VH1 Hip Hop Honors 2016: All Hail the Queens of Hip-Hop

Photo: VH1

You all know how much I love hip-hop and how much emphasis I place on the importance to uplift female emcees since they've been so underrepresented within the culture. VH1's Hip Hop Honors was a great way to honor some of the heavyweights of female hip-hop. The show payed homage to Queen Latifah, Lil' Kim, Missy Elliott, Salt 'N Pepa and plenty more women who stood their ground and paved the way.

Photo: VH1

One of my favorite performances was Lil' Kim's tribute performed by Teyana Taylor, Lil' Mama, and Dej Loaf. Electrifying and energetic. You can tell these girls, especially Teyana, did their thorough homework on Kim's style. Gather 'round children because this is a prime example of how it's supposed to be done. In an era where there's so much disconnect between older and younger rappers, to see these young women pay homage to Lil' Kim was amazing and well-deserved. No matter what controversy surrounds the Queen Bee, you can't say she hasn't impacted female rap in a major way.

Check out some of the hot performances below:

Photo: VH1

This was a great way to honor some of the most iconic trailblazers for women in hip-hop. I would actually love to see something bigger where more femcees can be honored because unfortunatelydue to the erasure of women within the culture, many people forget or are unaware of women like Roxanne Shante, Da Brat, Monie Love, Foxy Brown, MC Lyte, Bahamadia and so many more ladies who graced the mic with their rhymes. Hopefully this also happens more often as well.