'VH1 Hip Hop Honors' Red Carpet Pre-Show to Air Exclusively on VSPOT, VH1's Broadband Channel With Hosts Salt, Pepa, and Spinderella

Extensive Music- And Artist-Based Programming Leading Up To The Third Annual 'VH1 Hip Hop Honors' Available On VSPOT, VH1 Mobile, Urge, VH1 Classic, and VH1 Soul

NEW YORK, Oct. 3 -- Former "VH1 Hip Hop Honors" honorees Salt, Pepa and Spinderella will host this year's red carpet and backstage interviews at "VH1 Hip Hop Honors." For the first time in VH1's history, pre- show event footage will be seen exclusively on VSPOT, VH1's broadband channel.

Red carpet interviews and backstage footage will be available on VSPOT at http://hiphop.vh1.com beginning at 6PM ET on October 17. Hosted by Ice T, the third annual "VH1 Hip Hop Honors" honoring the music and influence of Ice Cube, Wu-Tang Clan, Afrika Bambaataa, Russell Simmons, MC Lyte, Rakim, Beastie Boys, and Eazy E. will be broadcast on VH1 at 9PM ET/PT that day.

Additionally, for the month of October, VH1's digital properties - VSPOT and VH1 Mobile - will remix your hip hop digital experience with extensive and exclusive hip hop-focused content in celebration of "VH1 Hip Hop Honors." VH1 Classic and VH1 Soul will also air special programs dedicated to hip hop throughout October.

VSPOT at VH1.com

VSPOT's dedicated hip hop channel showcases on-demand content leading up to "VH1 Hip Hop Honors" including:

-- Over 10 hours of video playlists compiled from Hip Hop Honors honorees past and present. New playlists are added each week and are compiled by artist and location (i.e. "Hip Hop By The Boroughs: Brooklyn).

-- Exclusive Q&A interview segments with the 2006 "VH1 Hip Hop Honors" honorees, performers and presenters, as well as behind-the-scenes footage from each honoree's photo shoot with acclaimed photographer, Michael Wong.

-- Footage from VH1.com's "Freestyle 59" contest to find the nation's most talented emcee. This program contains in-studio performances, freestyles, and bio packages from the five finalists, as well as an in depth Q&A session with Fat Joe.

Beginning at 6PM ET on October 17 VSPOT footage will include:

-- Red carpet interviews and backstage commentary hosted by Salt, Pepa, and Spinderella.

-- One exclusive performance that will not be seen during the on-air broadcast. 8-10 additional performances from the main show will be made available on VSPOT during the on-air broadcast.

VH1 Mobile

Beginning today, VH1 Mobile will offer "VH1 Hip Hop Honors" content including original ringtones from select honorees recorded exclusively for VH1 Mobile, original wallpapers, and video footage from a "Freestyle 59" session with Fat Joe.

Select video footage from "VH1 Hip Hop Honors" will be available on VH1 Mobile following the on-air broadcast.

VH1 Classic

VH1 Classic presents an all-new special series "The Heart of Hip Hop," in honor of the upcoming "VH1 Hip Hop Honors" airing on VH1 on October 17. Hosted by hip hop icon Fab 5 Freddy the 5-hour music video-based special will look at the history of the hip hop phenomenon. "The Heart of Hip Hop" will premiere on Monday, October 9 - Friday, October 13 at 9:00 PM/ET with additional episodes airing throughout the fall.

VH1 Soul

October is "Hip Hop Honors Month" on VH1 Soul. Throughout the month VH1 Soul will premiere original series and specials including an all-new "Top 10: Best In Hip Hop" hosted by MC Lyte premiering on October 12 at 5:00 PM/ET. Then Big Daddy Kane hosts "The Soul School Takeover" airing all of the best old school hip hop videos from the 80's and early 90's from October 14 through October 17 beginning at 6:00 AM/ET. VH1 Soul will also air an encore presentation of the 2006 "VH1 Hip Hop Honors" on Wednesday, October 18; Thursday, October 19 and Friday, October 20 at 6:00 PM/ET.

VH1 On-demand

VH1 On-demand celebrates "VH1 Hip Hop Honors" throughout the month of October with select Jools Holand performances by Mary J. Blige, The Roots and The Fugees. Additional on-demand content will include interview segments with 2005 and 2006 honorees including, Ice T, Wu Tang Clan, Afrika Bambaataa, Salt- N-Pepa, and LL Cool J. VH1 On-demand is available across various cable providers' VOD platforms.

URGE

Extensive "VH1 Hip Hop Honors" -related music including celebrity playlists from honorees Ice Cube and MC Lyte, as well as full music catalogs from past and present honorees and performers are available through URGE, MTV Networks' digital music service. Hip Hop fans can buy individual tracks for 99 cents, or download entire playlists/music catalogs as part of their URGE subscription.

URGE, available at http://www.urge.com, features an array of exclusive tracks and editorial across all musical genres.

About "VH1 Hip Hop Honors"

VH1 pays homage to the hip hop pioneers and luminaries who transformed the genre into a true cultural phenomenon with the third annual "VH1 Hip Hop Honors," premiering Tuesday, October 17 at 9PM ET/PT. The music and influence of each of the honorees will be recognized through performances by classic artists in collaboration with today's hottest new talent.

Hosted by Ice T, this year's celebration will honor Ice Cube, Wu-Tang Clan, Afrika Bambaataa, Russell Simmons, MC Lyte, Rakim, Beastie Boys and Eazy E. With the exception of Russell Simmons, Afrika Bambaataa and Eazy E, all the honorees are set to take the stage and showcase their legendary talent, along with Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Bootsy Collins, Shawna, Lil Eazy-E, Black Ice, Lil Kim, Diddy, Fat Joe, Lil Jon, Da Brat, Xzibit, Talib Kweli, Remy Ma, Q-Tip, Common, The Roots, George Clinton, Young Jeezy, Erykah Badu and KRS-One.

Hosted by Ice T, "VH1 Hip Hop Honors" will be taped at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City on October 7 and will include appearances by Outkast, Tracy Morgan and Mike Epps. Ahmir "?uestlove" Thompson of the Roots will be this year's musical director.

For more information go to http://hiphop.vh1.com and check out interactive honoree profiles, exclusive programming, show information and more.

VH1 connects viewers to the music, artists and pop culture that matter to them most with series, specials, live events, exclusive online content and public affairs initiatives. VH1 is available in over 88 million households in the U.S. VH1 also has an array of digital services including VH1 Classic, VH1 Soul, VH Uno, VH1 Mega Hits and VH1 Country. Connect with VH1 at http://www.VH1.com.

VSPOT at VH1.com (http://vspot.vh1.com) - VH1's broadband channel - brings viewers the richest music and pop-culture video content while it's happening: live events, series sneak peeks, exclusive celeb Q&A's, movie trailers, in- studio performances and original series, not to mention thousands of music videos, customizable play lists and artist interviews.

SOURCE VH1
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