Young MC

Rapper Marvin Young, who was raised in a middle-class household, obtained an economics degree from USC. There he encountered Michael Ross and Matt Dike, the co-founders of the then-new Delicious Vinyl rap imprint. His first release under the Young MC moniker was the single “I Let ’Em Know.” In 1989 he teamed with Tone-Loc for “Wild Thing,” which became the first Top Ten pop hit by a Black rapper, and its immediate successor “Funky Cold Medina.” Later that same year Young issued the Top Ten smash “Bust a Move,” a lighthearted survey of romantic ups and downs that showcased his quick-witted delivery and playful humor. The track earned a Grammy for Best Rap Performance and propelled its parent album, Stone Cold Rhymin’, to platinum status. Its follow-up single, “Principal’s Office,” offered a comic high-school vignette reminiscent of a Chuck Berry narrative and also reached the Top 40.

After this breakthrough, Young parted ways with Delicious Vinyl amid acrimony, claiming the label had imposed creative limits and altered his recordings; the company countersued for breach of contract, and the dispute ended in an out-of-court settlement. He then moved to Capitol, where Brainstorm appeared in 1991 and introduced socially conscious tracks advocating personal accountability. That project met with modest results, and by 1993 shifting listener preferences toward harder-edged hip-hop left What’s the Flavor? unsuccessful. Late in 2000 he issued Ain’t Going Out Like That on the independent Young Man Moving label. Although the album drew limited attention within rap circles, Young kept issuing self-released projects throughout the decade, among them Engage the Enzyme (2002), Adrenaline Flow (2007), and Relentless (2009). In 2009 he also appeared in the Oscar-nominated film Up in the Air.