More than 3 million viewers tuned in to VH1 Hip Hop Honors: All Hail the Queens, the network announced Wednesday (July 13). The two-hour spectacle featured special tributes to female hip-hop trailblazers like Queen Latifah, Missy Elliott, Lil’ Kim and Salt-N-Pepa.
VH1 Hip Hop Honors Hosts Special Ladies’ Night for Hip Hop’s Trailblazing Women
Since its launch in 2004, Hip Hop Honors has been a staple in honoring the genre’s game-changers like past honorees Tupac Shakur, Russell Simmons and Public Enemy. This year’s celebration of the rap queens — which even featured a special shout out from First Lady Michelle Obama — also drove the most Twitter traffic to VH1’s account as it spurred 17 trending topics, with the #HipHopHonors hashtag hitting number one.
Queen Latifah at the 2016 VH1 Hip Hop Honors: ‘Racism Is Still Alive and Kicking’
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The night was also a welcome celebration following the aftermath of last week’s police shootings. Black Lives Matter founders Darnell Moore and Alicia Garza opened the show while Common paid tribute to the black women seeking justice, including Diamond Reynolds, the girlfriend of 32-year-old Philando Castile, who was fatally shot at a traffic stop in Falcon Heights, Minn. last week.
Queen Latifah closed Hip Hop Honors on a fitting note with a performance of 1993’s “U.N.I.T.Y.”