Hosts and Timeslots
Among notable previous hosts of the show are Chris Thomas (the first host of the show from 1989-1991). Throughout his run, Thomas was also known as "The Mayor of Rap City", or simply "The Mayor". Other hosts: Hans Dobson AKA PRIME HIP HOP ADVISOR (1989–93), Prince Dejour (1991–94), Joe Clair (1994–99), Leslie Segar (a.k.a. Big Lez) (1994–99), Big Tigger (1999–2005), Mad Linx (2005–06), J-Nicks (2005–06) and Q-45 (2006–08).
On September 13, 1999, the show was re-titled Rap City: Tha Basement and newly hosted by Big Tigger (a.k.a. Tigger), who succeeded Joe Clair and Big Lez. On August 28, 2000, BET moved the show to a new time slot at 4 p.m.
On January 21, 2005, the show was repackaged and host Big Tigger was replaced by Mad Linx, a DJ and radio personality. The transition was explained that Tigger's "mother" sold the basement and forced Big Tigger out to live with his father.
On October 3, 2005, Mad Linx went on hiatus to host BET Road Show. For several weeks, the show was hosted by J-Nicks, a native of St. Louis. Occasionally, special guests (such as a hip hop star) would host Rap City. The network also shortened the shows run time from two to one hour.
On December 28, 2005, BET returned the show to its original 5 p.m. time slot. Mad Linx returned to his weekday routine on February 2, 2006. J-Nicks left to work as a weekday radio DJ for WHTA Hot 107.9 FM in Atlanta. On August 24, 2006, Q45 replaced Mad Linx on the show. On September 25, 2006, the time slot for Rap City changed to 4 p.m., and then flipped back to 5 p.m. in October 2006. From that moment on, Q45 hosted the show on Weekdays. Mad Linx hosted Rap City Top 10 on Saturdays and Big Tigger hosted the show as Rap City Presents... specials.
On September 17, 2007, BET changed the time slot of Rap City to 1 a.m. Eastern time. A time slot previously held by re-runs of The Parkers and other syndicated shows. In the timeslot that Rap City previously occupied, random music videos are now being shown. In October 2007, due to drop of ratings Rap City returned to its previous time slot at 5 p.m.
In September 2008, Rap City obtained a new time of 3 p.m.
Read more about this topic: Rap City (BET Program), History