Soul Fixin'

Paying Homage To Black Moses

VH1 decided to not only honor Cypress Hill, De La Soul, Naughty By Nature, Slick Rick & Too $hort, the network also paid homage to a man who created music that directly influenced hip hop and Southern rap in particular, at the Annual Hip Hop Honors show. Chuck D, Mos Def, Cee Lo, Scarface, and Estelle all took part in the musical tribute, performing songs that sampled the everlasting music of Black Moses. Scarface took to the stage at NYC's Hammerstein Ballroom and kicked his verse from the Geto Boys 'Mind Playing Tricks On Me,' which sampled Hayes' 'Hung Up On My Baby,' Chuck D concluded the tribute with 'Black Steel In the Hour of Chaos,' which samples 'Hyperbolicsyllabicsesquedalymistic.' The show, hosted by Tracey Morgan, airs tonight at 10, following the finale of I Want To Work For Diddy. You'd be a fool to miss it.

Soul Fixin'

VH1 Crowns 'Fight The Power' # 1
VH1 wrapped up its' countdown of the '100 Greatest Hip Hop Songs' Friday night. Public Enemy's militant anthem 'Fight The Power' proudly claimed the number one spot. If you were able to catch all five episodes of the countdown, I'm sure you were proud to see that many of hip hop's pioneers have not fallen by the wayside and are doing quite well. Wasn't it surprising to hear that Roxanne Shante is now Dr. Roxanne Shante? Yes, Roxanne Shante is a psychologist, with her own practice in Queens, NY. I'm sure no one was shocked to see that Biz Markie is still silly as hell.  I'm sure we were all quite satisfied with the Top 10, but I'm sure we were all surprised with some of the other songs that made the list. My side eye was in full time jack mode at times. While Lil John & The Eastside Boyz club banger 'Get Low' sounded great in the club, is it really worthy of being on the list?. What the hell was VH1 thinking when they included Camron's 'Oh Boy,' L'Trimm's  'Cars With The Boom, 'and Three 6 Mafia's 'Hard Out Here For A Pimp' on the list. Are these people serious? Tupac made an appearance on the list, 'I Get Around' ranked in at #14. Am I the only person that knows that 'Brenda's Got A Baby,' 'Dear Mama,' and 'Keep Your Head', to name a few, are far greater than 'I Get Around.' Kanye's 'Gold Digger', Missy's 'Get Ur Freak On' and 50's 'In Da Club' were all in the Top 20. WTF?? Did the girls from Rock of Love have a hand in making this list? When it was all said and done, I stared at television in disbelief when I realized that Southern rap music pioneer and every rappers' favorite rapper, Scarface, was absent from the list. I give VH1 credit for including 'Mind Playing Tricks On Me' but my hip hop side eye was in full effect. VH1 owes 'Face an apology and his own reality show. Hopefully, my side eye won't rear its ugly head tonight while watching VH1's Annual Hip Hop Honors show.

Soul Fixin'

VH1 Honors Hip Hop

While many were glued to their televisions hoping to see Sarah Palin make a fool out of herself, hip hop was honored last night in its' hometown. VH1 took over the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City with the taping of its' Annual Hip Hop Honors show, a celebration of artists who helped make hip-hop a global phenomenon. New York's very own Tracy Morgan hosted the festivities, in which Cypress Hill, De La Soul, Naughty By Nature, Slick Rick, and Too $hort were honored. Kid Rock, Ghostface Killah, Biz Markie, Eve, Big Boi and others came out to pay homage. The telecast airs Monday night at 10. Be sure to watch it. Head over to the VH1 Hip Hop Honors site to peep flicks of the red carpet arrivals, the show, and the after party.

Soul Fixin'

Hip Hop Honors

The least known channel for hip hop is saluting rap legends Cypress Hill, De La Soul, Slick Rick, Naughty By Nature and Too $hort at the fifth annual VH1 Hip Hop Honors hosted by funny man Tracy Morgan. The musicial celebration airs on VH1 October 7 at 10pm, "generations of hip hop will bridge the gap for one exceptional night to set it off with the original style and flavor that sparked a revolution and continues to fuel an evolution around the world."