Hurby 'Luv Bug' Azor Created Longstanding Hip Hop Superstars And Then Vanished
Salt-N-Pepa, Kid 'N Play and Kwamé are all names important to hip hop's encyclopedia. Since the late-1990s, their original producer has been in the shadows. Queue Points honors his legacy.
When Super Nature released "The Show Stoppa" as a response to Doug E. Fresh & Slick Rick's "The Show,” they were following a familiar formula of creating a hit by responding to another. This tactic was already proven following the infamous “Roxanne Wars” which launched in 1984 with “Roxanne’s Revenge,” a response to U.T.F.O.’s “Roxanne, Roxanne.” Both “The Show Stoppa” and “Roxanne’s Revenge” introduced the world to women who would go on to be hip hop legends - Salt-N-Pepa and Roxanne Shanté.
The man behind “The Show Stoppa” was Hurby ‘Luv Bug’ Azor, who famously penned and produced the song, and would launch the careers of other generational talents like Kid ‘N Play, Sweet Tee and Kwamé among others.
On this episode, DJ Sir Daniel walks us through the interesting history of Azor, and his crew The Idol Makers. We discuss:
Hurby Luv Bug as a procurer of "middle class" rap
The impact of the album “Hurby’s Machine”
The story behind the MC Lyte and Antoinette diss war
What’s your favorite song produced by Hurby Luv Bug?
Supa Def Dope Songs From Hurby Luv Bug
Salt-N-Pepa (Featuring E.U.) - Shake Your Thang
Kid ‘N Play - Rollin Wit Kid ‘N Play
Sweet Tee - On the Smooth Tip
Antoinette - I Got An Attitude
Check out our YouTube Playlist Queue Points' Supa Def Dope Hurby Luv Bug Playlist.
Behind The Scenes With Queue Points
If you’ve ever wondered how shows end up being green lit on Queue Points, here’s a sneak peek at how the sausage gets made. Here, in planning some other #HipHop50 content, we ended up down a Foxy Brown rabbit hole. Stay tuned for what this becomes.
Tune In For Our Next Queue Points Live!
Snoop Dogg emerged as a character, who was nice on the mic, but central to the story of others. After many years of ups and downs, Snoop has emerged as one of the most important figures in shaping hip hop on the world stage. Join us as we discuss his interesting and, at times, tumultuous career.
Let’s discuss it live on Thursday, 7/20/23 at 8PM ET on YouTube!
Upcoming Live Streams
7/27/23 - House Music Divas
8/3/23 - Black Music on Television
8/10/23 - UK Soul & Hip Hop (Guest: Jason Randall Smith)
8/17/23 - Trip Hop and Drum & Bass (Guest: Jason Randall Smith)
MORE HURBY…
Listen To Hurby’s Machine: The House The Rap Built (Link)
A1 Antoinette – Hit 'Em With This 3:33
A2 None-Stop – Keep 'Em Steppin' 3:39
A3 Fabulous 2 – The Fabulous 4:08
A4 The Mau-Mau Clan Overlords – Contact Sport 3:44
A5 Salt 'N' Pepa – I Am Down 4:08
B1 Salt 'N' Pepa – Push It (Remix) 4:26
B2 Antoinette – I Got An Attitude 4:01
B3 The Mau-Mau Clan Overlords – The House That Rap Built 2:27
B4 Super Lovers – Let The Drummer Get Ill 3:32
B5 Future Shock – Just Go 4:38
Album Credits
Art Direction, Design – Jeff Faville
Mixed By, Engineer – Andre "Tuborg Gold" DeBourg
Photography By – Jannette Blackman
Producer – Steevee-O
Producer, Mixed By – Hurby Luv Bug
Who were the members of The Idol Makers?
This was a great show. I’ve learned so much that I didn’t know lol. Never knew there was beef in the hip hop circle regarding Hurby and his “Beat Biting”. But nonetheless he was great as a producer, fashion stylist and had a keen eye talent.