What was the name of MTV’s hip-hop program that premiered in 1988?

MTV’s hip-hop program that premiered in 1988 was Yo! MTV Raps.

The show debuted on August 6, 1988, after an earlier five-episode pilot run in 1988. Fab 5 Freddy hosted the original version, while Doctor Dre and Ed Lover became its best-known regular hosts. The program combined music videos, interviews, performances, comedy, and reports about hip-hop culture.

Yo! MTV Raps helped bring rap music and hip-hop culture to a much larger television audience. Its guests included major artists such as LL Cool J, Public Enemy, Queen Latifah, and Run-D.M.C. The show ended its original run in 1995.

It is sometimes confused with Club MTV, another MTV program from the same era, but Club MTV focused mainly on dance music. Yo! MTV Raps was specifically built around hip-hop and rap. MTV revived the title for a short-lived series in 2018.