Understanding The HipHop Honors: The Remix.

As we slowly near the end of 2008, I still to this day find myself enjoying yet pondering the oddball selection process for VH1's HipHop Honors. I can imagine and also envision the endless meetings behind the scenes with so-called hiphop purists only to be overruled by the boss, and then head straight to the water cooler for corporate backstabbing. You have to understand that everyone thinks that they are a HipHop authority. Even the honorees in my eyes cannot keep a straight face when someone like Lupe Fiasco or Juelz Santana have no problem performing but cannot recite the words of classic material. It's sort of a double edged sword because don't you think if you are an artist (take Juelz for example) who can take the time out to show the world you wasn't robbed in London to at least practice the performance somewhere in a remote location. For the new jacks reading this, take note of HipHop business. Shows like this are planned exactly one year in advance not counting DVD. They will accept the check but won't understand the balances. Of course, we as a culture cannot be upset that someone even thought about putting a quality show on the air, but I'm really starting to believe this is all about availability. It's agreed this topic is an old issue but personally it weighs heavy on my heart whenever the show airs because I want to have a legitimate reason to be late for work the next day. Look at me, I'm still thinking about it.

However, I still feel guilty that so many acts of the past of relevance didn't get their just due yet. Lets take a look at the schematic and review the inconsistencies and its reasoning:

1st VH1 Hip Hop Honors Honorees (2004)

DJ Hollywood
Kool Herc
KRS-One (You Must Honor DJ Red Alert who broke the record)
Public Enemy (Stestasonic Should Of Been A Better Choice, First HipHop Band)
Run-DMC
Rock Steady Crew
Sugarhill Gang
2Pac (The Deceased Factor)
The Graffiti Movement

2nd VH1 Hip Hop Honors Honorees (2005)

Big Daddy Kane (You Must Honor DJ Marley Marl who broke this artist)
Boyz n the Hood (Before WildStyle, Not A Good Look)
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five (Should Of Been In The First Show)
Ice-T (Before Schooly D??)
LL Cool J (Before T-La Rock?)
The Notorious B.I.G. (The Deceased Factor)
Salt N Pepa (Before Sequence-Angie Stone is probably having an Asthma attack somewhere?)

3rd VH1 Hip Hop Honors Honorees (2006)
Afrika Bambaataa
Beastie Boys (I'm assuming Third Bass Should Be Noted)
Eazy E (The Deceased Factor-Ice Cube Wrote Everything)
Ice Cube
MC Lyte
Rakim
Russell Simmons
Wu-Tang Clan (One of the best Groups Of All Time)

Please note: The line up was crazy but the show was sloppy.

4th VH1 Hip Hop Honors Honorees (2007)

A Tribe Called Quest
Missy Elliott (Are you serious??)
Snoop Dogg (Before Dr. Dre??)
Whodini (Before Doctor Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde?)
Teddy Riley and Andre Harrell for New Jack Swing
Wild Style

5th Annual Hip Hop Honors Honorees (2008)

Cypress Hill
De La Soul
Naughty By Nature
Slick Rick
Too Short
Issac Hayes

6th Annual HipHop Honors Honoree Wish List (2009)

Big Pun
Leaders Of The New School
The Pharcyde or Heiroglyphics
Third Bass
Dougie Fresh
The Ghetto Boys
J Dilla

I would love to hear some of your Honorees based on availability.