Honoring hip-hop's pioneers with fun and flash

NEW YORK — While rappers have been back-patting themselves for years, it's been a less-than-organized effort. Shout-outs on mix tapes can't really replace an institutionally organized event to celebrate the art form. That's where VH1 comes in.

For three years, the cable channel has been putting on "VH1 Hip Hop Honors," a show that delivers hosannas for hip-hop. The basic set-up is this: A bunch of greats from the hip-hop pantheon are picked to be honored. There's a big performance. Other people do covers of these performers' songs. The artist comes out. The stage fills with a mixture of performers present and past. It's innovative. And fun. And totally positive.

This year, the honorees include the Beastie Boys, Ice Cube, Wu-Tang Clan, MC Lyte, Afrika Bambaataa, Rakim, Eazy-E and Russell Simmons. Here's a preview of what you can expect to see when this year's show airs for the first time at 9 tonight.

WHAT WORKS

The best thing about this show is that it has other artists cover the honorees' work. The show crackled when it found the right pairing of contemporary artists with old-school hits. Perhaps the best casting: Lil Jon delivering ODB's classic line "I drop rhymes like girls be droppin' babies ... "

Meanwhile, Diddy, Fabolous and Q-Tip donned track suits to knock out early Beastie Boys. Having three of the smoothest characters in rap deliver early hits by the nerd-rap godfathers was silly great.

WHAT DOESN'T

The show needs to find a better way to honor nonperformers. The tribute to hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons was built around a flaccid, boo-inducing roast from a Def Comedy Jam veteran and a recital by a Def Poetry Jam poet.

Neither Def show represents Simmons' key contribution to hip-hop — founding Def Jam recordings — or his most visible current enterprise, Phat Farm clothing. It seemed hastily thrown together among the live rap performances. A shame considering his contribution to the game.

HIP-HOP ROCKS

VH1 does a similar show for rock, but it's not nearly as good as this one. Why? Because hip-hop does not have its own hall of fame, and with no inductees so far into the established Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the rap game has lacked a prominent way of memorializing its pioneers. VH1 stepped into that void.

Hip-hop longevity is almost an oxymoron. Compared to other American music, the genre is still young, and hip-hoppers tend not to age well. Their messages of virility, gangsterness and promiscuity often seem silly with age.

On the other hand, rock gods keep on going. And going. And going. And snooooooooze.

VH1 brings back prominent rappers who have been out of the spotlight (and our minds) for a while. Last year, Big Daddy Kane came out of hiding to blow the house down. This year MC Lyte poked her head out again to remind us how mighty she is on the mike.

THE ART OF THE SHOW

You have to give VH1 props for really paying attention to the details. They could easily get by on the star power that fuels the proceedings, but instead they invest in the aesthetics.

Last year they hired artist Kehinde Wiley to create classically styled portraits of the honorees. This year they asked honorees to choose a location that most represented them and had photographer Michael Wong superimpose their images over the locations. So we saw the Wu-Tang Clan in front of Staten Island projects, Ice Cube with the Los Angeles skyline and the Beastie Boys in front of the World's Fair Unisphere in Queens, New York.

THAT'S DA' BOMBASTIC

Most awards shows have their share of hyperbole. Put that culture together with the already bombastic landscape of hip-hop and ... watch out. MC Lyte declares herself the best female MC ever. Common calls Rakim: "The greatest lyricist of all time." Someone else claims that "rock and jazz and blues never gave as much as hip-hop to their communities." Easy-E is tagged the godfather of gangsta rap. And so on.

HATERADE FOR THE OLD SCHOOL

One of the first things host Ice-T says: "This ain't no old-school show." However, he does make clear that he is an OG or Original Gangsta. When the Wu-Tang Clan hits the stage, Method Man wears a T-shirt that reads: "I'm not ol' skool."

So even though the whole purpose of this show is to celebrate the influencers of hip-hop, no one wants to hold that claim.

THINK WE NEED A DICTIONARY?

Every performer seemed to want to define hip-hop from the stage. There were multiple definitions offered of what hip-hop is, but they're all the same. Yes, we get it: Hip-hop is "the culture." "A way of life." "The way we live."

Guys, give us a break — do you think rockers feel the need to define what the term "rock 'n' roll" is every second? Stop: It makes you look insecure.