Isaac Hayes may have died on Aug. 10, 2008, but his legacy lives on. The Tennessee-born soul legend has often been lauded for his impact with Stax and his own Hot Buttered Soul label, and now members of the Hip Hop crowd will pay tribute at this year’s Hip Hop Honors celebration.
During the fifth installment of VH1‘s Hip Hop Honors, the Roots, Chuck D of Public Enemy and other artists will participate in a separate tribute to the musician affectionately known as “Black Moses.”
“If Isaac Hayes is not sampled as much as James Brown, he’s right up there, in terms of being sampled prominently in Hip Hop,” says Hip Hop Honors co-executive producer Nelson George. In addition to other artists, Public Enemy sampled Hayes‘ “Hyperbolicsyllabicsequedalymistic,” in their well-known single “Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos” [click to read].
George wasn’t specific as to which other artists will honor Hayes when they take the stage Oct. 6, but he did stress the importance of connecting artists such as Isaac Hayes with the current generation.
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“Chuck D, the Roots and perhaps one more element, which we’re still working out, will perform a medley of Isaac Hayes’ songs and the songs that sample him,” says George. “We weren’t really able to put that together for James Brown. The timing just didn’t work out, and there have also been a lot of James Brown tributes already. I do think the idea of making the connection between Soul, Funk and Hip Hop is something we’re really going to try to do more of in the future.”
Hip Hop Honors airs Oct. 6 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on VH1. A dedicated website is available at HipHop.VH1.com.
