Masters of the Mic, a group hip-hop/R&B show with Doug E. Fresh, Slick Rick, MC Lyte, Big Daddy Kane, Treach, and EPMD, will perform July 19 in Tuscaloosa at the Mercedes-Benz Amphitheater.
Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. March 28, through www.ticketmaster.com, and at the venue’s box office, 2710 Jack Warner Parkway in downtown Tuscaloosa, for $33.50, $53.50, $63.50, $79, $93.50, and $136.50, plus fees and taxes.
Doug E. Fresh has played the venue before, then called the Tuscaloosa Amphitheater, in a 2018 group show with Parliament-Funkadelic, Morris Day and the Time, and Sheila E. Fresh and Slick Rick also played the amp on a 2013 Old Skool summer show, with Salt-n-Pepa and Bell Biv Devoe.
Though trained on drums, percussion and trumpet while studying in a Harlem music school, Fresh first rose rapping, inspired by the poetry of Langston Hughes, winning battles under a number of names such as Dougie Doug and Dougie D, before an unintentional misspelling — he’d asked for Dougie’s Fresh — led to Doug E. Fresh.
He pioneered beatboxing — mimicking the sounds of various instruments, drums, bass and others, using just his mouth, lips, tongue and voice — listening to records by Grandmaster Flash, Spoonie Gee, and Funky 4 + 1, and humming along. He signed as a solo artist in the ’80s but worked also with DJs and other rappers as Doug E. Fresh and the Get Fresh Crew.
Barbados-born Fresh created seminal hip-hop such as “The Show,” and “La Di Da Di,” the latter one of the most sampled songs in history, inducted into the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress, April 2024. Other Fresh hits include “Keep Risin’ to the Top” and “Bustin’ Out (On Funk).”
The 2010 debut single by Cali Swag District was titled “Teach Me How to Dougie,” referring to the Fresh-inspired dance created by Lil’ Wil for his song “Dougie.” Athletes, musicians, models, politicians and other celebrities caught and blew up the craze that decade.
Vocalist on “La Di Da Di” was a rapper then known as MC Ricky D, later going by Slick Rick. Born Richard Martin Lloyd Watters to Jamaican parents in London, he went solo in ’86. After signing to Def Jam Recordings, he cut four albums full of songs that have been covered and sampled by Beyonce, Eminem, TLC, Nas, Miley Cyrus, Kanye West, Snoop Dogg, Color Me Badd, Mariah Carey, Beastie Boys and numerous others. His vocal work on “La Di Da Di” became one of the first ever sampled, on Snoop Dogg’s 1993 debut album, for a song titled “Lodi Dodi.”
Of his distinctive, clearly enunciated style, Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson said: “Slick Rick’s voice was the most beautiful thing to happen to hip-hop culture …. Rick is full of punchlines, wit, melody, cool cadence, confidence and style. He is the blueprint.”
His 1988 debut album “The Adventures of Slick Rick” sold platinum, and went to No. 1 on R&B charts, as did his 1999 disc, “The Art of Storytelling.” Rick’s rap and R&B hits include “Children’s Story,” “I Shouldn’t Have Done It,” “Sittin’ in My Car” (featuring a reunion with Doug E. Fresh), and “Behind Bars.”
MC Lyte, born Lana Michele Moorer, cut the first full solo album by a female rapper, 1988’s “Lyte as a Rock.” Also an actor, philanthropist, DJ and businessperson, she’s cut songs of political consciousness as well as braggadocio rap, scoring top 10 hits with “Cha Cha Cha,” “I’m Not Having It,” “Poor Georgie,” “Stop, Look, Listen,” “Cappucino,” “When in Love,” “Ruff Neck,” “Keep On Keepin’ On,” “Cold Rock a Party” (with Missy Elliott). As part of the group Stop the Violence Movement, she had another gold-selling No. 1 in “Self Destruction.” Chuck D of Public Enemy considers Lyte’s husky, authoritative alto voice one of the greatest voices of all time.
Rapper, actor and producer Antonio Hardy, who goes by Big Daddy Kane, began, like Fresh and Slick Rick, in the mid-’80s, as part of hip-hop collective Juice Crew. Rolling Stone put his “Ain’t No Half-Steppin” ― from 1988 solo debut disc, “Long Live the Kane” ― at No. 25 on its 50 greatest all-time hip-hop songs. MTV placed him at No. 7 on its all-time greatest MCs list. Other Kane hits include “Rap Summary (Lean on Me),” “Smooth Operator,” “Cause I Can Do It Right,” “Groove With It,” “How U Get a Record Deal?,” “Very Special,” and “Uncut, Pure.”
Rapper-actor Treach first came to fame leading hip-hop trio Naughty By Nature, with whom he cut four gold and platinum albums. Some of his best-known songs include “O.P.P.,” “Hip Hooray,” “Ghetto Bastard,” “Craziest,” “Feel Me Flow,” “Mourn You ‘Til I Join You,” “Jamboree,” “Holiday” and “Feels Good (Don’t Worry ‘Bout a Thing).”
Hip-hop duo EPMD is Erick Sermon and Parrish Smith, who cut five gold albums from 1988 to 1997. Their hits include “You Gots to Chill,” “Strictly Business,” “So What Cha Sayin’,” “Gold Digger,” “Rampage,” “Crossover,” “Head Banger,” and “Da Joint.”
For more, see www.mercedesbenzamphitheater.com.
Reach Mark Hughes Cobb at mark.cobb@tuscaloosanews.com.
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