Last night’s Hip Hop Honors show on VH1 was a bit of a disappointment. The show lacked the spirit and energy the ’05 version brought, but I guess it’s difficult to imagine the likes of the Wu-Tang Clan, Ice Cube (the rapper), or Rakim having fun in any way, anywhere. I missed the first half-hour (MJ and her Dancing with the Stars), so maybe I’ll connect better with the Beastie Boys and MC Lyte DVR’d performances.

Plus, the guests seemed only willing to commit to reading a few lines off of a teleprompter rather than perfoming. Except Black Thought from The Roots… the show was basically a Black Thought cover concert. If the Roots are never officially Hip Hop Honored by VH1, they’ll at least get a Contributor ribbon.

Another strange thing was the way VH1 edited out words like “drugs,” “crack,” “guns,” and “gat” from the performances. This was during the 10:00 hour on a cable channel! Not to mention there’s no way those words should ever be censored. And considering the content presented on network TV every day of the week at any hour, I’m pretty sure I’d have to Bring Da Ruckus were I the leader of some sort of coalition. Shame On a VH1. On the plus-side, this might eliminate 50 Cent from Honoree consideration since the majority of his songs are actually titled "Drugs, Crack, Guns, Gat."

I may have learned something though from presenter KRS-One (naturally). I never really thought about it, but he pronounced Rap to be an acronym for Rhythm And Poetry. Of course he also once said “…the Blastmaster KRS-One, short for poet,” which is makes no sense. So I wonder, has this common term truly originated from an acronym? Or is this an acronym like “DMC stands for devastating mic control” or “MC means move the crowd”? Curious.

Anyway, here’s your Hip Hop Honors ’06/Blah, Blah, Blog Official Mix (and I do mean) Tape:

Side A

1. Eric B. Is President – Eric B. and Rakim
2. Cha, Cha, Cha – MC Lyte
3. Paul Revere – Beastie Boys
4. Planet Rock – Afrika Bambaataa

Side B

1. Boyz in the Hood – Eazy-E
2. It Was a Good Day – Ice Cube
   
3. C.R.E.A.M. – Wu-Tang Clan
   
4. Rock Box – Run D.M.C.

Labels: music, tv