The Hip Hop Hall of Fame to Honor Hip Hop Legends at Awards Show, Hosted by the Legendary Roxanne Shante, in New York City on Monday, May 19th at 8PM

Stage 48 Will be Ablaze With Live Tribute Performances by Talib Kweli, Brand Nubian and Slick Rick and a Special Memoriam Tribute to DJ EZ Rock

Special Appearance by Rakim

NEW YORK, May 5, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Hip Hop Hall of Fame will honor hip hop legends, during Hip Hop Appreciation Week, at their awards show to take place at Stage 48 in Midtown Manhattan on Monday, May 19^th, 2014. The Hip Hop Hall of Fame Awards Show will be hosted by hip hop icon, Roxanne Shanté and DJ Mell Starr will be on the 1's and 2's all evening. The night is dedicated to paying tribute to the new 2014 Inductee Class with live musical performances. Our honorees are the Sugar Hill Gang, Charles Ahearn and Wildstyle the Movie, Mr. Magic, Busy Bee, Spoonie G & The Treacherous Three, Sequence, Cornbread, Mercedes Ladies, DJ Hollywood, The Twins, Stay High 149, Ralph McDaniel, Ernie Paniccioli and an in memoriam tribute to DJ EZ Rock. This will be the first Hip Hop Hall of Fame Awards show since BET Networks broadcasted the show in the 1990s. The evening will kick off with a Red Carpet VIP reception at 6 p.m. followed by Showtime at 8 p.m.

The Hip Hop Hall of Fame (HHHOF) was created to bring recognition to the positive social impacts hip hop has had on communities and to create awareness of it not only being an art form, but a prosperous business and educational platform as well. The HHHOF aims to educate and inspire young people to get involved in all related business and professional fields of the hip hop industry.

This awards show will be of epic proportions, honoring pioneers and legends in the world of hip hop. The evening will be filled with energetic and lively performances from some of hottest MC's including Talib Kweli, Brand Nubian, Slick Rick, MC Busy Bee, Nine and a special appearance by Rakim. There will also be an all-star tribute to honor DJ EZ Rock. This evening will celebrate hip hop culture and honor those who have played a crucial role in shaping and growing hip hop into what it is today.

THE 2014 HIP HOP HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES:

ARTISTS/GROUPS:

The Mercedes Ladies
Widely recognized as the first all female group, The Mercedes Ladies were founded around 1976. They were the sister group to Grandwizard Theodore and the L Brothers.

The Sequence
The Sequence is a former female hip hop trio signed to the Sugar Hill label in the early-1980s. The group consisted of Cheryl Cook (Cheryl The Pearl), Gwendolyn Chisolm (Blondie), and lead singer/rapper Angie Stone (Angie B.) Their most notable single was "Funk You Up" (1979), which was the first rap record released by a female group and the second single released by Sugar Hill Records.

Busy Bee Starski
Known by the stage name Busy Bee, is an old school hip hop musician, and MC. First coming on the New York City music scene in 1977, Busy Bee worked with many of hip-hop's founding fathers, including Melle Mel, Afrika and Kool DJ AJ.

Spoonie G & The Treacherous 3
The Treacherous Three was a pioneering hip hop group that was formed in 1978 and consisted of DJ Easy Lee, Kook Moe Dee, L.A. Sunshine, Special K and Spoonie Gee, with occasional contributions from DJ Dano B, DJ Reggie Reg and DJ Crazy Eddie. They first appeared on record in 1980 on the B side of Spoonie Gee's single, Love Rap.

Wonder Mike & Master Gee of The Sugarhill Gang
The Sugarhill Gang is an American Rap group, known mostly for its 1979 hit "Rapper's Delight," the first rap single to become a Top 40 hit. The members, all from Englewood, NJ and consisted of Michael "Wonder Mike" Wright, Henry "Big Bank Hank" Jackson, and Guy "Master Gee" O'Brien.

DEEJAYS:

DJ Hollywood
American old school hip-hop DJ and rapper. According to Kurtis Blow, Hollywood was the first rapper in the hip hop style. His rhymes are from the top of the dome, he has never written down and some of his creations other rappers have been using for the last 30 years, such as "throw ya hands in the air and wave 'em like you just don't care."

RADIO DJ/MIXSHOW:

Mr. Magic
Mr. Magic debuted in 1981 on WHBI-FM in New York City with the first exclusive rap radio show to be aired on a major station. Billing itself as Rap Attack, Magic's show featured Marley Marl as the DJ and Tyrone "Fly Ty" Williams as the show's co-producer. Magic's reign on the New York City airwaves lasted six years and was instrumental in broadening the scope and validity of hip-hop music.

