TWIMH: Flava Flav is Born

Blast from the Past: This Week in Music History

-- Alexa West, cohost of ROANOKE Mondays 12-2am on WGTB

This week in music history was a truly important one, WGTB fans. William Jonathan Drayton—better known as Flava Flave—was born on the 16^th of March in 1959. What would we do today without oversized-watch necklaces and reruns of VH1’s Flavor of Love? After being born in Freeport, Long Island, he went on to become an iconic rapper; he even created a new niche in his field, the “hypeman.” Georgetown’s spirit, affected by hormones and pop culture, would not be the same without Flava Flave and his “YEA BOYSSSS.” He is an icon for anyone who likes a to jump around and yell, whether hollering “HOYAS,” or just “FLAVA FLAVEEEE.”

To see an epic Flava Flave performance with Public Enemy, click below:

TWIMH: Biggie Smalls Killed

This Week in Music History

by Alexa West

Host, "ROANOKE," Mondays 12-2 am on WGTB

This week in music history was a grim one, my blogging friends. March 9, 1997 rap icon NOTORIOUS BIG was shot and killed. We all know him for “Juicy,” “Ready to Die,” and of course, “Big Poppa.” Fifteen days after his death, his album Life After Death came out and hit #1 on the U.S. charts. Known as the “savior of East coast hiphop” (which we eastern Hoyas should appreciate), Biggie’s influence on the rapping will never be diminished. Posters of B.I.G. will be in dorms everywhere for years to come.

Check out his music video for “Big Poppa” on YouTube:

This Week in Music History: John Lennon > Jesus

In this new weekly column from DJ Alexa West (Host, "Roanoke," Mondays 12-2 am on WGTB, we'll revisit some of music's best (and worst) moments in history. This inaugural post of TWIMH takes us to 1966. Stay tuned!

It’s 1966. Beatlemania is in full swing, “Drive my Car” is blasting nonstop on the radio, and John Lennon has created yet another scandal when he told the London Evening Standard that the Beatles “are more popular than Jesus.” (He’s lucky he didn’t say Jack the Bulldog!) There may be a lot of Beatles fans, but there are also a lot of Jesus fans, and their backlash hurt our four Liverpoolian friends and their tour that year. Radio stations in the South banned Beatles music. There were rallies of boys and girls stomping on their records and bonfires of Beatles material. John received death threats. Of course, Lennon appoligized, and the  Beatles went on to release Revolver, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, Magical Mystery Tour, and all our other favorites.

Below, a clip of Lennon's public apology:

-- Alexa West

Host of "ROANOKE" Mondays 12am-2am