Love & Hip Hop: New York (originally titled Love & Hip Hop) is an American reality television series that premiered March 6, 2011 on VH1. The series chronicles the lives of several people in New York City (and nearby areas, including New Jersey, and Yonkers), involved with hip hop music, and features appearances from notable figures associated with East Coast hip hop.
The show's success would spawn a franchise of spin-offs; including Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta, Chrissy & Mr. Jones, Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood, K. Michelle: My Life, Stevie J & Joseline: Go Hollywood, Leave It to Stevie, Love & Hip Hop: Miami and Remy & Papoose: Meet the Mackies.
The show's tenth season and final season premiered on December 16, 2019. A "mid-season" finale aired on March 9, 2020, as production on the franchise was postponed indefinitely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the remaining episodes never aired. In the years since, several cast members would appear in various spin-offs, crossovers, and limited series, as part of a "reimagining" of the franchise. New Yorks cast would also join Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta during its tenth season.
Series synopsis
Overview and casting
Love & Hip Hop: New York revolves around the everyday lives of women working in the male-dominated world of hip hop. The first two seasons focus on the personal and professional struggles of four women, two of which are girlfriends of famous rappers, and two are aspiring recording artists. Subsequent seasons expanded to include talent managers and producers, DJs and radio personalities, stylists, video vixens, glamour models and groupies. The show has a sprawling supporting cast, consisting mostly of men in the industry, who (in most cases) share the same amount of screen time and storyline focus as the show's leads.
The first season starred Chrissy Lampkin, girlfriend of Jim Jones, Emily Bustamante, girlfriend of Fabolous, Olivia and Latin artist Somaya Reece. Jim Jones, his mother Nancy Jones, Somaya's manager Maurice Aguilar and Olivia's manager Rich Dollaz appeared in supporting roles. Swizz Beatz's ex-wife Mashonda would appear in a minor supporting role for three episodes. All main cast members from the previous season returned for a second season, along with new cast members Kimbella Vanderhee, the girlfriend of Juelz Santana, and Yandy Smith, Jim Jones' manager. Teairra Marí and video vixen Erica Mena appeared as supporting cast members.
The show underwent major cast changes in season three after last season's reunion special, in which all four original cast members accused their producers of manipulating storylines for drama. On September 7, 2012, VH1 announced that Chrissy Lampkin and Jim Jones would leave the show to star in their own spin-off show Chrissy & Mr. Jones, along with Emily Bustamante and Jim's mother Nancy Jones. Somaya Reece quit the show all together, while Olivia Longott's role would be diminished significantly, appearing only as a supporting cast member. Rich Dollaz and Yandy Smith were the only major cast members from the first two seasons to remain on the show, with Yandy taking over for Chrissy as the lead. Erica Mena was promoted to the main cast, along with author and former hip hop groupie Winter Ramos, who had a brief guest appearance last season. They were joined by video vixen Tahiry Jose, radio personalities Raqi Thunda and Jen the Pen and "celebrity stiletto expert" Rashidah Ali. Joe Budden, Yandy's boyfriend Mendeecees Harris, Consequence and rapper Lore'l appeared as supporting cast members, with Joe's girlfriend Kaylin Garcia appearing in a minor supporting role. Former main cast member Kimbella Vanderhee returned as a guest star for two episodes.
The cast retooling had a mixed reception from audiences with the season garnering the lowest ratings in the franchise's history at that point, and the cast was once again retooled in season four, with only Yandy, Erica Mena and Tahiry returning from last season's main cast. They were joined by Tara Wallace, girlfriend of Peter Gunz, Amina Buddafly, Erica Jean, Saigon's baby mama, and Love & Hip Hop: Atlantas K. Michelle. Peter Gunz appeared as a supporting cast member, along with stripper Nya Lee, Saigon and Erica's girlfriend Cyn Santana. Former main cast member Rashidah Ali appeared as a guest star in several episodes. The much publicised love triangle storyline involving Peter Gunz, Tara and Amina (reminiscent of the more popular Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta) lead to ratings improving significantly, with the season attracting an average of 3 million total viewers per episode.
K. Michelle left the show to star in her own spin-off K. Michelle: My Life. Saigon and Erica Jean were fired, and Tahiry and Joe quit the series while season five had begun filming. Season five saw the promotion of Cyn Santana to the main cast, along with Chrissy Monroe, girlfriend of Chink Santana. Mendeecees, who spent the previous season incarcerated, would return as a supporting cast member, along with producer Cisco Rosado, who made guest appearances in season three. Chink, Darryl Strawberry's daughter Diamond Strawberry, rapper Precious Paris and singer Jhonni Blaze would round out the supporting cast. Later in the season, Rashidah also began appearing in a supporting capacity, while Kimbella returned as a guest star for four episodes.
On July 7, 2015, shortly after her release from prison, Remy Ma announced that she was joining the show for season six, along with her husband Papoose. The cast would undergo a major cast change for the third time in the show's history, with only Yandy, Tara and Amina returning from last season's main cast. They were joined by Remy, social media personality Cardi B and up-and-coming rappers Mariahlynn and Miss Moe Money and Sexy Lexxy of the rap duo BBOD. The season's storylines focused more on the struggles of female rappers in the industry than ever before. Papoose would appear as a supporting cast member, along with radio personality DJ Self, his girlfriend Yorma Hernandez, and rapper Bianca Bonnie. Rose, a stylist who has an affair with Self, appeared in a minor supporting role. Mendeecees returned to prison during filming, and from that point, would only make appearances via phone calls for the rest of the show's run.
