Editing Lovebug Starski

{{Short description|American hip hop musician (1960–2018)}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2015}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name                = Lovebug Starski
| image               = Starski.jpg
| caption             = 
| image_size          =
| background          = solo_singer<!--includes rappers-->
| birth_name          = Kevin Smith
| alias               = 
| birth_date          = {{birth date|1960|5|16}}
| birth_place          = [[The Bronx]], [[New York City]], U.S.
| death_date          = {{death date and age|2018|2|8|1960|5|16}}
| death_place         = [[Las Vegas]], [[Nevada]], U.S.
| genre               = [[Hip Hop music|Hip hop]]
| occupation          = {{hlist|Rapper|DJ|record producer
}}
| years_active        = 1971–2018
| associated_acts     = [[DJ Hollywood]]
| website             = 
}}

'''Kevin Smith''' (May 16, 1960 – February 8, 2018),<ref name="nytobit"/> best known by his stage name '''Lovebug Starski''', was an American [[rapping|MC]], musician, and record producer. He began his career as a record boy in 1971 as [[hip hop music|hip hop]] first appeared in the Bronx, and he eventually became a DJ at the [[Disco Fever]] club in 1978. He is one of two people who may have come up with the term "hip-hop".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/aug/07/the-get-down-baz-luhrmann-grandmaster-flash-hip-hop |title=Grandmaster Flash: 'Hip-hop's message was simple: we matter' |first=Dorian |last=Lynskey |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |date=August 7, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Sacramento Bee 12 Oct 2004, page 46 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/630411430/ |access-date=2023-09-22 |website=Newspapers.com |language=en}}</ref> Starski claimed that he coined the phrase, while trading the two words back and forth, while improvising lines with [[Keef Cowboy]] of [[Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five]], at a farewell party for a friend who was headed into the Army.<ref name="nytobit"/> In an interview with Dave Hill in the newspaper ''[[The Observer]]'', Starski explained, "I picked up the mic and just started saying 'a hip hop, hip hop, de hibbyhibbyhibbyhibby hop'. The people couldn't believe it but it stuck."<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Observer 15 Jun 1986, page 27 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/257798905/ |access-date=May 8, 2023 |newspaper=[[The Observer]]|via=[[Newspapers.com]] |language=en}}</ref>

==Career==
Starski recorded his first single, "Positive Life", on the [[Tayster]] record label in 1981.<ref name="LarkinDM">{{cite book|title=[[Encyclopedia of Popular Music|The Virgin Encyclopedia of Dance Music]]|editor=[[Colin Larkin (writer)|Colin Larkin]]|publisher=[[Virgin Books]]|date=1998|edition=First|isbn=0-7535-0252-6|page=205}}</ref> (The British Group [[MARRS]] would sample this in 1987 with the No. 1 single "[[Pump Up the Volume (song)|Pump Up the Volume]]".) Later, he recorded a song for the soundtrack of the 1986 film ''Rappin''',<ref name="LarkinDM"/> which was released on [[Atlantic Records]], before recording his first album, ''House Rocker'', on [[Epic Records|Epic/CBS Records]].<ref name="LarkinDM"/> This featured his most successful [[record chart|chart]] single, "Amityville (The House on the Hill)",<ref name="LarkinDM"/> a parody song named in reference to the film ''[[The Amityville Horror (1979 film)|The Amityville Horror]]'' (itself based on alleged supernatural activities surrounding the DeFeo murder case). It was a No. 12 hit on the [[UK Singles Chart]]<ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums">{{cite book| last = Roberts| first = David| title = British Hit Singles & Albums| edition = 19th| year = 2006| publisher = Guinness World Records Limited| location = London| isbn = 1-904994-10-5| page = 331 }}</ref> in 1986.  Lovebug Starski sank into cocaine dependency and was imprisoned for possession of illegal substances in 1987.<ref name="LarkinDM"/> On release in December 1991, he returned to a DJ residency at his former haunt, Disco Fever.<ref name="LarkinDM"/>

Lovebug Starski and World Famous Brucie B, also worked together at the Rooftop Roller rink in [[Harlem]] during the 1980s.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://history.hiphop/lovebug-starski-kevin-smith/|title=Lovebug Starski (Kevin Smith)|date=June 24, 2019|website=The Hip Hop Museum}}</ref>

Starski's name is forever immortalized in the opening verse of [[The Notorious B.I.G.]]'s legendary single "[[Juicy (The Notorious B.I.G. song)|Juicy]]". In a line filled with unintentional irony, Biggie asks, "Who ever thought that hip-hop would take it this far?" while also giving credit to some of the foundational DJs in hip-hop. "Peace to Ron G, Brucie B, [[Kid Capri]], [[Funkmaster Flex]], Lovebug Starski."<ref>https://www.npr.org/sections/therecord/2018/02/09/584488179/lovebug-starski-rapper-and-dj-who-stood-at-the-vanguard-of-hip-hop-dead-at-57</ref>

==Death==
Starski died of a heart attack in Las Vegas on February 8, 2018, at the age of 57, while moving speakers out of storage into his apartment.<ref name="nytobit">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/09/obituaries/lovebug-starski-hip-hop-dead.html |title=Lovebug Starski, Hip-Hop Trailblazer, Is Dead at 57 |first=Jon |last=Caramanica |author-link=Jon Caramanica |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |page=B8 |date=February 9, 2018}}</ref><ref name="rsobit">{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/lovebug-starski-rap-pioneer-who-popularized-term-hip-hop-dead-at-57-w516540 |title=Lovebug Starski, Rap Pioneer Who Popularized Term 'Hip-Hop,' Dead at 57 |first=Jesse |last=Serwer |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |date=February 9, 2018 |issn=0035-791X}}</ref> Smith had recently relocated to Las Vegas, where he was working to revive his DJ career with gigs that included a weekly residency at a rooftop lounge of a Indian restaurant. His final appearance there was just hours before his death, according to his manager, Jeremy Crittenden.<ref name="rsobit"/> He is survived by his mother, Martha Bowes; two sisters, Kim Shaw and Karen Rivers; three daughters, Tiffany Williams, Shantel Williams and Bryanna Smith; three granddaughters and a grandson.<ref name="nytobit"/>

==Discography==
===Albums===
* ''House Rocker'' (1986)

===Singles {{anchor|amityville}} ===
* "Gangster Rock" (1979) <small>(as Little Starsky)</small>
* "Dancin' Party People" (1981) <small>(as Little Starsky)</small>
* "Positive Life" (1981) <small>(with Harlem World Crew)</small>
* "Live at the Fever" (1983) <small>(On Fever Records)</small>
* "Live at the Fever Pt.2" (1983) <small>(On Fever Records)</small>
* "You've Gotta Believe" <Small>(On Fever Records)</small> (1983)
* "Do the Right Thing" (1984)
* "House Rocker" (1985)
* "Rappin'" (1985)
* "Amityville (The House on the Hill)" (1986)
* "Saturday Night" (1986)

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{AllMusic |class=artist |id=lovebug-starski-mn0000421848}}
*{{Discogs artist|21906-Lovebug-Starski}}
*{{IMDb name|2424314}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Starski, Lovebug}}
[[Category:1960 births]]
[[Category:2018 deaths]]
[[Category:African-American male rappers]]
[[Category:20th-century American male rappers]]
[[Category:20th-century African-American musicians]]
[[Category:American male singers]]
[[Category:Epic Records artists]]
[[Category:Rappers from the Bronx]]
[[Category:American hip-hop DJs]]
[[Category:21st-century African-American musicians]]