Hip Hop pays homage to its most influential stars

The stars were out in New York City on Thursday (September 22nd) as hip hop's biggest stars turned out to pay homage to some its most influential pioneers at VH1's second annual Hip Hop Honors show. The show was taped on Thursday and will air on VH1 on Monday, September 26th, at 9:00pm ET.

This year's show was hosted by Russell Simmons and Reverend Run and featured tributes to the late Notorious B.I.G., Big Daddy Kane, Salt-N-Pepa, LL Cool J, Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five, Ice-T, and the 1991 film Boyz N The Hood.


Snoop Dogg paid homage to fellow West Coast icon Ice-T. Snoop was joined by Ice-T for a rendition of the classic, "Colors."

Nelly and Ciara showed their love for LL Cool J by performing his hit, "Doin It."

Salt-N-Pepa, who hadn't performed together in six years, were joined by En Vogue for their first ever performance of their Number One platinum collaboration "Whatta Man."

Grand Master Flash & the Furious Five showcased the art of deejaying with guest appearance by Biz Markie and Jazzy Jeff. Fat Joe also hit the stage in support of his fellow Bronx legends.

Big Daddy Kane definitely proved that he still has a lot left in the tank. After Black Thought, T.I., and a break dancing Common paid homage to the hip-hop vet, he took the stage for the one of the evening's best performances as he was still able to perform his intricate dance steps with the help of his original dancer Big Scoob.

Kanye West performed his hit, "Golddiger," before returning for the show's finale which was a tribute to the late Notorious B.I.G. by Faith Evans, Ludacris, Lil' Cease, and DJ Enuff. Diddy and the late rapper's mother, Voletta Wallace, were on hand for the festivities as were B.I.G.'s two children.

THE SCENE BACKSTAGE:
LL Cool J on being honored by Nelly and Ciara:"I'm very thankful and appreciative and all I can say is, 'Wow.' So to see Nelly and Ciara out there performing my music and serenading me with my own music, I mean come on man. I mean you know can you imagine, you know, being in your basement and rapping and then one day twenty years later you have superstar artists singing your music to you. It's crazy. I'm thankful."

Voletta Wallace on her son the late Notorious B.I.G.: "All I can say is he paved the way for many. He was honest in his lyrics. He told beautiful stories and I don't know if any followed him. But I knew they loved him, they loved his music and I'm sure that's why he was so loved."

Common on break dancing during Big Daddy Kane tribute: "With the break dancing you know it's something I love to do. That's how I got into hip-hop really so I still do it. My mother just called me the other day like, 'You need to stop break dancing. You getting too old for that.' I'm like, 'Nah man I still got it, you dig?' That's why I did it man. I loved doing it."

The show's producer Fab 5 Freddy explained the mission behind the show: "I mean I was fortunate enough to have been exposed to and came up around artists that were true leaders. That's what this show is a reflection of. It's kind of putting people up there that curved out these roads that many artists follow. That's the mission and the important thing about what we do in Hip Honors."