Love & Hip Hop: New York
Love & Hip Hop: New York (originally titled Love & Hip Hop) is the original installment of the Love & Hip Hop reality television franchise on VH1. The series premiered on March 6, 2011, and chronicles the lives of several people in New York City (and nearby areas, including New Jersey, and Yonkers), involved with hip hop music. The show features appearances from notable figures associated with East Coast hip hop. Its success has produced the spin-offs Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta, Chrissy & Mr. Jones, Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood, K. Michelle: My Life, Stevie J & Joseline: Go Hollywood, Leave It to Stevie, Love & Hip Hop: Miami and Remy & Papoose: Meet the Mackies.
Love & Hip Hop: New York
Reality television
David Wolfgang
Josh Richards
- Chrissy Lampkin
- Emily Bustamante
- Olivia Longott
- Somaya Reece
- Kimbella Vanderhee
- Yandy Smith-Harris
- Erica Mena
- Jen the Pen
- Raqi Thunda
- Winter Ramos
- Rashidah Ali
- Tahiry Jose
- Tara Wallace
- Erica Jean
- Amina Buddafly
- K. Michelle
- Cyn Santana
- Chrissy Monroe
- Cardi B
- Miss Moe Money
- Sexxy Lexxy
- Mariahlynn
- Remy Ma
- Bianca Bonnie
- Felicia "Snoop" Pearson
- Juju C.
- Anaís
- DreamDoll
- Lil' Mo
- Papoose
- Joe Budden
- Juelz Santana
- Rich Dollaz
- Safaree Samuels
"This Is The Life" Instrumental
Lofey
United States
English
10
143 (list of episodes)
- Mona Scott-Young
- Stefan Springman
- Stephanie Gayle
- David DiGangi
- Vivian Gomez
- Nina L. Diaz
- Josh Richards
- Kim Osorio
- Toby Barraud
- Mala Chapple
- D Renard Young
Vivian Gomez
- 20 to 23 minutes
(s. 1) - 42 to 44 minutes
(s. 2–10)
- Monami Productions
- Eastern TV
(s. 1–9)
Big Fish Entertainment
(s. 10)
March 6, 2011 –
March 9, 2020
On November 4, 2019, VH1 announced the show's return for a tenth season, which premiered on December 16, 2019. Its mid-season finale aired on March 9, 2020, with VH1 announcing on May 11, 2020, that the remaining episodes would be postponed indefinitely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[1] The show never returned, and after a series of crossover specials and spin-offs, several Love & Hip Hop: New York cast members were transferred to Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta from July 5, 2021.
Development[edit]
In 2006, rapper Jim Jones approached VH1 executives to make a reality show about him.[2] Jim Ackerman, senior vice president of development and production at the time, paired him with producers Stefan Springman and Toby Barraud of Eastern TV. Jones was unwilling to fully commit to the gruelling filming schedule and was dealing with the murder of a friend at the time, leading him to lash out violently at the producers and filming crew. The production issues were worked into the show's concept, which now focused on the culture clash between the gangsta rapper and the "honky" television producers.[2] The 11-minute presentation tape, Keeping Up with the Joneses,[3] also featured Jones' longtime girlfriend Chrissy Lampkin and his mother Nancy. According to Springman, VH1 loved the footage but were unsure if audiences would be invested in the concept full-time.[4]
Jones' manager, Yandy Smith, approached Mona Scott-Young, her former employer at Violator, to retool the show.[5] The concept was tweaked to include Jim's girlfriend Chrissy Lampkin and her circle of friends, influenced by the female ensemble-driven reality shows of the time.[6] The original cast consisted of Lampkin, Olivia Longott, Swizz Beatz's ex-wife Mashonda Tifrere and Misa Hylton-Brim, the mother of Puffy Daddy's eldest son, pitched as a "black version of Sex and the City".[7][8] Hylton was eventually replaced with stylist Emily Bustamante, the mother of Fabolous's son. Mashonda was downgraded to a supporting role per her request.[9] Aspiring recording artist Somaya Reece was brought on late into production to replace her.[10] Reece's ex Joe Budden was approached to appear in the first season, but declined.[11]
The series was first announced in VH1's programming development report in April 2010, under the title Diary of a Hip Hop Girlfriend.[12] On January 4, 2011, VH1 announced that Love & Hip Hop would debut on March 6, 2011.[13][14]
Reception[edit]
Critical response[edit]
The show's first season, which focused on the female cast's struggles within the male-dominated industry of hip hop, initially received a positive critical response. Jon Caramanica of The New York Times praised the show's deconstruction of the public image of rappers, as well as the quality of the production values with "slick, beautiful shots of the women driving spectacular cars with no men in sight". However, he was critical of the "needless filler drama" between Lampkin and Reese,[40] a criticism that was shared by other critics who felt the "endless catty arguments and trashy behavior" detracted from the show's message[41] and was too derivative of The Real Housewives franchise.[42]
