VH1 Honors Hip Hop's Dirty South

NEW YORK, June 3 /PRNewswire/ -- The 7th annual "2010 VH1 Hip Hop Honors: The Dirty South" took New York City by storm as some of the biggest names in the hip hop industry commemorated the music, the influence and artists from The South. "2010 VH1 Hip Hop Honors: The Dirty South" will premiere Monday, June 7 at 9:00 PM ET/PT*. Visit HipHop.VH1.com for additional show details, artist interviews and performance sneak peeks.

Taped at the New York City's Hammerstein Ballroom on Thursday, June 3 and hosted by Craig Robinson ("The Office" and "Last Comic Standing"), this years 2010 VH1 Hip Hop Honors: The Dirty South" is the first time the show has honored a particular geographic region for its hip hop celebration.  VH1 Hip Hop Honors celebrated the highly influential geographic region and paid tribute to southern artists Jermaine Dupri, J Prince of Rap-A-Lot Records, Luther "Luke" Campbell, The 2 Live Crew, Master P, Organized Noize and Timbaland.

The show opened with host Craig Robinson's hilarious monologue paying tribute to all that is great in the "Dirty South" and his rendition of Mike Jones' "Back Then," Lil' Wayne's "Lollipop," and Juvenile's "Back That Thang Up" with his band Craig Robinson and Nasty Delicious.

The first of the honorees, Luther "Luke" Campbell, was introduced by notorious bad boy Kid Rock and celebrated with special performances by the icon Luke himself performing "I Wanna Rock (Doo Doo Brown)," "It's Your Birthday" and "Scarred" with Trick Daddy and Pitbull.

With a hyped crowd, comedian and actor Eddie Griffin introduced honoree J Prince of Rap-A-Lot Records. Performances by Geto Boys' "Mind Playing Tricks On Me," A.K.'s "Po Pimp," Juvenile's "Nolia Clap," and "Get Throwed" by Drake and Bun B paid respect to one of the most successful southern hip-hop artists who shaped today's Houston rap scene.  

Atlanta phenomenon and honoree Jermaine Dupri was introduced by actor Jonah Hill ("Superbad" and "Get to the Greek") and honored with a performance by Dem Franchize Boyz, Buddie, Jizzal Man, Parlae, and Pimpin' singing "Oh I Think They Like Me."  The honoree himself took to the stage performing classic hits "Jump" with Bow Wow and Lil Jon and the hard hitting "Welcome To Atlanta" with Diddy and Lil Jon.

New Orleans native Master P was introduced by son Romeo and Academy Award-nominated Taraji P. Henson. The crowd went wild as staple Master P songs were performed. Gucci Mane took to the stage singing "Miss My Homies" while Romeo, Lil D, Black Don and Little Valentino performed "Im Bout It, Bout It." The tribute concluded with a performance by Silkk The Shocker and Trina performing "That's Cool" and a collaborative act of "Make Em' Say Uhh!" with Mystikal.

The tribute to one of the birthplaces of southern hip hop, Atlanta, continued with performances including; "Wasted" by Gucci Mane, "Never Scared" by Bone Crusher and "Get Low" by Lil Jon, Ying Yang Twinz, Kaine and D-Roc.  

Visionary musician and rapper, Timbaland was honored for his contributions to  the music industry and hip hop with unforgettable performances by Bun B rapping "Big Pimpin," "Make Me Better" by Fabolous, "The Way I Are" with Keri Hilson, DOE and Sebastian and "Get Your Freak On" and "Work It" by the iconic Missy Elliot with Hype Man.

Paying homage the lone star state, Kelly Rowland and Nelly introduced a melody mash-up dedicated to Texas with performances from Slim Thug rapping "Like A Boss," "Sittin' Sidewayz" by Paul Wall and "Ridin" by Chamillionaire.

As the show continued, legends The 2 Live Crew took to the stage to celebrate their achievements in the world of hip hop with hits "Me So Horny" and "Hoochie Mama." Fellow honoree, Luther "Luke" Campbell" joined The 2 Live Crew on the stage performing "Banned In The USA."

Introduced by Chilli and Laura London ("ATL"), Atlanta honoree Organized Noize was shown love with sizzling performances by Rico Wade singing "Players Ball," "Southernplayalisticadillacmusic" by Nelly and Murphy Lee and "Dirty South" by Khujo Goodie and Cool Breeze. Rounding out the tribute to the iconic Organized Noize, Sleepy Brown and Cool Breeze took to the stage and performed "So Fresh So Clean" followed by "Saturdays" by Asher Roth.

Closing out the show with an electric tribute to Miami, performances by Trina singing "Million Dollar Girl," "Low" by Flo Rida and "I'm So Hood" by Hype Man made this year's VH1 Hip Hop Honors something the crowd or honorees will never forget. The legend Rick Ross graced the stage to perform "Super High" and the evening concluded with the chart topping hit, "I Know You Want Me" by Pitbull.

2010's "VH1 Hip Hop Honors" demonstrated how The Southern style of music and its artists have been significant on the NYC-born genre and helped to expand its appeal worldwide.  

"2010 VH1 Hip Hop Honors: The Dirty South" is executive produced by Lee Rolontz for VH1 and Jac Benson for blacjac Entertainment. Directed by Louis J. Horvitz and co-executive produced by Nelson George, Fab 5 Freddy and Keshia Williams.

"2010 VH1 Hip Hop Honors" is sponsored by AT&T® and Taco Bell®

*All times ET/PT

VH1 connects viewers to the music, artists and pop culture that matter to them most with TV series, specials, live events, exclusive online content and public affairs initiatives. VH1 is available in 95 million households in the U.S. VH1 also has an array of digital channels and services including VH1Classic, VH1 Soul, VH1 Mobile and extensive video on VH1.com. Connect with VH1 at VH1.com.

About MTV Networks

MTV Networks, a division of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), is one of the world's leading creators of entertainment content, with brands that engage and connect diverse audiences across television, online, mobile, games, virtual worlds and consumer products. The company's portfolio spans more than 150 television channels and 400 digital media properties worldwide, and includes MTV, VH1, CMT, Logo, Harmonix, Nickelodeon, Nick at Nite, Nick Jr., TeenNick, AddictingGames, Shockwave, Neopets, COMEDY CENTRAL, SPIKE, TV Land, Atom, GameTrailers and Xfire.

SOURCE VH1