In season seven, Kimbella Vanderhee returned as a series regular after being absent from the show since the second season. Bianca Bonnie was promoted to the main cast, along with The Wire star Felicia "Snoop" Pearson. After a controversial storyline last season involving their duelling pregnancies, Tara and Amina were phased out of the show, appearing only as supporting cast members. One of the season's leading storylines was the violent feud between Yandy and Mendeecees' baby mamas Samantha Wallace and Erika DeShazo, as they battle for custody over Mendeecees' children. Samantha and Erika would join the supporting cast, along with Samantha's mother Kim Wallace and Mendeecees' mother Judy Harris. The season's supporting cast, the largest in the show's history so far, would also include Juelz Santana, Juju C., fiancée of Cam'ron, Snoop's girlfriend J. Adrienne, radio personality DJ Drewski and his girlfriend Sky Landish, Cardi's sister Hennessy Carolina and producer Swift Star. Singers Sofi Green and Major Galore, Rich's daughter Ashley Trowers, his girlfriend Jade Wifey and Swift's girlfriend Asia Cole appeared in minor supporting roles. Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood star Moniece Slaughter made a special crossover appearance in two episodes.
On December 30, 2016, Cardi B announced she was leaving the show to focus on her rap career. Kimbella and Juelz broke up, and subsequently quit the show while season eight had begun filming. Season eight saw the promotion of Juju to the main cast, alongside newcomers Anaís and Lil' Mo. Love & Hip Hop: Hollywoods Safaree Samuels, Karl Dargan, Navarro Gray, his girlfriend Ashley Diaz, her sister Ayisha Diaz, rapper Jaquáe, video vixen Sophia Body, Bad Girls Club star DreamDoll, rapper Brittney Taylor, singer James R., K. Michelle: My Lifes Jonathan Fernandez and singer Trent Crews would join the supporting cast. Grafh and rapper Kiyanne would also appear in supporting roles. Hennessy would return as a supporting cast member for one episode, while Peter Gunz appeared as a guest star in three episodes. After the season's poor reception, it was reported that producers were revamping the cast. Bianca and Mariahlynn confirmed on social media that this season would be their last, after a public fallout between the two girls.
After a four-year hiatus, it was announced that Cyn Santana and Joe Budden would return to the show in season nine, along with Kimbella and Juelz Santana, with rapper Maino joining the cast. On November 5, 2018, VH1 released a promo confirming that Rich Dollaz, after appearing as a supporting cast member in every season prior, had finally been promoted to main cast, along with Budden, Papoose, Juelz and Safaree. Mariahlynn, Anaís and Nya Lee would return to the show as supporting cast members, along with Maino, his girlfriend Maggie Carrie, Love & Hip Hop: Hollywoods Alexis Skyy and transgender rapper Sidney Starr.
On September 12, 2019, it was reported that several former cast members had begun filming the show for its tenth anniversary season, with Big Fish Entertainment taking over the show from Eastern TV. After a seven-year hiatus, Chrissy Lampkin and Jim Jones would return to franchise, along with Olivia Longott, Somaya Reece, Erica Mena and Tahiry Jose. Mama Jones, Cisco Rosado and Peter Gunz would return later in the season. New cast members would include rappers Jennaske, Phresher and his girlfriend Jenn Coreano. Emily Bustamante was reportedly in talks to return but ultimately did not appear.
The show never returned after the COVID-19 pandemic, instead Yandy, Mendeecees, Erica Mena and Safaree were transferred to the cast of Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta to continue their storylines.
Cast timeline
Main cast (appears in opening credits) Secondary cast (appears in green screen confessional segments and in end credits alongside the main cast) Guest cast (appears in a guest role or cameo)
Seasons 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Chrissy Lampkin colspan="2" colspan="7" Emily Bustamante colspan="2" colspan="8" Olivia Longott colspan="2" colspan="6" Somaya Reece colspan="2" colspan="5" Kimbella Vanderhee colspan="1" colspan="1" colspan="1" colspan="2" Yandy Smith-Harris colspan="1" colspan="9" Erica Mena colspan="3" colspan="2" Jen the Pen colspan="2" colspan="7" Raqi Thunda colspan="2" colspan="7" Winter Ramos colspan="7" Rashidah Ali colspan="2" colspan="2" colspan="4" Tahiry Jose colspan="2" colspan="2" colspan="3" Tara Wallace colspan="3" colspan="3" colspan="2" Erica Jean colspan="3" colspan="1" colspan="6" Amina Buddafly colspan="3" colspan="3" colspan="2" K. Michelle colspan="3" colspan="1" colspan="5" Cyn Santana colspan="3" colspan="3" colspan="2" Chrissy Monroe colspan="4" colspan="1" colspan="5" Cardi B colspan="5" colspan="2" colspan="3" Miss Moe Money colspan="5" colspan="4" Sexxy Lexxy colspan="5" colspan="4" Mariahlynn colspan="5" colspan="3" Remy Ma colspan="5" colspan="5" Bianca Bonnie colspan="5" colspan="2" colspan="2" Felicia "Snoop" Pearson colspan="6" colspan="2" colspan="2" Juju C. colspan="5" colspan="1" colspan="2" Anaís colspan="7" colspan="1" Lil' Mo colspan="7" colspan="2" Papoose colspan="5" colspan="3" colspan="2" Joe Budden colspan="2" colspan="2" colspan="4" colspan="2" Juelz Santana colspan="2" Rich Dollaz colspan="8" colspan="2" Safaree Samuels colspan="7" colspan="1" colspan="2"
Note:
Storylines