Yo! MTV Raps is Back! Top Ten Funky Fresh Freestyles From the Yo! Studio

​Straight from the horse's mouth: MTV2 is bringing back beloved old-school MTV hip-hop showcase Yo! MTV Raps for a special thirty-minute retrospective to be aired after the first-ever Sucker Free Awards.

We're a little disappointed that after almost two decades of no Yo! and an ever-shriveling focus on, uh, music television, they're only giving us a half-hour of Ed Lover, Doctor Dré (no not that one), and Fab 5 Freddy. But we'll take what we can get. And who knows? Maybe this is MTV gauging interest?

Either way, the news got us in the mood to revisit some of the show's finest feats of freestyling.



10. The Pharcyde (1992)
From "My name is Fat Lip! And I am funky!" onward, this brief Pharcyde cypher features three distinct voices that share a smooth, limber, and pliable flow.



9. Lord Finesse and Big L
Big L was only 17 when they filmed this! You gotta love Yo! MTV Raps for staying as true as possible to the culture it hoped to represent. Breaking new rap artists (instead of just blowing blunt smoke up the asses of the fat and sassy) was one of the show's most commendable qualities.



8. Coolio and 2Pac (1993)
Damn, who knew Coolio could spit like that? The man who wrote "Gangsta's Paradise" and went on to be a not-so-secret celebrity Juggalo reduces Don Killuminati (AKA ultimate '90s gangsta hip-hop martyr and amateur porn star Tupac Shakur) to Mother Goose.



7. Snoop Dogg (1993)
Man, how old was Snoop in this video? Is this pre-voice change?



6. Queen Latifah (1989)
Hip-hop's first queen dishes out her signature smooth, rhythmic, and earthy rhymes.