Ne-Yo, Nelly Furtado and Common were among the performers gracing the Hammerstein Ballroom stage last night (Oct. 5) in New York as part of VH1's fourth Hip-Honors. This year's honorees were Missy Elliott, Whodini, Snoop Dogg and A Tribe Called Quest, and there were also special tributes to the New Jack Swing movement and the film "wild Style."
Actress Kerry Washington introduced the first video montage and performance of the night, an assortment of some of Missy Elliot's popular tracks performed by some of her former collaborators. Tweet and Timbaland performed "Rain (Supa-Duba Fly)" first, followed by Eve and Keyshia Cole on "Hot Boys and "Work It." Furtado continued with "Get Your Freak On," while Fat Man Scoop and Ciara wrapped the set with "Lose Control." Elliott was the only honoree in attendance that didn't perform.
Diddy appropriately introduced the next video in commemoration of New Jack Swing, giving credit to music mogul Andre Harrell and singer/producer Teddy Riley for starting the musical movement (Diddy interned for Harrell at Uptown Records before starting his own label). First up on stage was Doug E. Fresh, who did his traditional beat-boxing before bringing up the first performer, T-Pain.
The latter covered Keith Sweat's "I Wanna," followed by Ne-Yo, who crooned through Guy's "I Like," and Cole, who sang the Riley-produced Michael Jackson hit "Remember the Time." The segment was capped off when Riley and former Black Street member Chauncey Black briefly performed "No Diggity" and "Rump Shaker."
In tribute to "Wild Style," DJ Grand Theodore, Busy Bee, KRS-One and Grand Master Kass performed some of their hits, while Nick Cannon, Nelly and Jermaine Dupri offered up renditions of tracks by fellow honoree Whodini.
The group's Ecstasy, Grand Master Dee and Jalil Hutchens finally took the stage for "The Freaks Come Out At Night," with Cannon, Nelly and Dupri engaging in some old-school dancing.
The Snoop salute began with T.I. and B.G on "187," followed by Pharrell and Daz Dillinger on "Nuthin' But a G Thang" and Ice T on "Gin N' Juice." Snoop capped the set with "Drop It Like It's Hot," joined by Pharrell, Bow Wow, Ice T and Dillinger.
But the night's highlight was the Tribe Called Quest segment, which began with Common on "Bonita Applebaum." Pharrell and Lupe Fiasco then ran through "Electric Relaxation," followed by long-time Tribe associate Busta Rhymes and Spliff Star tackling "Scenario." Tribe itself closed the evening with "Award Tour" with assistance from Fiasco, Rhymes, Common and Pharrell.