VH1 Hip Hop Honors

"VH1 Hip Hop Honors" first aired on October 12, 2004; it was hosted by MC Lyte and actress Vivica Fox. Since then, the show has become an annual event hosted by some of the most influential names in hip hop including Rev Run and Ice-T. Comedian Tracy Morgan has hosted the show the most times; he was the host for three consecutive years: 2007, 2008, and 2009.

The show has been filmed at New York's Hammerstein Ballroom since its 2004 debut. The most recent installment of "VH1 Hip Hop Honors" aired on June 7, 2010. Craig Robinson was the host. Robinson is the star of Hot Tub Time Machine. He is currently hosting Last Comic Standing on NBC.

Called "VH1 Hip Hop Honors: The Dirty South," this year's tribute honored artists from the South and featured performances by Lil Jon, Missy Elliot, The Ying Yang Twins, and Paul Wall (among many others). Honored at this year's awards were 2 Live Crew, J. Prince, Jermaine Dupri, Luther Campbell, Master P, Organized Noise, and Timbaland.

Master P at the "VH1 Hip Hop Honors: Dirty South" event:"There's no such thing as too much music. We accomplished something that nobody did, to be able to sell 75 million records independently and to be honored for hip-hop is a blessing and lets you know we been dong the right thing." http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1640999/20100607/drake.jhtml

Chuck D, in an interview with All Hip Hop in 2010:"There were artists that were left out. There were people that should’ve performed more. There were people that helped build that company and weren’t even invited." http://allhiphop.com/stories/features/archive/2009/11/19/22036621.aspx

From "The Fall of Hip Hop Music":

"Today, we see events like the annual Hip Hop Honors, which decided to commemorate The Dirty South for their “dominance” in rap music over the last decade, a dominance measured by sales, not talent, and is clearly a result of the over-exposure that comes from squeezing a successful product for everything it's worth." http://www2.seattlepi.com/articles/421716.html