he works to preserve and catalog the history
of Hip-Hop in an interactive way that is accessible to today's young
people; and

WHEREAS, Throughout his distinguished and trailblazing career,
"Uncle" Ralph McDaniels has truly earned the title of Hip-Hop Pioneer
and Legend for his remarkable accomplishments and tireless dedication to
the Queens Community; and

WHEREAS, It is the sense of this Legislative Body that when
individuals of such noble aims and accomplishments are brought to our
attention, they should be celebrated and recognized by all the citizens
of this great Empire State; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
welcome "Uncle" Ralph McDaniels upon the occasion of his visit to
Albany, the Capital City of New York on June 19, 2018; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be
transmitted to "Uncle" Ralph McDaniels.