Doesn’t it seem like yesterday that VH1 first launched their “Hip Hop Honors” award program?  Well believe or not their 5 years deep.  Today VH1 announced that Big Boi, Biz Markie, Bun B, DJ Kaos, Ghostface Killah, Kid Rock, MC Lyte, Lil’ Jon, Lil’ Wayne, Q-Tip, Scarface, Wyclef Jean, Cheech and Chong and Sanaa Lathan to show love to this years honorees Cypress Hill, De La Soul, Naughty by Nature, Slick Rick and Too $hort.  The show is scheduled to air Monday, October 6 at 10PM so set your iPhone and Treo reminders. 

I’ve been a big fan of VH1′s ”Hip Hop Honors” because its almost like an annual celebraton of the culture and how far we’ve come.  Its never been commercially watered down with questionable honorees or overly saturated with corporate b.s.  Its been straight hip hop that could be appreciated by even the most stark hip hop purist. 

However with anything Hip Hop its effectiveness is in its enginuity, its originality and I worry that Hip Hop Honors may be starting to get played out.  The first year, 2004 they honored DJ Hollywood, Kool Herc, KRS-One, Public Enemy, Run-DMC, Rock Steady Crew, Sugarhill Gang and 2Pac.  The show was bananas with performances by Beastie Boys doing “Sucker MCs” Fat Joe and Terror Squad performing “Lean Back,” Nas and his pops ”Bridging the Gap,” Fat Joe taking it back to the ”South Bronx” and Nas honoring Pac wiith ”Keep Ya Head Up.”

By 06 they were honoring Afrika Bambaataa, The Beastie Boys, Eazy E, Ice Cube, Rakim, Russell Simmons and the Wu.  The house was rocked by Bone Thugs N Harmony and ”Crossroads,” WC doing Cube’s ”Today Was A Good Day,” Diddy, Fabolous and Q-Tip freaking P.E.’s ”Hold It Now, Hit It” and “Paul Revere,” Beastie Boys killing “So What’cha Want” while Black Thought and Talib Kwali killed “Paid In Full” and”Eric B. For President” just before Rakim the God himself took the stage for ”Microphone Fiend” and “I Ain’t No Joke.”  Heads almost lost their minds! 

But I worry as we start to move away from those Hip Hop pioneers into honoring the more contemporary emcess if VH1 will be able to refrain from falling victim to yet another award show short on substance and wow factor.  I’m not saying this years list of honorees are weak but…well I’ll put it this way: The last four installments set the bar very high and its going to take some unbelievable production and effort by the performers and network to continuously keep me into it.  None the less I’ll be there on October 6th.