By Royal Young
For the past 30 years, Flavor Flav has been a pioneer in hip hop, politics and romance-based reality television. As one of the first and greatest hype men, Flav was an integral part of Public Enemy, who went on to be named best hip hop group and best hip hop album of all time by Rolling Stone. His hit show Flavor of Love brought VH1 7.5 million viewers per episode making him the most popular reality star in the genre’s history – and also a surprising source of romantic advice and love drama.
So what had women fighting over him on Flavor of Love? Was it his hilarious, edgy jokes and sexed-up persona or the more mature, inspirational and fatherly side he revealed once the flashbulbs faded? We sat down with the man himself, Flavor Flav to find out:
In his new memoir, Flavor Flav: The Icon (Farrah Gray Publishing), the rapper talks about his early days growing up in Freeport, Long Island, where he describes himself as a “class clown.” He makes some controversial confessions as well, alleging he was in touch with his sexuality from a very early age, having his first sexual experience at 6-years-old, and opening up about his long time drug addiction.
Cupid’s Pulse caught up with Flav at Hue-Man Bookstore in Harlem for a signing and exclusive interview where we discovered something even more shocking: a well spoken, inspirational and humble man who plays 15 different instruments and loves nothing more than spending time with his seven children, who are between the ages of 26 and 3.
Flav encouraged audience members to change their lives, saying, “We all have the same abilities. It’s about reaching out and grabbing your dream.” Surprisingly, his dating advice was conservative: “It won’t work out unless you give your all. You have to commit to your partner 100 percent.”
For more videos from CupidsPulse.com, check out our YouTube channel.
