VH1 Bringing Back ‘Hip Hop Squares’

VH1 will debut Hip Hop Squares this fall, with Ice Cube producing. Celebrity contestants “match wits and test their pop culture knowledge with the superstar squares,” says VH1, “featuring the biggest names in hip hop, comedy and entertainment.”

Hip Hop Squares aired on MTV2 in 2012.

Ice Cube is a prominent rapper, actor, producer and filmmaker. Jesse Collins (BET Awards, Real Husbands of Hollywood) will also executive produce, and The Firm is in on the production too. CBS Distribution is on board as well.  

“Ice Cube is one of the most prolific figures in hip hop history and American culture at large,” said VH1/Logo president Chris McCarthy. “We are thrilled to partner with him and CBS Distribution to reinvent one of America's most iconic game shows.”

Its progenitor Hollywood Squares has aired on and off since 1965, featuring a tic-tac-toe board inhabited by celebrity talent and no shortage of quips from the panelists.

Hip Hop Squares is going to be fun and spontaneous; unlike typical game shows, viewers should never know what’s going to happen next,” said Ice Cube. “When VH1 asked us to join the producing team, we jumped aboard as we have had success with VH1, and we love their team, excitement and commitment to the show.”

Michael Malone

Michael Malone, senior content producer at B+C/Multichannel News, covers network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television. He hosts the podcasts Busted Pilot, about what’s new in television, and Series Business, a chat with the creator of a new program, and writes the column “The Watchman.” He joined B+C in 2005. His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Playboy and New York magazine.