Subsequent seasons, particularly the spin-off Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta, have largely been overshadowed by criticism and controversy, with the franchise referred to as "ratchet TV" for its seemingly negative and stereotypical portrayal of black women and its focus on dysfunctional relationships, materialism, hyper-sexuality and violence.[43] Series creator Mona Scott-Young has been singled out in particular for allegedly "exploiting (black women) in her quest for the almighty dollar".[44][45] Scott-Young has continuously defended the show against these accusations, saying it was not created to represent all African-Americans: "It's set in a specific world and I don’t think that there’s anybody who’s navigated that world who would deny that these things happen.”[46] Despite the criticism, the franchise has dominated the ratings since its inception, and has been described as "riveting",[47] "addictive"[48] "bawdy and hilarious"[49] and a "guilty pleasure".[50] In 2014, Complex named Joe Budden, Chrissy Lampkin and Mama Jones as some of the greatest VH1 reality stars of all time.[51]
Scripting allegations[edit]
Love & Hip Hop is often criticized for appearing to fabricate much of its storyline. Scott-Young has denied those claims: “I can’t stress enough that the stuff they deal with on (Love & Hip Hop) is real. We may frame it within a production construct that allows us to shoot on a schedule, but we’re not making up the stuff that they’re going through.”[52] She has admitted however that the show stages reactions of past events.[53][54]
In October 2013, Peter Gunz admitted in an interview with Sway in the Morning to exploiting his romantic situation for a check,[55] stating "I was gonna get busted (for cheating) anyway. Let me get paid to get busted. Fuck it." In December 2016, the show received criticism from fans after it was revealed that Yandy Smith and Mendeecees Harris were never legally married, despite taking part in a marriage ceremony live on VH1 as part of the special Love & Hip Hip Live: The Wedding.[56] In an interview with The Breakfast Club in November 2017, Cam'ron outed Kimberly Osorio as a storyline writer for the show.[57] In 2018, Cardi B admitted that her on-screen fling with DJ Self was contrived for television, saying "that was (just) some Love & Hip Hop shit".[58]
Ratings[edit]
Love & Hip Hop is one of the highest rated unscripted franchises in cable television history.[59] In an overview of the television cultural divide, The New York Times reported that Love & Hip Hop was most popular show in the black belt.[60]
After a modest start, the show's audience grew substantially in its second season, averaging 2.8 million total viewers per episode, making it VH1's highest rated series in over three and a half years.[61] Overall, the series was the #8 highest rating series on cable in 2011.[62] However, following a cast retooling after nearly all of the original cast left the show, the show was met with mixed reception from audiences, with the third season garnering some of the lowest ratings in the franchise's history.[63] Following another cast retooling and a much publicised love triangle storyline involving Peter Gunz, Tara and Amina (reminiscent of the more popular Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta), the show's ratings improved significantly, up 54% over the previous season's average and attracting an average of 3 million total viewers per episode.[64] The show maintained a steady viewership of about two million viewers per episode for the next few seasons, until the poorly received eighth season, where ratings dipped below 2 million viewers for the first time in four years.
Cultural impact[edit]
During a speech at a campaign rally in North Carolina on November 4, 2016, President Barack Obama referenced the show, comparing the 2016 presidential race to reality television, saying "I mean, its like some Love & Hip Hop stuff."[65]
On a 2013 episode of the BET television series The Game, Wendy Raquel Robinson's character Tasha makes reference to the franchise, saying "Back in the day we weren't carrying ourselves like them damn crazies you see on Love & Hip Hop, we conducted ourselves as upstanding women who were looked up to in the community". In the 2016 film Barbershop: The Next Cut, when Eve and Common's characters get into an argument over their relationship, Cedric the Entertainer's character makes a reference to the franchise, saying "This ain't no Love & Hip Hop reunion." In the 2017 pilot of the Netflix television adaptation Dear White People, a character attempts to break up an argument between two female characters by saying "Yo, fam, can we cut the Love & Hip Hop auditions and get to it?"
Nicki Minaj references the show on her remix of Ciara's "I'm Out". Remy Ma ends her diss track "Shether" with the line: "you just got bodied by a Love & Hip Hop bitch". Cardi B references her time on the show in her hit single "Bodak Yellow": "I just run and check the mail, another check from Mona Scott".
Distribution[edit]
Love & Hip Hop episodes air regularly on VH1 in the United States.[89][90] Episodes in the first season run from around 21–24 minutes, episodes in subsequent seasons run from around 41–44 minutes. The first two seasons were broadcast in standard definition, while subsequent seasons are broadcast in high definition. The series' episodes are also available on demand through the official VH1 website, as well as for digital download at the iTunes Store and Amazon.
VH1 have released the first four seasons, as well as the sixth season, on DVD. The fifth, seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth seasons are currently only available on digital platforms.
Internationally, the first nine seasons are available on Hayu, with the first, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth seasons released uncensored.