GRAFFITI ARTISTS

Cornbread
Graffiti artist Darryl McCray, is known by his tagging name "Cornbread" and is recognized as being one of the first modern graffiti artists. At a time when most graffiti art was tagged by gang names and symbols, Cornbread was the first artist to tag his own name. His notorious stunts, which included tagging the Jackson 5's jet and an elephant in the Philadelphia Zoo, brought the young artist into the national spotlight. As well as an inductee at the Graffiti Hall of Fame, Cornbread is credited to contributing to the early formation of hip hop Culture.

Stay High 149
Hailed as the "superstar" of the graffiti world in the late 1970s, Wayne Roberts, is known by his tagging name "Stay High 149". Roberts signature graffiti symbol is the "Smoker"; adapted from the famous 1960s TV show The Saint. He had a reputation for being able to tag over 100 trains during the day and 200 trains at night. In 1973, New York magazine published a piece on subway graffiti, which featured images of Roberts' artwork.

B-BOYS/GIRLS DANCERS:

The Twins
The Twins were really pioneers in the b-boy world. They were at their most active period during the mid 70′s before many other well-known crews were formed. They were the first group to really take to the floor with footwork and mixed in vertical moves, including the sling shot. The Twins were also known for their high fashion including trench coats and often times they were sporting cigars as part of their routines.

PHOTOGRAPHER/DOCUMENTARIAN:

Ernie Paniccioli
Ernie Paniccioli is an American photographer of hip hop culture. A Cree Native American, he grew up in Brooklyn, New York. His photography of hip hop began in the 1970s with shots of graffiti in New York. The hip hop journalist Kevin Powell encouraged Paniccioli to make a book and in 2002, Who Shot Ya? : Three Decades of Hip-Hop Photography was published. Paniccioli's work has appeared in various magazines over a 30-year period, including: New York Times, Rolling Stone, Time and Entertainment Weekly.

FILM/DOCUMENTARIAN:

Charlie Ahearn and "Wild Style"
Ahearn was approached by graffiti artist, Fab 5 Freddy, who wanted to make a film about hip-hop as a broad culture encompassing emceeing, DJ'ing, graffiti and break-dancing, as an art form. In the summer of 1980 Ahearn began working with Fab 5 Freddy and graffiti artist Lee Quinones on what was later to be a classic hip-hop feature-length film by the name of Wild Style, taking its name from the graffiti-painting style of the same name: a style that is very symbolically described as an "energetic interlocking construction of letters with arrows and others that signify movement and direction." Ahearn wrote, directed and produced the film. Wild Style screened two years later in 1982 and later premièred in 1983 in Times Square, breaking records by selling out at all screenings in the three weeks it played.

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT:

Ralph McDaniel
A Lifetime Achievement Award will be awarded to Hip Hop pioneer Ralph McDaniel who founded Video Music Box. Created in the mid-80s, Video Music Box is one of television's first programs to mainly feature Hip Hop videos. McDaniel's program provided a platform for unacknowledged hip-hop artists to reach viewers in mainstream America.

IN MEMORIAM:

DJ EZ Rock
Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock were a hip hop duo from Harlem, New York who were best known for their hit, "It Takes Two." The duo consisted of Rob Base (Robert Ginyard, born May 18, 1967) and DJ E-Z Rock (Rodney "Skip" Bryce, died April 27, 2014).

"The artists, groups, deejays, b-boys/girls, graffiti artists and entrepreneurs being inducted have all made significant contributions to the birth, establishment, and advancement of the hip hop culture," says Hip Hop Hall of Fame founder JT Thompson. "This Awards show is going to be memorable and will go down in music history."

Earlier this year, the Hip Hop Hall of Fame announced it has secured its building location for their upcoming Museum and Entertainment Complex, which will be located adjacent to New York City's Times Square. The Museum is scheduled to open in 2016 and is expected to serve more than one million visitors and tourists annually, as well as host over 200 live events and educational programs for people of all ages.

This year's participating Awards Show sponsor is Salon 2266 located in Harlem, New York and whose proprietor is Derrick Haynes.

Tickets for the Hip Hop Hall of Fame Awards Show are on sale now. For more information on the Hip Hop Hall of Fame, visit http://hiphophof.tv.

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