69 Fun Facts About Black 90s

Which network aired The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air from 1990 to 1996?

NBC signed Will Smith when he was struggling financially, owing $2.8 million in back taxes, and built the sitcom around him.

On The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Will grew up in which city before moving to Bel-Air?

Philadelphia is Will's home in the theme song, but the premise came from music manager Benny Medina, who grew up poor and moved in with a wealthy Beverly Hills family.

Which actress replaced Janet Hubert as Aunt Vivian on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air?

Daphne Maxwell Reid took over in season four after Janet Hubert left amid a rift with Will Smith; the two did not reunite until a 2020 special, 27 years later.

The Fox sitcom Martin was set in which American city?

Detroit was home to radio DJ Martin Payne, and Martin Lawrence also put on costumes to play Sheneneh Jenkins and Martin's own mother, Mama Payne.

On Living Single, Queen Latifah's Khadijah James publishes which magazine?

Flavor is the magazine Khadijah founded, a part written for Queen Latifah because she was an entrepreneur herself, having started her own hip-hop record label.

Who created, wrote and starred in the Fox sketch show In Living Color?

Keenen Ivory Wayans later stepped back from his own hit after clashing with Fox over censorship of its sketches.

Which future superstar joined the Fly Girls dance troupe in the third season of In Living Color?

Jennifer Lopez danced on the show until 1993, then left to work as a backup dancer for Janet Jackson before choosing acting instead.

Family Matters, the sitcom that gave the world Steve Urkel, was a spin-off of which show?

Perfect Strangers had Harriette Winslow as a newspaper elevator operator; Urkel was written as a one-time guest before becoming the breakout star.

Brandy's sitcom Moesha, which premiered in January 1996, aired on which network?

UPN picked the show up after CBS ordered the pilot and then turned it down; Moesha's family lived in the Leimert Park neighborhood of Los Angeles.

Which Moesha spin-off followed Kim attending community college alongside her mother, played by Mo'Nique?

The Parkers sends Nikki to college with her daughter because she had dropped out of high school years earlier when she became pregnant with Kim.

Which presidential candidate played saxophone on The Arsenio Hall Show in June 1992?

Bill Clinton played 'Heartbreak Hotel' in sunglasses, then joked with Hall about his claim that he had tried marijuana but never inhaled.

On A Different World, whose wedding does Dwayne Wayne interrupt to win back the bride?

Whitley Gilbert was about to marry politician Byron Douglas when Dwayne pleaded 'Baby, please!', and she married Dwayne on the spot instead.

Which hip-hop mogul produced HBO's Def Comedy Jam, which ran from 1992 to 1997?

Russell Simmons co-created the stand-up showcase, first hosted by Martin Lawrence, and it helped launch Bernie Mac, Dave Chappelle and Chris Tucker.

Who was the first regular host of MTV's hip-hop video show in 1988?

Fab 5 Freddy fronted Yo! MTV Raps seven years after Debbie Harry rapped his name on Blondie's 1981 hit 'Rapture'.

Which 1994 Fox series starring Malik Yoba and Michael DeLorenzo was the first US cop drama with two leads of colour?

New York Undercover staged performances by R&B and soul stars at Natalie's, a nightclub first run by Gladys Knight's character, in almost every episode of its first three seasons.

On The Steve Harvey Show, former funk star Steve Hightower earned his living as what?

A high school music teacher is what the faded funk star became, and budget cuts at his Chicago school soon had him teaching drama too.

On Sister, Sister, how do separated-at-birth twins Tia and Tamera first meet?

Shopping at the same mall store reunites the twins by chance; ABC cancelled the sitcom in 1995, but The WB picked it up for four more seasons.

Who became the youngest and first African American Best Director nominee, for Boyz n the Hood?

John Singleton told his producers that only he would direct the script he had written as a film student, and he was 24 when the Academy nominated him.

Which director made both Friday (1995) and Set It Off (1996)?

F. Gary Gray was a music-video director, with Ice Cube's 'It Was a Good Day' among his clips, before the rapper's comedy became his first feature.

Which actor directed Waiting to Exhale (1995)?

Forest Whitaker was directing his first cinema feature, and Babyface produced a soundtrack for it sung entirely by women, Aretha Franklin among them.

What crime do the four friends commit in Set It Off (1996)?

Bank robbery begins with a sacking: Frankie loses her job as a teller after a holdup at her branch because she knew one of the gunmen.

In Poetic Justice (1993), Janet Jackson's character rides to Oakland in what vehicle?

A mail truck carries her north with two postal workers, and the poems she recites were written by Maya Angelou, who also appears as Aunt June.

Which hip-hop duo starred in the 1990 comedy House Party?

Kid 'n Play got their film because director Reginald Hudlin expanded a short he had made as a Harvard student into a full feature.

In New Jack City (1991), what is the name of Nino Brown's drug gang?

