50 Fun Facts About Love & Hip Hop

Which future Grammy-winning rapper joined Love & Hip Hop: New York in season six as a social media personality?

Cardi B was dubbed the show's breakout star, left after two seasons to focus on her rap career, and later became the first solo female artist to win the Grammy for Best Rap Album.

Megan Thee Stallion once auditioned for a Love & Hip Hop spin-off, never aired, set in which Texas city?

Houston's version was cast and partly shot, then put on hold in June 2016 over safety concerns on set. The rapper tried out before her career took off.

Which politician compared the 2016 presidential race to Love & Hip Hop at a campaign rally in North Carolina?

Barack Obama made the joke as sitting president on November 4, 2016, days before the election, likening the whole race to reality television.

Which Dipset rapper's 2006 pitch to VH1 for a reality show about himself eventually became Love & Hip Hop?

Jim Jones shot an 11-minute presentation tape with his girlfriend and his mother, but producers rebuilt the idea around his girlfriend and her circle of friends.

Love & Hip Hop's original cast of New York women was pitched as a black version of which TV series?

Sex and the City was the template for the four-woman line-up, though critics of the first season found the result closer to The Real Housewives franchise.

Moniece Slaughter of Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood sang the theme song of which reality contest soon after high school?

America's Next Top Model earned her royalties for years. Her stepfather, Dave Thomas of the gospel group Take 6, landed her the job.

Which R&B singer was offered the lead in Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood and married castmate Princess Love in season three?

Ray J was offered a co-producer role too and led the original 2014 cast. A 2018 special, Labor of Love, followed him and Princess Love before their daughter's birth.

Which Terror Squad rapper joined Love & Hip Hop: New York for its sixth season alongside Papoose?

Remy Ma had been freed in 2014 after six years in prison, and the show featured the pair's televised wedding ceremony in 2016.

Omarion and Lil' Fizz, original stars of Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood, first found fame in which boy band?

B2K had a number-one hit with Bump, Bump, Bump before disbanding in 2004, and a third member, J-Boog, joined the show for its sixth season.

Which Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta breakout star did producer Stevie J discover dancing at Atlanta's Onyx Club?

Joseline Hernandez joined the original cast as his new artist and quit after six seasons, following a falling-out with producers at the 2017 reunion taping.

Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta left VH1 in 2023 for which network, starting with its eleventh season?

MTV premiered the eleventh season after a six-week limited series, Run It Back, in which cast members recapped every episode of the first.

On which night of the week did VH1 air a Love & Hip Hop installment nearly year-round from 2014 to 2020?

Monday was the franchise's home: Atlanta ran from spring through summer, Hollywood in the fall, and New York and Miami in the winter.

Which Violator co-founder and longtime manager of Missy Elliott created the Love & Hip Hop franchise?

Mona Scott-Young reworked a pitch about one rapper into an ensemble show about the women around him, made through her company Monami Productions.

Which rapper joined Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta in season three and eloped with girlfriend Tammy Rivera during filming?

Waka Flocka Flame arrived with his mother, Deb Antney. He and Tammy later starred in their own We TV reality series, Waka & Tammy: What the Flocka.

Stevie J of Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta won a Grammy as one of the Hitmen, producers for which record label?

Bad Boy used him on No Way Out, the 1997 album that won the award, and on several tracks of The Notorious B.I.G.'s Life After Death.

Which R&B singer left Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta for the New York cast, then starred in the spin-off My Life?

K. Michelle announced the move at the second-season reunion and later became the first person to hold a main cast spot in three different installments.

Which rapper said in 2016 that he was quitting Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood because his brand was too big?

Soulja Boy had joined the original cast in 2014, and by the time he posted the announcement he had already been removed from the opening credits.

Which R&B singer joined Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood in season four alongside her ex-husband, NBA player Daniel Gibson?

Keyshia Cole joined the main cast in 2017 and left after one season. Her storyline followed the pair's co-parenting arrangement and the run-up to a new album.

Which Miami rap veteran turned down Love & Hip Hop: Miami in 2014 before joining its original cast?

Trina said in November 2014 that she had declined, changed her mind by April 2016, then waited through nearly two years of development before the premiere.

Which rapper and producer discovered Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta's Lil Scrappy and signed him to BME Recordings?

Lil Jon found him performing at an Atlanta strip club and made him one of BME's first signings. Their 2004 split album with Trillville reached number 12 on the Billboard 200.

Which Love & Hip Hop: New York star married Mendeecees Harris in a live two-hour VH1 special in 2015?

Yandy Smith's ceremony drew more than two million viewers, yet it emerged in December 2016 that the couple had never been legally married.

Which rapper's love triangle with Tara Wallace and Amina Buddafly dominated season four of Love & Hip Hop: New York?

Peter Gunz, half of the duo behind the 1997 hit Deja Vu (Uptown Baby), admitted in a 2013 radio interview that he was exploiting the situation for a check.

Which former Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood star became the first cast member to appear in all four installments?

Safaree Samuels moved on to the New York and Atlanta shows, then completed the set by joining the main cast of Miami in its fifth season.

Which breakout star of Love & Hip Hop: Miami landed a multi-album deal with BMG hours after the premiere?

Amara La Negra won praise for a storyline about colorism, which began in the premiere episode when a producer criticised her afro.

Which R&B singer, formerly signed to 50 Cent's G-Unit, was in the original cast of Love & Hip Hop in 2011?

Olivia had earlier been the first artist signed to Clive Davis's J Records, and her manager, Rich Dollaz, appeared on the show alongside her.

