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William Jonathan Drayton Jr. (born March 16, 1959), professionally known as Flavor Flav, is an American rap artist and television star. He is a founding member of the influential politically conscious hip hop group Public Enemy. After falling from the public eye, he has recently regained fame as a star of American reality television. He has starred in a series of highly-rated VH-1 programs, most recently the Flavor of Love series.
Biography
Born in Roosevelt, New York on Long Island, William Drayton attended high school in Freeport, New York. He dropped out of high school in his junior year with hopes of becoming an entertainer. Drayton was given his own Saturday night radio show at Adelphi University. While rapping at Adelphi under the name MC DJ Flavor Flav, he met a graphic-design student, Carlton Ridenhour (Chuck D).
Chuck D, DJ Terminator X, Professor Griff, and Flavor Flav formed Public Enemy and released their debut album Yo! Bum Rush the Show in 1987.
Flav participated in Public Enemy as second rapper or vocalist (the primary vocalist was Chuck D), and as the band's drummer. His stuttering vocal style has influenced rappers including Busta Rhymes and the late Ol' Dirty Bastard. Providing a comic foil to the political message of Chuck D, some credit Flav with the development of the rap sidekick (often referred to as a "hype man"). Unlike later practitioners of the hype man role, however, Flav's stage presence and musical contributions were at least as strong as Chuck D's, and his surreally absurd rapping added a humanizing light-heartedness to the group. In addition to the comic and derisive asides he offers on most Public Enemy performances, he has also taken center stage on songs such as "Too Much Posse," the bizarre and unforgettable "Cold Lampin' with Flava," and "911 Is a Joke," which provided one of the group's most colorful music videos. On the group's 1998 "comeback" single--following a four-year hiatus--"He Got Game," the title song to a contemporaneous film by Spike Lee, Flav performs essentially a duet with Chuck D.
Flav often wears a clock around his neck, stating that observers will "know what time it is." The clock became one of Flav's trademarks, along with comic sunglasses. Flav credits himself as having been the originator of the current platinum grill craze in hip hop fashion. Flav acknowledges that his style is bizarre, and he is proud of his distinctiveness. Another of Flav's trademarks is his catchphrase, a loud and exaggerated "Yeeeeaaaahhhh Booooyyyy!"
Flav has reportedly completed two solo albums, both of which were rejected by his record label, Def Jam. A third LP, It's About Time, was due to be released in 1999 but never appeared. A fourth album, "Hollywood," is scheduled for release on October 31, 2006.
Flav has six children. Their names are Shaniq, Karen, Designa, Kwan, William, and Kayla. He also has two grandchildren, Brianna and Matthew. Both grandchildren belong to his daughter Shaniq.
On October 23, 2006, Flav revealed on the nationally syndicated Tom Joyner Morning Show that "a shorty in Vegas" was carrying his seventh baby and is due any minute. This new baby will bring Flav one child closer to his goal of having ten kids.
Reality TV career
Surreal Life
In 2004, Flav appeared in the third season of The Surreal Life on VH1. During the season, he developed an on-screen relationship with 6' 1" Danish actress Brigitte Nielsen, who affectionately called Flav "Foofy Foofy." VH1 continued to explore the couple's odd pairing in a spin-off reality series, called Strange Love. Due to mutual jealousy, the couple was constantly fighting and yelling. In March 2005, Brigitte ended her relationship with Flavor Flav, choosing instead to live with her Italian boyfriend, Mattia Dessi. The show essentially ended with the end of the relationship.
'Strange Love' controversy
Sometime after the premiere of Strange Love, Flav came under fire from various organizations and individuals including North Carolina's Reverend Paul Scott, who labeled Flav's performance a "coon act" on "a modern day minstrel show". Episodes have shown Flav acting up at a Public Enemy concert as well as having confrontations with his children and their mother, who have received no child support from him. Chuck D went so far as to issue a statement denouncing Flav's participation on Strange Love. A petition was set up in conjunction with Chuck D's criticisms in hopes of convincing VH1 to pull the show off of the air. VH1 continued to broadcast the program in spite of protests, which showed Flav and Brigitte going their separate ways in the end.