Cash Money Brothers lent their name to the New Orleans label Cash Money Records, and its star Lil Wayne's Tha Carter albums nod to the gang's apartment-block base.

Which sibling filmmakers made their feature debut with Menace II Society (1993)?

The Hughes brothers cast Tupac Shakur and then fired him; the rapper later assaulted Allen Hughes, which cost him 15 days in jail.

Eddie Murphy's The Nutty Professor (1996) won an Academy Award in which category?

Best Makeup went to Rick Baker's team, whose foam fat suits let Eddie Murphy play Sherman Klump and several of his relatives himself.

Boyz II Men's 1992 hit 'End of the Road' was recorded for which Eddie Murphy film?

Boomerang's soundtrack single spent a then-record 13 weeks at number one, only for Whitney Houston to top it with a 14-week run that began three weeks after it ended.

For which 1990 film did Whoopi Goldberg win the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress?

Ghost's director and writer did not want Whoopi Goldberg at first; Patrick Swayze argued for her, and she became the second Black woman to win an acting Oscar.

Cuba Gooding Jr. won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for playing a football star in which 1996 film?

Jerry Maguire has his wide receiver make Tom Cruise's agent yell 'Show me the money!' down the phone, a line that became a national catchphrase.

R. Kelly's 'I Believe I Can Fly', which won three Grammys, was recorded for which 1996 film?

Space Jam grew out of Nike Super Bowl commercials that had already paired Michael Jordan with Bugs Bunny in 1992 and 1993.

What did TLC's Lisa 'Left Eye' Lopes set alight in 1994, burning down Andre Rison's house?

His newly bought sneakers went into a fibreglass bathtub, which melted and set the house's frame alight; she got five years' probation and a $10,000 fine.

Who wrote and originally recorded 'I Will Always Love You'?

Dolly Parton later turned down Elvis Presley, who wanted to record it, because his manager demanded half of the song's publishing rights.

Whitney Houston's 'I Will Always Love You' was recorded for which film?

The Bodyguard was written in the 1970s as a vehicle for Steve McQueen and Diana Ross, then sat unmade until Kevin Costner revived it.

Which 1998 album was the first hip-hop record to win the Album of the Year Grammy?

The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill began when her first pregnancy ended a spell of writer's block, and she recorded part of it at Bob Marley's Tuff Gong studio in Jamaica.

Dr. Dre's 1992 debut The Chronic popularized which subgenre of gangsta rap?

G-funk went mainstream with the album, which also launched Snoop Doggy Dogg, a guest on many of its tracks; its cover copies a pack of Zig-Zag rolling papers.

When Dr. Dre left Death Row Records in March 1996, which label did he found?

Aftermath began as a small boutique label built on few releases, and Dre went on to sign Eminem to it in 1998 and 50 Cent in 2002.

Which member produced Wu-Tang Clan's 1993 debut Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)?

RZA's group held out for a deal with Loud Records that left every member free to sign solo contracts with other labels.

Nas's 1994 debut Illmatic drew on his adolescence in which New York housing projects?

Queensbridge is where Nas began writing the album's lyrics at 16, and its cover is built around a photo of him as a child.

'The Boy Is Mine', the best-selling US single of 1998, paired Brandy with which singer?

Monica was a late addition: Brandy took the idea from watching The Jerry Springer Show and first recorded the song alone, before the duet spent 13 weeks at number one.

Coolio's 'Gangsta's Paradise', the top-selling single of 1995, interpolates a 1976 song by which artist?

Stevie Wonder rejected the track at first because of its swearing, so Coolio rewrote it clean, and only then did Wonder approve it.

Puff Daddy and Faith Evans's 1997 tribute 'I'll Be Missing You' samples a 1983 hit by which band?

The Police's songwriter Sting sued because the sample had never been cleared, and he ended up with all of the song's royalties.

In which city was Tupac Shakur shot on September 7, 1996, days before his death?

Las Vegas had drawn him to Mike Tyson's fight at the MGM Grand, and he was shot that night after leaving with Suge Knight; he died six days later.

Tupac Shakur's first starring film role, in Juice (1992), was as which character?

Bishop fell to him by chance: he tagged along to a bandmate's audition, asked to read, and won the part after 15 minutes of rehearsal.

Which Notorious B.I.G. double album reached stores 16 days following his murder?

Life After Death was no posthumous title: it was finished as the sequel to his debut Ready to Die, with a cover of him standing beside a hearse.

What was the title of Mary J. Blige's 1992 debut album?

What's the 411? was steered by a young Sean 'Puffy' Combs as executive producer, and its blend of soul vocals and rap beats made her the Queen of Hip-Hop Soul.

Who produced Missy Elliott's 1997 debut album Supa Dupa Fly?

Timbaland and Elliott had broken through a year earlier, when Aaliyah's album One in a Million was largely their work.

Before founding Bad Boy Records in 1993, Sean Combs was fired from which label?

