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Hip-Hop was honored in a major way by the legends who helped make the genre what it is today.
On Sunday night, December 10, CBS aired the Recording Academy's "A Grammy Salute To 50 Years Of Hip-Hop" that featured multiple generations of Hip-Hop legends who shared the same stage at the YouTube Theater in Los Angeles. Hosted by LL COOL J, the show began with the original ladies of Hip-Hop Queen Latifah, Monie Love, DJ Spinderella, MC Sha-Rock, Roxanne Shanté, J.J. Fad, MC Lyte, Remy Ma and Latto. They performed a mash-up of female-led classics from "Ladies First" to "U.N.I.T.Y." The show continued with a tribute to the South.
Curated by Jermaine Dupri, the South's performance began with a scene of OutKast's André 3000 saying "the South has something to say" during his speech at the 1995 Source Awards. That's when Jeezy kicked off the set with "Put On" followed by T.I., who rapped his classic "What You Know" from the crowd. The tribute continued with Houston's own Bun B along with Memphis hitmakers GloRilla and Three 6 Mafia's DJ Paul & Juicy J. JD eventually pulled up to perform his classic "Welcome To Atlanta" before Boosie Badazz performed his verse off "Wipe Me Down." Uncle Luke pulled up and closed out the southern set with his classic hit "Doo Doo Brown."
Of course, the East and the West coasts were also represented during the show with performances from Public Enemy, Rakim, Doug E. Fresh, De La Soul, Black Thought, YG, Too Short, E-40 and so many more. The grand finale featured Will Smith and DJ Jazzy Jeff, who reunited for a nostalgic performance of their past joint efforts like "Summertime" and "Parents Just Don't Understand" to Smith's solo hits like "Miami" and "Gettin' Jiggy Wit It." Smith even rocked the same outfit from the 1989 Grammys where he became the first rapper to win a golden Gramophone for "Best Rap Performance."
In case you missed it, the Recording Academy's "A Grammy Salute to 50 Years of Hip-Hop" is streaming now on Paramount+. Check out more scenes from the show below.