VH1's Hip Hop Honors: All Hail The Queens aired earlier this week, honoring female emcees who have been trailblazers of the art form for years. Though many great female rappers were present for the show, two were noticeably absent and the "Fox Nation," Foxy Brown's fans, wasted no time pointing it out. On Instagram, she assured her fans that she's not affected by being overlooked by the "reality show network" and would much rather receive an upper echelon award of a much higher standard.
On Monday night, July 11, VH1 gathered some of hip hop's most respected and talented rappers in the game, who just so happen to be women. It was a night full of performances, tributes and aspiring words acknowledging the careers of Queen Latifah, Missy Elliott, Lil Kim and Salt N Pepa with DJ Spinderella. Though these ladies were the honorees of the evening, other rappers like Eve, who hosted the show, Monie Love, Yo Yo, Lady of Rage, Da Brat, Dej Loaf, Boss and a host of others all gathered at the New York City Lincoln Center to celebrate the women of hip hop.
The Ill Na Na rapper wasn't present and neither was The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill rapper/singer. The absence didn't go unoticed, causing the Brooklyn native to issue a statement, or more like an Instagram message, addressing her feelings toward being excluded from the VH1 special, as pointed out by Centric, with a little bit of shade.
According to the "Oh Yeah" rapper's post, she awoke the morning after the show aired to several fans inquiring on why she had been excluded. It was their outrage that prompted her explanation and the answer was no -- she wasn't affected.
"Personally, I'd prefer being held to a much higher standard," captioned the 37-year-old with a blended photo of herself and a video snippet of a past interview with Hill. After receiving the key to her city only a short time ago, a VH1 acknowledgement, or in her words, recognition from a "reality show network" is not "the caliber of honor" she'd prefer.
Brown, real name Inga Marchand, also spoke for Hill in her post stating that the two of them are "#TheDifference" and instead of being outraged at their "non-inclusion," her fans should thank the network for leaving them out. "After all guys this is VH1," she captioned. For those who were honored for their "big or small" contributions to hip hop, the rapper did acknowledge and applaud them but, prefers her acknowledgements to be "upper echelon."
Shade or Nah????