Your Black World: VH1 Hip-Hop Honors: A Farce & A Scam

By: Tolu Olorunda

Staff Writer - YourBlackWorld.com

The corporate hacks at Vh1 are at it again. Yesterday, as I'm told, Vh1 aired its annual Hip-Hop ceremony, Vh1 Hip-Hop Honors. For those unaware, "Hip-Honors" is described as a yearly celebration of Hip-Hop pioneers and its many Godfathers/Godmothers. If Vh1 had its way - as it seem to do - Snoop Dogg, Eazy E, Ice Cube, Missy Elliot, Russell Simmons and the Wu Tang clan would fit that mold. It would come as a shock if Lil' Wayne is not honored next year. This annual exercise of miseducation is a farce at best. The categorization of “New Schoolers” as Hip-Hop pioneers notwithstanding, more insulting is the level of mistreatment rendered to actual Hip-Hop pioneers, at such events. In 2006, following that year’s "Honors," a group of venerated Hip-Hop scholars and historians broke their silence in calling out the bosses at Vh1 who, through the help of their subsidiaries, have conducted a whitewash of Hip-Hop history and denigrated its true inventors.

In a report published on the Hip-Hop online magazine, HipHopGame.com, DJs Jazzy Jay, Tony Tone and Disco Wiz described inexplicable instances where Vh1, in favor of granting VIP passes to the most prominent rappers at the time, treated Hip-Hop heavy weights such as Kurtis Blow and Tracy 168 like "bums and party crashers." The report furthermore noted that Vh1 had the unimpeachable gull to limit the number of guests Afrika Bambaataa (Hip-Hop's Grandfather) could invite. If this is true, as I believe it to be, it should come as no surprise that Vh1 executives have attempted to attribute the '90s to be the "Golden Age" of Hip-Hop, and ultimately, the age of its inception.

This year, the irony couldn't be starker. Whilst Vh1 was busy expressing great delight in "honoring" their distorted version of Hip-Hop's pioneers, the landmark of Hip-Hop creation, 1520 Sedgwick Avenue, was being auctioned to a real estate developer for $ 7 million. Neither Vh1 nor its uncertified group of Hip-Hop advisors displayed the most minuscule amount of regret over it.

As a true Hip-Hop pioneer once noted, "The moral of the story is that these people don't know shit."

Pepa's New Book Talks About Her Abusive Marriage

Pepa of Salt-N-Pepa has a book coming out called “Let’s Talk About Pep.” The book details her rise from poverty and her abusive relationships with a guy named “Brad” aka Treach was beating her. Check out an excerpt

"During one of their apocalyptic fights, she writes, “I had the hot iron in my hand and he had a handful of my hair. He grabbed the hand with the iron in it and was pushing [it] toward my face. … He ended up pressing that hot iron against my other arm. I heard my flesh sizzling, and the smell was sickening. I started screaming from the pain. He dropped the iron and I turned to run, and his nail swiped across my eyeball and shredded my cornea.” The incident left her with deep scars and an eye patch....The couple had another brawl at actor Omar Epps’ house, where, she says, “Brad” threw her through a glass coffee table and tried to push her down the stairs"

Pepa Speaks on Brad/aka Treach (click to Listen)

VH1 ANNOUNCES 2008 HIP HOP HONOREES

VH1 will honor Cypress Hill, De La Soul, Slick Rick, Naughty By Nature and Too $hort for their fifth annual "VH1 Hip Hop Honors," premiering Tuesday, Oct. 7 at 10 p.m. Tracy Morgan, will host the show again.

Kay Gee Revamps Divine Mill

"My passion has always been finding and developing new talent, and this new joint venture will enable me to do that and more. I am looking forward to furthering the Divine Mill brand.", Kay Gee stated in a recent interview.

Kay Gee will re-launch his record label Divine Mill under a new partnership with Merovingian Music (MRV). Divine Mill will focus on artist equity participation and a proper and controlled marketing approach.

Jaheim is one of the artist that been under Divine Mill for few years now.

Treach Detained and Questioned About Shooting

Yesterday (April 22) Treach was detained and questioned by police, after multiple shootings broke out throughout the city of Newark. Treach was stopped by the police who noticed that he had on a bullet proof vest. The stopped stemmed from more than five people being killed in a 24 hour time period.