Ed Lover
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Ed Lover | |
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Birth name | James Roberts |
Born | Queens, New York City, U.S. | February 12, 1963
Genres | Hip hop |
Occupation(s) |
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Years active | 1988–present |
Labels | Relativity |
James Roberts (born February 12, 1963), better known as Ed Lover, is an American deejay, radio personality, actor, musician, and former
He is also widely recognized for being the first person to announce Tupac Shakur's death at a Nas concert in 1996.[2][3]
Biography
Pre-MTV history
Roberts was born in Brooklyn, New York. Before reaching fame on MTV, he was part of an eccentric and deliberately enigmatic hip hop collective called No Face, primarily with fellow members Kevon Shah and Mark "Mark Sexx" Skeete, who served as the main producer. No Face debuted in 1989 on Island Records' Club music imprint Great Jones with its only known recording for the label, "Hump Music"—an underground sexually explicit parody of The Jungle Brothers' 1988 hip-house classic "I'll House You." No Face would continue recording for another five years, but it only released one album in 1990, Wake Your Daughter Up on its own No Face label, which was operated as an imprint of the Rush Associated Labels division of Def Jam Recordings.
Though Ed Lover was clearly recognizable throughout parts of the album, his name was not credited on the album and he was not featured on any album or single covers during this period, thus rendering Ed Lover the "no face" part of the group. Its main logo featured two heads with the word "face" written in graffiti-style' at the bottom of the right face, while the official label logo featured three heads with the word "face" in a more legible font.
Wake Your Daughter Up spawned two singles—"Fake-Hair-Wearin' Bitch," an underground cult classic that sampled The Gap Band's "You Dropped a Bomb on Me" and featured the 2 Live Crew, and "Half," an R&B-styled divorce tale that featured the up-and-coming hardcore female hip-hop duo BWP (Bytches with Problems), which was discovered by and recorded for No Face to a slightly bigger level of success for the label than the group No Face did. Ed Lover is featured in the video for "Half," which regularly aired on Yo! MTV Raps during his tenure as co-host.
For reasons unknown, other than possibly to avoid conflicting with his duties on MTV, Ed Lover left No Face shortly after its time with RAL. His swan song to the group and to the label was his cameo appearance with partner Doctor Dré in BWP's video of its third single, "Wanted," from its one and only album, The Bytches from 1991.
Yo! MTV Raps
Roberts is best known for saying "C'mon, son!" and being the co-host of the weekday version of MTV's
He appeared as a guest on MSNBC's The Beat with Ari Melber on June 1, 2018, along with Yo! MTV Raps co-host Dr. Dré. During their segment they promoted the re-boot of the show.
Radio career
Ed and Dré—who hosted the high-rated Morning Show with Ed, Lisa, and Dré on New York's Hot 97 FM from 1993 to 1998—released only one album, 1994's poorly received Back Up Off Me! The previous year, they starred as a pair of hapless barbers turned police officers in the New Line Cinema feature film Who's the Man?, which was well received and was hailed as the hip hop whodunit.
He was later a radio personality on New York's Hip-Hop Radio Power 105.1 FM starting in January 2003 until January 2010 (Kiss FM) in New York City.
On June 21, 2014, Ed Lover became part of the Old School 100.3 FM family in Philadelphia with his own "The Ed Lover Show". He later joined 107.9 in Philadelphia on a show with Monie Love.
On February 14, 2024, Ed Lover returned to radio and became the host of "The Ed Lover Experience", a syndicated program heard on rhythmic Audacy stations including New York's WXBK and Chicago's WBMX.[5] Ed lover also has his program on San Francisco's KRBQ. a station, similar to that of WBMX.
Filmography
Film
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
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1989 | Overcoming Self-Destruction | Himself | Video |
1990 | Rapmania: The Roots of Rap | Himself | TV movie documentary |
1991 | Human Education Against Lies | Himself | Video short |
1992 | Juice | Contest Judge | |
Move the Crowd | Himself | TV movie | |
1993 | A Cool Like That Christmas | Himself (voice) | TV movie |
Who's the Man? | Himself | ||
1994 | Gunmen | Himself | |
1995 | Eyes on Hip Hop | Rapper | Video |
1998 | Ride | Six | |
1999 | Double Platinum | Party Ardie | TV movie |
2002 | Undisputed | Marvin Bonds | |
2003 | The Hustle | Red | Video |
2004 | The Bahama Hustle | Red | Video |
2018 | Come Sunday | Elector |
Television
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
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1988–95 | Yo! MTV Raps | Himself/host | TV series |
1989 | Camp MTV | Himself | Episode: "Hour 2" |
1992 | The Royal Family | Himself | Episode: "The Fame Game" |
Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? | Himself | Episode: "The Brazen Bean Bamboozlement" | |
The Cosby Show | Taxi Driver | Episode: "Bring Me the Lip Gloss of Deirdre Arpelle" | |
1994 | Ghostwriter | Himself | Episode: "Don't Stop the Music: Part 4" |
1995 | New York Undercover | Himself | Episode: "You Get No Respect" |
1998 | One World Music Beat | Himself/host | TV series |
1998–99 | The Hughleys | Cousin Jimmy | Episode: "The Thanksgiving Episode" & "Roots: Part 1" |
1999 | Battle Dome | Himself/Announcer | TV series |
Moesha | Himself | Episode: "Isn't She Lovely?" | |
2000 | The Jamie Foxx Show | Lucien | Episode: "Serve No Wine Before I Get Mine" |
2001-02 | According to Jim | Ed | Recurring cast: season 1 |
2003 | Rock Me Baby | Himself | Episode: "A Pain in the Aspen" |
2004 | 5 Deadly Videos | Himself/host | TV series |
2006 | Hip Hop Hold Em | Himself/host | TV series |
2011–14 | Psych | Himself/Bailiff Comonsat | Episode: "Last Night Gus" & "Remake A.K.A. Cloudy... With a Chance of Improvement" |
2015–17 | Fresh Off the Boat | Himself | Episode: "Family Business Trip" & "Gabby Goose" |
2017 | In the Cut | Roderick | Episode: "Matter of Principle" |
2019 | South Side | Himself | Episode: "Chi-Town" |
Discography
Album information |
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Back Up Off Me!
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References
- ^ Venta, Lance (April 6, 2018). "Ed Lover Joins 104.3 Jams Chicago". RadioInsight.com. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
- ^ "Tupac Shakur dies". HISTORY. Retrieved May 2, 2022.
- ^ 2pac announced dead at Nas Concert, retrieved May 2, 2022
- ^ [1] [dead link]
- ^ "Skyview Networks To Distribute The Ed Lover Experience - RadioInsight". February 13, 2024. Retrieved February 14, 2024.
External links
- Ed Lover at IMDb
- Ed Lover TV
- Ed Lover Cmon Son
- Jet