Uptown founder Andre Harrell fired him after his rise from unpaid intern to executive, and Combs took the label's signee the Notorious B.I.G. with him.

Which Atlanta duo was booed at a 1995 awards show, prompting 'The South got something to say'?

OutKast were collecting a newcomer award in New York at the height of the East Coast–West Coast feud, and André ended his speech with the line.

Who wrote Toni Braxton's 'Un-Break My Heart', which spent 11 weeks at number one in 1996-97?

Diane Warren recalled that Braxton hated the song and did not want to sing it, and her label had to talk her into recording it.

Bone Thugs-n-Harmony's 1996 hit 'Tha Crossroads' is dedicated to which late rapper, their mentor?

Eazy-E signed the Cleveland group to his Ruthless label after they auditioned for him in his dressing room in 1993; he died in 1995.

Which rapper had his first two albums both debut at number one within seven months of each other in 1998?

DMX had flopped at Columbia earlier in the decade, then returned with It's Dark and Hell Is Hot in May 1998 and a second chart-topper that December.

Which girl group took its name from a passage in the Book of Isaiah?

Destiny's Child began as Girl's Tyme, trying out routines on customers stuck under the dryers at the Houston hair salon owned by Beyoncé's mother.

Janet Jackson's record-setting 1991 deal was with which label?

Virgin Records paid a record sum that stood for only days: her brother Michael then renewed his contract with Sony for even more.

Which singer was an original member of En Vogue?

Dawn Robinson was one of three singers picked from about 3,000 hopefuls for a planned trio, which became a quartet once the producers heard latecomer Terry Ellis.

Tiger Woods won which 1997 major by a record 12 strokes?

The Masters began badly for him: he needed 40 shots for his first nine holes, then played the next nine in 30 and pulled away.

Who called the Million Man March held on the National Mall in October 1995?

Louis Farrakhan's organizers fought the National Park Service's crowd estimate of about 400,000, and university researchers then put it at 837,000.

In his first NBA retirement, Michael Jordan signed a minor league baseball deal with which club?

Chicago White Sox bosses assigned him to their Birmingham Barons affiliate, and he ended the experiment in March 1995 with a two-word press release: 'I'm back.'

Months after his 1991 HIV retirement, Magic Johnson was named MVP of which 1992 event?

The NBA All-Star Game had him as a starter because fans voted him in despite his retirement, and it ended early when both teams ran on to embrace him after his last three-pointer.

Which rapper wore a FUBU hat in a 1997 Gap commercial, slipping the brand's slogan into his rhyme?

LL Cool J's references went unnoticed by the commercial's makers until it aired, so Gap ended up advertising another clothing label, run by his old neighbourhood friend.

Which producer co-founded Vibe magazine, launched in 1993?

Quincy Jones launched it with Time Inc.'s backing, and it was going to be called Volume until founding editor Scott Poulson-Bryant renamed it.

Which comedian's 1996 HBO special Bring the Pain won two Emmys?

Chris Rock had left Saturday Night Live in 1993 without becoming a star, then spent two years polishing the set in clubs before taping it in Washington, D.C.

On Family Matters, what was Carl Winslow's job?

Police officer Carl Winslow went to Reginald VelJohnson, who had just found fame playing a Los Angeles cop in Die Hard.

Which 1990s clothing brand printed the slogan 'Clothing Without Prejudice' on every garment?

Cross Colours sold so much through one chain, Merry-Go-Round, that the retailer's bankruptcy in the mid-1990s all but sank the label.

Which magazine rated hip-hop albums on a scale of one to five mics in the 1990s?

The Source was started in 1988 by two Harvard students, David Mays and Jon Shecter, as a one-page newsletter plugging their college radio show.

On The Wayans Bros., what business does Pops, played by John Witherspoon, run?

A diner called Pops' Joint was his; when the sitcom was cancelled in 1999 without a finale, Shawn Wayans's character complained about it in the middle of Scary Movie.

Which novelist became the first Black woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, in 1993?

Toni Morrison built her Nobel lecture on a tale of young people asking a blind old woman if the bird they hold is alive or dead; she replies that it is in their hands.

Who became the first African American woman elected to the US Senate, on 3 November 1992?

Carol Moseley Braun took on her own party's incumbent, Alan Dixon, in the Illinois primary after he voted to confirm Clarence Thomas despite Anita Hill's testimony.

Which world No. 1 did Serena Williams beat in the 1999 US Open final for her first major singles title?

Martina Hingis had knocked out Venus in the semi-finals, so the younger sister became the first Williams to win a major singles title, and the pair took the doubles title too.

Donations from Oprah Winfrey, Michael Jordan and Prince rescued which 1992 biopic?

Malcolm X was shut down in post-production over its budget; Spike Lee, who had already given up $2 million of his salary, stressed that the stars' gifts were donations, not loans.