I don’t watch enough MTV Classic on my cable box. I should though, considering music that was made in the late 1980s and throughout the ’90s is now the template for such a channel.

So I recorded four hours worth of “Yo! Hip Hop Mix” music videos on the night of March 1, 2021 and finally found enough time to give it a go.

The highlights, lowlights and everything in between are listed below for your amusement. The breakdown includes my Top 10 favorites (alphabetically by first name) among the 45 videos aired that night.

TOP TEN

(click song title to view video)

Def Squad – Countdown

House of Pain – Jump Around

ICE-T – You Played Yourself

KRS-ONE – MC’s Act Like They Don’t Know

Kurtis Blow – If I Ruled The World

Mos Def & Talib Kweli – Definition

Ol’ Dirty Bastard w/ Kelis – Got Your Money

The Fugues – Ready or Not

The Notorious B.I.G. – Juicy

The Notorious B.I.G. w/ Bob Marley – Hold Ya Head

BONUS CLIP

The iconic collaboration that changed mainstream music: RUN-DMC w/ Aerosmith – Walk This Way.

YEEZY TRIFECTA

Gotta give credit for creativity in each of these: Kanye West – Heartless; Kayne West w/ T-Pain – Good Life; Kayne West – Stronger.

POP CULTURE CLASSICS

Love them or hate them, you’ll never forget them: M.C. Hammer – U Can’t Touch This; Tag Team – Whoomp! There It Is; Vanilla Ice – Ice Ice Baby.

NOT SAFE FOR WORK

Don’t say I didn’t warn you: Juvenile – Back That Thing Up; LL Cool J – Big Ole Butt; Sir Mix-A-Lot – Baby Got Back.

NOT REALLY HIP HOP

Mostly guitars, singing and other oddities: Beastie Boys – (You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party); J.J. Fad – Supersonic; Nelly w/ Tim McGraw – Over and Over HD; New Edition – Candy Girl; The Fugees – Killing Me Softly; TLC – No Scrubs.

MOST UNUSUAL

I have no words for this corniness: Marky Mark – Good Vibrations; Young Black Teenagers – Loud and Hard to Hit.

HONORABLE MENTION 

These videos were better than expected: Eve – Gotta Man; Lil Jon w/ E-40 & Sean Paul – Snap Yo Fingers; Lil’ Wayne – A Milli; Mystical – Danger; Trillville w/ Cutty – Some Cut.

REST OF THE MESS

In the spirit of thoroughness, here’s the remaining videos: Akon – Don’t Matter; Akon w/ Eminem – Smack That; Ja Rule w/ Ashanti – Always on Time; Junior Mafia – I Need You Tonight; Lil’ Romeo – My Baby; Lil’ Wayne – Mrs. Officer; Ludacris w/ Pharrell – Money Maker; Ludacris w/ Shawna – What’s Your Fantasy; Mase – Lookin’ At Me; Memphis Bleek – What Do You Think Of That; Nelly w/ Kelly Rowland – Dilema.