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STILL LOVING H.E.R.: The 2006 VH1 Hip Hop Honors

By: Richard Cruz

October 10, 2006

Despite the widespread speculation that New York has lost its place within contemporary hip hop, the VH1 Hip Hop Honors awards ceremony serves as an annual reminder to young and old that the Big Apple is where it started, and that’s where it’ll end.

Stars of both today and yesteryear gathered at Manhattan’s Hammerstein Ballroom on Saturday, October 7 to celebrate hip hop culture, yes, but to more importantly pay homage to the individuals who helped transcend a sound birthed out of poverty into the spokesperson of popular culture worldwide that it is today.

The beginning of the night provided a highly spirited prelude to what would prove to be an equally electric night: the red carpet scene’s backdrop transformed West 34th Street into a Bronx train station as hip-hop icons, heroes, and pioneers embraced the scene as if they hadn’t lost a step. Fans outside were ablaze with sentiment as they watched such notables as George Clinton, Boosy Collins, The Fearless Four, Salt-N-Pepa, Marley Marl, Grandmaster Caz, and Ralph McDaniels make their way inside the venue.

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This year’s honorees were Afrika Bambaataa, the Beastie Boys, MC Lyte, Rakim, Eazy E, Ice Cube, Russell Simmons, and the Wu-Tang Clan.

Defining moments from the show included a spirited performance honoring hip hop’s first dominant female artist, MC Lyte, by her adherents Lil’ Kim, Remy Ma, and Da Brat. The trio, appropriately clad in 80s garb (Kim’s Sergio Tacchini tracksuit and rope chain complete with Mercedes-Benz medallion drew many “ohhh sh*t’s” from the crowd), performed a barrage of Lyte’s hits, including her no-holds-barred classic “10% Dis”.

The paeans to hip hop’s past ensued throughout a night saturated with timeless performances: a Gucci tracksuit-wearing Talib Kweli (yes, you read “Gucci” and “Kweli” in the same sentence) with an equally-fresh Black Thought (from The Roots) appeared on stage performing songs from iconic Queens MC Rakim, who rapper Common described as “the best MC to ever touch a microphone”. Rakim then joined the festivities and subsequently performed his hits in front of the boisterous crowd.

As we all know, no celebration in hip hop is complete without the presence of Diddy, and the Hip Hop Honors are no different. The Bad Boy general linked up with Fabolous and Q-Tip as the trio got their “Beastie Boys” on, which led to a raucous performance by the actual group responsible for classics “Paul Revere” and “So What’cha Want” (which they performed).

Other noteworthy moments included an Eazy-E tribute performed by Lil’ Eazy-E (his son), Young Jeezy, and Bone Thugs-N-Harmony and the Wu-Tang Clan (sans ODB - RIP - and Ghostface Killah) representing in unison like it was 1993 once again.

After a long night, the air was abuzz with afterparty talk as those in attendance whisked away to engulf the New York City nightlife as they had done in their prime. And for one night, despite the drought rap music is currently undergoing, hip hop culture provided balance as well as hope for the future.