VH1 Hip hop Honors awards

VH1 brought down the house tonight at the 5th annual "VH1 Hip Hop Honors" as the best of the best in hip hop royalty came together for one legendary night to honor the ones who came before them and transformed the genre into a true cultural phenomenon.

Taped at the Hammerstein Ballroom this evening (Thursday, October 2) in New York City and hosted by Tracy Morgan, the music and influence of each of the honorees was recognized through performances by classic artists in collaboration with today's hottest new talent. This year, "VH1 Hip Hop Honors" paid tribute to Cypress Hill, De La Soul, Naughty By Nature, Slick Rick and Too $hort.



The Cypress Hill tribute kicked off the night with an introduction by Freddy Rodriguez. Fat Joe, Jim Jones and Gym Class Heroes drove the crowd insane with the group's hit songs "The Phuncky Feel One," "I Ain't Goin' Out Like That," and "Insane In the Membrane." Cypress Hill lit up the stage with performances of "DJ Scratch Intro," "How I Could Just Kill A Man," and "(Rock) Superstar."



Actress Joy Bryant introduced the second tribute of the night, honorees De La Soul, who took it way back with performances from Estelle, Mos Def, Chuck D, Flavor Flav, Cee-Lo and EPMD. They tore the roof off with the group's biggest hits, "A Roller Skating Jam Named 'Saturdays,'" "Stakes Is High," "Potholes In My Lawn," and "Ego Trippin.'" Topping off the performance, De La Soul broke it down true old school style reminding the crowd that they can still get down, breaking out in a medley of old school rhymes from "Me, Myself and I" to a remix of "Buddy!"



The show continued on a "slick" note with hits that defined Slick Rick's solo career. Legendary rapper MC Lyte kicked off the tribute with "The Ruler's Back." The crowd went crazy when Busta Rhymes and Spliff Star took the stage performing the "The Show" which brought everyone to their feet. They led into a true hip hop medley with the legendary Biz Markie and Ghostface Killah singing "La Di Da Di." Finally Eve took the stage with her rendition of the eclectic hip hop chart topper "Mona Lisa." Slick Rick then took to the stage performing "Hey Young World" and "Children's Story."



Next, in honor of R&B legend Isaac Hayes, a medley of artists took the stage to salute the icon. Mos Def took the stage first, outfitted in dark shades, setting it off with the hit theme song from "Shaft." Next British sweetheart Estelle performed a remix of "I Love You," and Cee-Lo kept the crowd grooving with "The Look of Love." Next on stage, Scarface dazzled the crowd with "My Mind Is Playing Tricks On Me." Closing out this special tribute was Chuck D with "Black Steel In The Hour of Chaos."



Hip hop entrepreneur and producer Luke Campbell took the stage to introduce Too $hort. Luke talked about how he set the stage and paved the way for Too $hort to become the artist he is today. Also paying homage to Too $hort, Kid Rock gave a thrilling performance of "Life Is Too Short." Lil John got low with "Shake That Monkey" followed by a duet with Bun B of the electric "Blow the Whistle." After an intro performance of "The Ghetto" by Scarface, Too $hort got the crowd on their feet with "Gettin' It" and "Money In The Ghetto."



Bringing the show to an unforgettable end, Wyclef Jean, Juelz Santana and Big Boi ripped the stage with the all-time favorites, "No Woman No Cry," "Everything's Gonna Be All Right," and the monster hit "O.P.P." Naughty By Nature closed the show as only they could do, performing "Uptown Anthem" and "Hip Hop Hooray