VH1 Hip-Hop Honors salutes Mariah Carey, Martin Lawrence, more

Add caption

Hip Hop Honors returns this year to celebrate the golden era of hip-hop with The 90’s Game Changers. 

Hosted by Regina Hall, the special ’90s-style block party will look at chart-topping albums, moments from TV & Film and the creative elevation of music videos.   

Hall proved to be the ultimate host and appeared in a number of 90s looks that everyone remembers and may even be embarrassed to admit they owned. In a comedic moment, Lamorne Morris, Affion Crocket, and Hall each took a turn interrupting Tischina Arnold as she presented Martin Lawrence with his award, dressed as characters from his famous television show “Martin.”

Missy Elliot kicked off the show in style emerging from a water tank in a black trench coat performing 90’s hit “She’s a Bitch,” surrounded by dancers and parkour performers. The performance is one that will be talked about for years to come. 

DJ Khaled’s son, Asahd Khaled, stole the show when he took the stage with his father to honor Mariah Carey; together they introduced Mariah’s show-stopping performance of “Honey” which brought down the house; the performance featured a tricked out jet ski, a golden ‘honey’ helicopter and special appearances by Da Brat, Jermaine Dupree, Mase and The Lox for a truly special moment.

Trick, Trina, Romeo, Silk The Shocker and XSCAPE performed a special medley celebrating the rise of hip-hop in the South before honoring Jermaine Dupri and Master P with their awards. XSCAPE’s Candy Burress and Tiny wrote “No Scrubs” by TLC which became one of the songs that defined hip-hop and symbolized the 90s era. Other performances of the night included Fat Joe and Rema Ma performing “Not a Player,” Warren G performing “Regulate” with Ty Dolla $ign and Ty doing a special rendition of Montell Jordan’s “This Is How We Do It.”

Before Pharrell Williams presented Hype Williams with his award, he took a moment to deliver a heartfelt message about the current political climate, encouraging everyone to “open your eyes.”  

Williams is an innovative director, responsible for some of the best music films of all time for artists such as Busta Rhymes, Missy Elliot and more. 

The group of dancers dancing the show in and out of the commercial breaks was reminiscent of the celebrated 90s show “In Living Color,” which received a quick shout out for introducing us to superstars Jim Carrey, Jamie Foxx, and Jennifer Lopez. 

Other presenters included Faith Evans, Timbaland, Karrueche Tran and Nene Leakes.   

“Hip Hop Honors: The 90’s Game Changers” airs Monday, September 18 at 9:00 p.m.ET/PT and 8:00 p.m. C from Paramount Studios.