MTV's 'The Lick' With Trevor Nelson
Jesse Bernard goes back to the 1990's and the impact of Trevor Nelson and The Lick on British R&B culture
An image of a television (2021) by Burak The WeekenderTRENCH
Airing on MTV for more than a decade, The Lick gave British audiences the opportunity to see some of the most prominent and charismatic stars in R&B and hip-hop.
Presented by DJ and all-round music connoisseur Trevor Nelson, the show featured guests such as Aaliyah, Usher, Craig David, Lauryn Hill and Mary J. Blige, to name but a few.
An image of a television (2021) by Andre MouraTRENCH
Nelson also represented the unique relationship the UK had with the world of R&B and hip-hop from the US: prior to The Lick, he had established himself as one of the UK's leading tastemakers with his show on Kiss FM, back when it was a pirate radio station in the late 1980s.
After that, he was the figurehead for The Rhythm Nation on BBC Radio 1 in the mid-1990s, which was considered the first national R&B radio show at the time. The Lick's impact was also felt off-air with the annual Lick Parties across the UK and Europe.
In 1999, as the world was about to enter a new millennium, the most iconic Lick Party took place with everyone from Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey and Lynden David Hall to Mary J. Blige and P. Diddy taking the stage.
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The show was the peak of broadcast journalism for Black British music, one which featured a credible voice within the scene.
Trevor Nelson’s radio and A&R background placed him in a unique position to relate to the artists that appeared as guests on the show.
An image of a television (2021) by Burak The WeekenderTRENCH
In a time before social media and streaming, The Lick was one of the avenues audiences were able to stay up-to-date with when it came to the most popular music in R&B and hip-hop, as well as the lesser-known hits that later became classics.
Just like Trevor Nelson himself, MTV's The Lick—and its star-studded parties—couldn’t be more iconic.
This digital work has been produced in collaboration with PRS Foundation and POWER UP. The article first featured in TRENCH x Union Black's Chapter One: Game Changers zine.
Words by Jesse Bernard
Videos by MTV, Fanstastic83, GENESISMUSIC, Joe Buhdha and MTV UK Archive.
Commissioned by TRENCH