Stylist Emily Bustamante joined the first season of Love & Hip Hop as the girlfriend of which Brooklyn rapper?

Fabolous shares three children with her. She took a slot first meant for Misa Hylton and left after two seasons for a spin-off.

Mashonda Tifrere, who appeared in the first season of Love & Hip Hop, is the ex-wife of which hit producer?

Swizz Beatz's ex-wife turned down a lead role, agreed to a smaller part advising Emily Bustamante, and ended up appearing in only three episodes.

Felicia Pearson joined Love & Hip Hop: New York's main cast in season seven after starring in which crime drama?

The Wire cast her as Snoop, a fictionalised version of herself. The nickname came from a mentor who thought she resembled the cartoon dog Snoopy.

Which rapper declined a spot in the first season of Love & Hip Hop, then joined the cast in season three?

Joe Budden was the ex of original cast member Somaya Reece. He quit while the fifth season was being filmed and came back four years later.

Which Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta favorite, mother of Lil Scrappy, remarried ex-husband Ernest Bryant during season four?

Momma Dee was ranked by Complex in 2013 among the greatest VH1 reality stars of all time, and she later crossed over to the Miami show.

Before Love & Hip Hop: New York, Erica Mena worked in Miami at DASH, a boutique owned by which famous sisters?

The Kardashians put her on screen too: she made regular appearances in the first season of Kourtney & Khloé Take Miami in 2009.

Karlie Redd of Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta made her box-office film debut in Top Five, directed by which comedian?

Chris Rock also wrote the 2014 comedy. It came four years after she appeared on Scream Queens, a VH1 reality contest.

Which former Mets slugger's daughter, Diamond, joined the supporting cast of Love & Hip Hop: New York in season five?

Darryl Strawberry was the first overall pick of the 1980 draft and went on to win World Series titles with both the Mets and the Yankees.

Which rapper in Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta's original cast started out in the trio Da Kaperz and married Kirk Frost?

Rasheeda married him in 1999, and the pair were still being billed together in the opening credits of the tenth season.

Which original Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta star, mother of Stevie J's daughter, founded the cleaning service Keep It Clean?

Mimi Faust ran the company in the Stone Mountain area of Atlanta, and had earlier appeared in music videos for Kelly Price and Pharrell Williams.

Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta was announced in 2012 under a working title that used which nickname for the city?

Hotlanta was in the title when the creator announced the spin-off during the original show's second-season finale, and it was gone by the June premiere.

Which Jamaican dancehall artist joined Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta as a regular in season seven, then its main cast?

Spice, known as the Queen of Dancehall, first made a guest appearance in season six and was promoted to the main cast in season eight.

Which Flavor of Love alumna was in the first supporting cast of Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta and Miami's original cast?

Shay Johnson filmed scenes for the third Atlanta season that never aired, then resurfaced in Miami, where her brother EmJay later joined the cast.

Which title did VH1 use for Love & Hip Hop specials built from unseen footage, deleted scenes and cast interviews?

Dirty Little Secrets first aired in December 2012 for the Atlanta show, and later editions covered Hollywood and New York.

Which other VH1 reality series shared the 2022 ancestry crossover special Lineage to Legacy with Love & Hip Hop?

Black Ink Crew stars had also turned up as guests at the franchise's live wedding special in 2015. The two-part crossover traced cast members' family roots.

Which Queens rapper and Drink Champs host joined Love & Hip Hop: Miami in season four with his wife, Neri?

Noreaga, also known as N.O.R.E., arrived alongside Ace Hood when the show was retooled after the pandemic, and did not return for season five.

Pleasure P and Baby Blue Whoaaaa of Love & Hip Hop: Miami's first season were bandmates in which R&B group?

Pretty Ricky took its name from a character in the sitcom Martin, and a third member, Spectacular, joined the show in its second season.

DreamDoll joined Love & Hip Hop: New York's supporting cast in season eight after appearing on which reality series?

Bad Girls Club cast her in 2016, and a year later she signed to Gwinnin Entertainment, the record label of her castmate DJ Self.

Which singer, signed to Roc-A-Fella Records at 16, appeared on both Love & Hip Hop: New York and Hollywood?

Teairra Marí's Miami-shot episodes in the second New York season were meant to set up a spin-off for her. Instead she joined the original Hollywood cast in 2014.

Which then-ABC News journalist moderated Love & Hip Hop: Out in Hip Hop, a 2015 round-table on being LGBT in rap?

T. J. Holmes led the discussion on the night a cast member came out as bisexual to his ex on the show, and it ranked first among women 18–49 in its slot.

Which former Rap City host fronted the live after-show following Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta's fourth-season premiere?

Big Tigger hosted The Afterparty Live!, a half-hour interactive show, and the premiere block drew a combined 6.2 million viewers.

Which 1990s rapper, a protégée of Ice Cube, joined the main cast of Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood for its sixth season?

Yo-Yo debuted as a guest on his 1990 album AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted. Her season was also the first that the franchise made with a new production company.

Which Basketball Wives star co-hosted the 2019 special Love & Hip Hop Awards: Most Certified with D.C. Young Fly?

Tami Roman first found fame on The Real World: Los Angeles in 1993. The special handed awards to franchise cast members in various categories.

Which publicist-turned-rapper in Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood's original cast said she came up with the spin-off's title?

Hazel-E said it was first called Love & Hip Hop: L.A. She quit during the second season, complaining that her behind-the-scenes work had gone uncredited.

Which former co-owner of The Source magazine was in the original supporting cast of Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta?

Benzino and his partner David Mays were later forced out of the magazine. He was dropped from the show after a brawl broke out onstage at the third-season reunion.