VH1's Hip Hop Honors Show

VH1's Hip Hop Honors show recently took place, honoring various hip hop legends such as Missy Elliot, Snoop Dogg, Whodini and A Tribe Called Quest. Performers included Bow Wow, Ne Yo, T-Pain, T.I., Pharrell and the honorees themselves. At hiphop.vh1.com you get a full look at the event including bonus items such as an exclusive ringtone and hip hop fashion do's and dont's. Performers such as Timbaland, Eve, Tweet and Ciera payed homage to rap superstar Missy Misdemeanor Elliot by performing a selection of her songs. TI, Pharrell, Ice T and Daz later payed tribute to Snoop Doggy Dogg as they performed classic Snoop tracks "Deep Cover", "Nuthin But a G Thang" and "Gin & Juice". Bow Wow and Snoop performed "What's My Name" and then Pharrell came out to assist on "Drop it Like it's Hot" afterwards. Native Tongues rap group A Tribe Called Quest received respect when Busta Rhymes, Lupe Fiasco, Pharrell, and Common came on stage to perform songs such as "Bonita Applebum", "Electric Relaxation" and the classic Leaders of the New School/Tribe collab "Scenario". The grand finale of the show featured honorees A Tribe Called Quest as all 4 members rocked the stage performing classic hits, "Check the Rhime" and "Award Tour". Check out all the performances and even more about the show at hiphop.vh1.com.

Ice T - Centerstage

Gangsta Rapper turned actor, Ice-T, recently appeared on the YES Network's Centerstage. Centerstage is an interview program that talks to various local celebs and sports stars in the New York area. Why Ice T? Because of his current role on Law & Order: SVU and his show Ice T's School of Rap, also based in New York. On the interview show Ice revealed some interesting things: 1- There was talks of doing a "New Jack City 2" talk but these talks died down because Ice-T was having trouble with the whole "cop killer" track and Rolling Stone cover he made. The studio felt it wouldn't be in their best interests to use Ice-T as an undercover cop at that time. Ice T said talks resumed recently but died down due to Wesley Snipes' legal troubles. 2-Ice T explained how he had to buy his own website, "ICET.COM" from a global defense company for alot of money. 3-Ice discussed the latest album cover where he poses nude on a bed with his wife Coco. Ice says he wakes up like that daily and wanted to show people "this is life". 4-Ice also discussed how he managed to get into the current role on SVU and loves playing the gritty street style cop he does. He says to come from where he has and now be in this role is a blessing. 5-Ice also said "hip hop is tough to do". He said he could teach the host to rap a little bit but he wouldn't be too good. Ice included that he feels the problem with inner city gang violence could be stopped easier than the problems with the Middle East. He said it just takes billions of dollars invested to do so. Ice-T participated in the shows final segment "Hit N Run" where the host fired rapid questions at Ice to find out his likes and interests: Favorite Musician: James Brown Favorite Movie: Reservoir Dogs Favorite Actor: Harvey Keitel Favorite Car: 64 Chevy 2 Things he'd bring to a desert island: his wife Coco and grape Kool Aid

Top 5 Rapper Turned Actors?

Seeing that Will Smith has a new movie coming out, "The Pursuit of Happyness", it's a good time to examine some rapper turned actor roles floating around... 1)Will Smith as Ali - Top actor easily, he was even nominated for the best actor grammy award, showing that Smith has great acting range. He's done other successful roles including "Men in Black" (1 and 2), "Independence Day" and "I, Robot". He got his start as himself on the hit TV show "Fresh Prince of Bel Air", which still airs on reruns on TV Land now and is still one of the funnier sitcoms around. 2)Ludacris in "Hustle N Flow" & "Crash" - Ludacris is showing that he can be a very promising actor. His performances in the aforementioned movies were both solid. He hasn't had many roles above the gangsta, hustler or criminal type character yet, so we aren't too sure what he's got. He also hosted SNL recently. Despite the show's recent downhill sketches, Luda held his own. 3)Ice T as Detective Tutuolo on Law and Order: SVU - Ice plays a rather straight role here; the tough-guy detective with street sense. He doesnt really show a ton of dynamic range, but he's been successful for many seasons now in this role and hasn't been "kicked off", so he can't be all that bad. Many love Ice as the hard-nosed street style cop in "New Jack City" as well. Ice has been mostly doing episodes of SVU lately, aside from his "reality project" on VH1. 4)2PAC - Would probably be up at the 2 spot if his life hadn't been cut so short. He's been in great roles in Poetic Justice, Above the Rim, Grid Lock'd and several others. RIP to a true legend in rap and entertainment. 5)Ice Cube & Eminem - tie - Cube hasn't exactly had a hugely successful role yet. "XXX" was a letdown in terms of cheesy, unbelievable special efx and the overall plot and revenue made. "Are We There Yet?" I have not seen and don't plan to, so I won't comment. Cube was in the hugely successful movie "Barbershop" so he does show promise as an actor, so keep an eye out for better roles in the future. Slim Shady received rave reviews off this performance, his only one so far. It should be interesting to see if he gives more in the future, or if this was his "1 shot". I wouldn't be surprised to see him doing more acting and even directing/producing in the future. So can Will Smith turns in another solid performance in his latest film, opening, December 15, 2006 in theaters. He is also the most mainstream rapper of the list (in terms of household name/popularity, etc), but to leave him out of a valid discussion of the roots of hip-hop and especially its comedic side would be to ignore one part of hip-hop completely.

Ice-T on CBS' Late Late Show

Ice-T made an appearance/performance on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson on CBS last night. He discussed how he came into rap music, his reality show on VH1 and the state of what hip hop is. Ice T made some interesting comments about hip-hop, especially when he said you need to rap about things you're about, where you're from, your life experiences and not fake things. Ferguson added that theres alot of white kids from the suburbs who have paper routes, trying to rap about violence and gangsta life. Ice T said people need to avoid that. Ice performed a track from his new album, in stores now, "Gangsta Rap".