The latest installment of the VH1 Hip Hop Honors show focused on celebrating 25 years of Def Jam.  With Tracy Morgan hosting again this year, they wasted no time in getting things started.  Backed by The Roots, Black Thought and Eminem tore through LL Cool J's "Rock The Bells" with an incredible assist from DJ Jazzy Jeff.  Next up was Public Enemy, looking and sounding like it could have been 20 years prior. 

Black Thought and Boots Riley from The Coup assisted on vocals for "Rebel Without A Pause" while Tom Morello and DJ Lord did work with a guitar and turntables respectively.  Def Jam South was up next and they did not disappoint as Scarface performed "Guess Who's Back" (minus Jay-Z and Beanie Sigel) and Ludacris tore through "Southern Hospitality". 

KRS-One, Wale and Gym Class Heroes represented for the Beastie Boys, performing "No Sleep Til Brooklyn" with KRS even going off on the freestyle tip.  Nate Dogg was noticeably absent as Trey Songz filled in on the Warren G hit "Regulate" but they managed to pull it off nicely.  Method Man and Redman did it as only they can on "Da Rockwilder" with DJ Scratch on the cuts, and then Meth was joined on stage by the fabulous Mary J Blige for "I'll Be There For You/You're All I Need To Get By". 

ONYX performed "Slam" like it was 1993 all over again but one can't help wonder how great it would have been to have Biohazard in the building instead of Gym Class Heroes for this particular performance.  Ja Rule and Ashanti performed two of their biggest singles with DJ Chuck Chillout on the turntables.  Oran "Juice" Jones even made a welcomed surprise appearance, performing part of "The Rain". 

Rick Ross was "Hustlin'" a bit too long while DMX made a triumphant return to form with "Party Up".  From there, the show closed out with a medley of songs, backed by The Roots and DJ Jazzy Jeff.  Kid Rock took on LL's "I'm Bad", EPMD performed "Crossover" but really should have had their own segment, Foxy Brown & Fabolous (filling in for Jay-Z) performed "I'll Be", Ghostface Killah and Chrisette Michele did their thing and Wale gave the final performance of the night with Kanye West's "Touch The Sky".  As the credits started to roll, the questions started pouring in. 

Where were some of the pioneers?  (Slick Rick, 3rd Bass, Nice And Smooth)  Why were some artists overlooked/underappreciated for their contributions?  (EPMD, Ghostface Killah, The Roots, Redman)  Why wasn't LL Cool J there?  Where were Jay-Z, Kanye and the rest of the Roc?  Chalk it up to scheduling conflicts but chalk this one up as a pretty good show with moments of greatness.