Last night you got to see all the show-stopping, floor-shaking Hip Hop Honors performances we’ve been talking about. (If you missed it, check the show out here.) So far, we’ve filled you in on the after-party, but check out the up close and personal shots we got of your favorite stars on the red carpet. From Kid Rock to Flavor Flav, see who walked the walk at Hip Hop Honors.
Hip Hop Honors airs tonight at 10 p.m., and you’re not the only one who’s psyched. Naughty By Nature are so thrilled to be in the middle of the whole thing, they even wrote a song about it — which they’re offering to everyone for free! The song, appropriately titled “Hip Hop Honors,” is the only rap track we know that calls out Obama, chupacabras and direct marketing. And given the ridiculous performance the group gave at last week’s taping, we’re psyched for this track, and their forthcoming material.
Download the MP3 here, and be sure to check out tonight’s show!
Hip Hop Honors taped this past Thursday night, and the high-energy show went off without a hitch, which may have had something to do with the rehearsals that took over Hammerstein Ballroom all last week. The stage was a veritable revolving door of talent, with Scarface passing the mic to Kid Rock during the Too $hort segment, and De La Soul fans like Mos Def and Q-Tip hanging around just to practice their rhymes. The morning of the taping, Bun B, Kid Rock, Scarface, Lil Jon and the Top Dog himself, Too $hort, got together to go through their set one last time.
Read what Big Boi has to say about his first encounter with Too $horts “Freaky Tales.”
The place to be after the taping of this year’s Hip Hop Honors show was the VH1 Save The Music after-party at Opera. A-list guests like honoree Too $hort munched on mini-burgers and pasta while the DJ spun, of course, hip-hop. Past honoree MC Lyte gave a surprise performance while the packed house of HHH honorees and attendees like Kid Rock and Michael Rapaport cheered her on. Upstairs in the exclusive VIP area, A Tribe Called Quest’s Q-Tip spun tunes from the DJ booth inside a private roped-off area while photographers snapped away and Kid Rock kicked back after his HHH performance.
Later in the evening, the party continued at downtown hotspot 1 OAK, where HHH performer Eve held court at a private table near the DJ booth. Eve chatted up professional boxer Zab Judah, who arrived with an entourage of five. The singer, who gave a memorable performance at the HHH taping singing about Slick Rick’s slice of pizza in his hit “Mona Lisa,” hung out sipping cocktails until about 3 a.m. Don’t miss Hip Hop Honors when it airs Monday night at 10 p.m. As Eve told the VH1 Blog, “The show was outta control.” [Getty Images]
Last night’s Hip Hop Honors show was insane — from the famous people lovefest on the red carpet to the floor-shaking renditions of some of the greatest songs in hip-hop. One of the most touching moments of the evening was when Cee-Lo, Estelle, Mos Def, Chuck D, Scarface and the Roots performed a heartfelt medley of the late, great Isaac Hayes‘ songs. But while it was nothing but love and respect last night, the Roots’ ?uestlove remembered some very different feelings about Hayes at this week’s rehearsals. Check out the clip above to see why, and tune in on Monday, October 6th at 10 p.m. to watch the show.
Last night was the taping of Hip Hop Honors, our massive tribute to the hip-hop heavyweights we’ve loved for so long. One of our favorites, De La Soul, chatted with us during rehearsals on Wednesday about what they thought was in store for them when they first formed over twenty years ago.
Tune in on Monday, October 6th at 10 p.m. to see De La and the other honorees bring down the house.
Tonight’s the big Hip Hop Honors show, and we’ve been checking out rehearsals of all the honorees. We noticed a little something during De La Soul‘s run through. While singing “Me, Myself And I” the group diverted from the standard lyrics — instead of the usual “Or is it just my De La song?” they switched it to “Or is it ’cause we hate this song.” We caught up with the group to find out what prompted the switch.
Check out the show when it airs on Monday, October 6th at 10 p.m.
In the second part of our interview with Public Enemy‘s Chuck D and Flavor Flav, we asked how the political pair are enjoying the election season. Chuck gives us his take on the current state of affairs, while Flav talks Sarah Palin, who wouldn’t have had much luck on Flavor of Love (because you know she wanted to try out, if only she was able to pull herself away from staring at Russia).
Watch Hip Hop Honors 2008 on VH1 on Monday, October 6, 10 pm ET.
A lot of the backstage interviews we’ve been posting from 2008 Hip Hop Honors rehearsals have been cut from short blasts of interviews as we caught performers and presenters walking around. With Scarface, however, we were able to just let the camera roll, and save one cut, we’re presenting the footage of him in its entirety because he’s a total trip that needs to be experienced with as few edits as possible. In the video above, Scarface talks about his mind still playing tricks on him, Isaac Hayes (whose tribute segment Scarface is taking part in), South Park and he even serenades us with a bit of Hayes’ version of “Walk on By.” This man is magical.
Watch Hip Hop Honors 2008 on VH1 on Monday, October 6, 10 pm ET.
Since this year marks the fifth annual Hip Hop Honors, it also marks the fifth time straight that legendary duo EPMD hasn’t been honored. Above, Erick Sermon and Parrish Smith plea their case and ask for your help in getting them on next year’s short list (but please don’t really picket — it could get messy).
Watch Hip Hop Honors 2008 on VH1 on Monday, October 6, 10 pm ET.