Flavor of Love
More recently, Drayton has taken a role as the star of the VH1 reality series Flavor of Love. The show premiered on January 1, 2006. It features Flav and 20 women (reduced to 15 in the first show, and then 10 after the January 8 airing) from which he will eventually choose one (in the style of The Bachelor). The show started with an effort to paint Flav in a good light. Several times on the show, he expresses a desire to settle down, find a companion, and have more children.
The first season finale was among the highest-rated shows in VH1 history. The relationship between Flav and first season winner Hoopz ultimately sputtered, though, and Flav and VH1 agreed to do a second season of the Flavor of Love. The second season ends with Flav choosing Deelishis.
In Fall 2006, Flav and seven of the season two contestants appeared on The Tyra Banks Show to discuss the series.
Recent history
- In 2002, Flav was recruited by New York City's hip hop radio station upstart Power 105 to do the traffic reports.
- In 2002, Flav was incarcerated on Rikers Island for a few months for failure to pay traffic fines. After his release, he moved to Los Angeles where he met with the producers of the Surreal Life who were casting for their third season.
- In 2003, Flav appeared in the Taking Back Sunday video, "You're So Last Summer". The Rock bands are a big change from his own musical roots, but the appearance shows his widespread character and appeal. He also appeared in TV spots for the then up-and-coming Reno 911! show on Comedy Central in his signature garb around the same time.
- In May 2005 Flav appeared on yet another reality show, The Farm on UK channel five.
- In 2006, Flav is in talks for signing onto the star-studded horror-comedy movie Horrorween.
- On the night of 4/5 October 2006, Flav was spotted at a Liverpool, England student nightclub, dancing to Elvis, The Jam, The Who and The Kooks. This transpired to be a public affairs exercise to promote his image in the UK.
Discography
With Public Enemy
- Yo! Bum Rush The Show (1987)
- It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back (1988)
- Fight the Power...Live! (video and album, 1989)
- Fear of a Black Planet (1990)
- Apocalypse '91...The Enemy Strikes Black (1991)
- Muse Sick-n-Hour Mess Age (1994)
- He Got Game (1998)
- BTN 2000
- There's A Poison Goin On (1999)
- Revolverlution (2002)
- New Whirl Odor (2005)
- Rebirth of a Nation (2006)
Solo albums
- Flavor Flav (2006)
Trivia
 | This article contains a list of miscellaneous information. Please relocate any relevant information into other sections or articles. |
- Flavor Flav has six children and, as of November 2006, is expecting his seventh. He would like three more before he dies.
- Flav's current mate is London Charles (Deelishis).
- Flav went to jail more than once.
- Flav was trained as a classical pianist when he was a child.
- Flav rapped under the alias MC DJ Flavor.
- Flav says he started wearing a clock around his neck because he wanted people to know what time it is.
- Flav appeared in the Taking Back Sunday video "You're So Last Summer".
References
- ^ Jason Ankeny. "VH1 Bio". vh1.com. Retrieved 2006-10-28. Cite error: The named reference "VH1 Bio" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- Unknown. "Chuck D. Interview". Youtube.com. Retrieved 2006-10-28.
- http://www.vh1.com/artists/az/flavor_flav/bio.jhtml
- http://www.realitynewsonline.com/cgi-bin/ae.pl?mode=1&article=article6503.art&page=1
- http://www.vibe.com/blog/vc/2006/10/after_taste_flavor_of_love_2_r_1.html
- http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/01/fashion/01flav.html?pagewanted=2&_r=2&adxnnl=0&ref=fashion&adxnnlx=1159848509-bsUzFRReJ+XpbhuIecbRYQ