You Down with O.P.P.?

Tonight was the fifth installment of Vh1’s Hip Hop Honors. Tracy Jordan a.k.a. Tracy Morgan (oh wait, it’s the other way around) hosted, and his jokes about family court and baby mamas kept Treach and company rolling in the aisles. Which was a good thing, because the Hip Hop Honors, and music induction ceremonies in general, rarely bring the funk. The hardest working band in show business, the Roots, played house band again, although combined with all the DJs on stage and the general jive turkey that is televised performances, their efforts went fairly unnoticed (which unfortunately, they are used to). This year gave nods to Cypress Hill (seriously), De la Soul, Slick Rick, Too $hort, Naughty by Nature and Isaac Hayes, whose contributions to hip-hop were vast to say the very least.

Highlights included Michael Rapaport, a.k.a. Mr. Hood Pass, introducing De la Soul and revealing that he had named his son Maseo, Vin from Naughty by Nature hollering “girl you look GOOD” to Eve while she paid homage to the Ruler, Slick Rick (he’s right though, girl is THICK) and Cee-Lo crooning “The Look of Love” as Mos Def rhymed, “who the fuck is this? Pagin’ me at 5:46 in the mornin’ crack a dawnin’…” over the Roots instrumentation. Major bummers included Kid Rock’s trashy ass paying respects to Too $hort, Flavor Flav being invited (Chris Rock is right, that fool needs to be taken OUT), Travis McCoy’s skanky mug in my face acting like he’s somebody and Wyclef Jean bringing out his guitar and strumming “No Woman, No Cry” during the Naughty by Nature finale (no wonder Lauryn went crazy). The night’s best wardrobe choice is top right. Obviously.

Hot Buttered Soul.

This weekend marks the passing of two remarkable entertainers, one a ground breaking comic, the other, a bonafied soul genius.

I first became familiar with Bernie Mac in Spike Lee's The Original Kings of Comedy. I still pee my pants when I think about the line "where's the cookies and shit?" and his routine about taking care of his drug addicted sister's children while he and his wife try to settle into retirement and their second honeymoon phase. A student of Richard Pryor, his raw, unapologetic and personal style of comedy made this Chicagoan truly special. He will be missed.

Isaac Hayes was one of the first artists that truly exposed me to soul as a kid. I would hear the "Theme from Shaft" on V103 and just light up: the "shut your mouth!" line, the booming build up...the song was epic, to say the very least. His cool and calm delivery, the fantastic deepness of his voice, was unlike anything I had heard before, or since. And as I got older, I realized that he was much more than the bald dude in the gold chains; he was responsible for the majority of Stax's greatness, and if Atlantic Records was the house that Ahmet built, then Stax was the house the Isaac built, hit by hit. A behind the scenes man with David Porter, Hayes came into his own with his landmark Hot Buttered Soul album, and his cover of "Walk On By" is by far and away one of my all time favorite songs. The intensity of his performance style is best captured in Wattstax, where he headlined, stopping the show with his outrageous entrance, removing his cloak to reveal gold genie pants, a glittering chain link shirt and a visceral and magnificent musical aura. He may be best remembered by my generation as Chef (and for his angry departure from "South Park" due to his Scientologist beliefs) but to me and the soul music world, he will always be known as a true innovator and the number one "Soul Man."