MTV salutes NJ hip-hop with big 'Celebration' featuring Queen Latifah, Wyclef Jean

Jersey is definitely in the house.

Queen Latifah, Wyclef Jean, and Treach from Naughty by Nature will perform in the star-studded “MTV Unplugged Presents: A Hip-Hop 50th Celebration of Jersey’s Finest,” which airs at 9 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 14, on MTV.

Redman. Poor Righteous Teachers, Heather B, the Sugarhill Gang, Lady Luck and Lords of the Underground will also take the stage. The performance was taped in November at Newark Symphony Hall on Broad Street.

Queen Latifah is the producer and Emmy-winner Adam Blackstone, a Trenton native, is the musical director. The show also will air at 8 p.m. Friday, Dec. 15, on BET, and 8 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 19, on VH1.

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One of hip-hop's earliest hits originated from New Jersey. “Rapper's Delight” by the Sugar Hill Gang was released by Engelwood's Sugar Hill Records in 1979.

Hip-hop's origins are traced to when DJ Kool Herc played at a back-to-school party on Aug. 11, 1973, in a Bronx community center. The event is widely considered to be the beginning of hip-hop culture, and there have been many concerts and events celebrating the moment.

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Fetty Wap, Naughty By Nature, Queen Latifah, Redman, and Wyclef Jean previously paid tribute to Jersey hip-hop on MTV at the 2019 Video Music Awards at the Prudential Center in Newark.

Before the Jersey hip-hop show on MTV, the new “Gym, Tan, Rewind: Jersey Shore Watchback,” featuring cast members of “Jersey Shore,” will air at 8 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 14.

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Chris Jordan, a Jersey Shore native, covers entertainment and features for the USA Today Network New Jersey. Contact him at @chrisfhjordan; cjordan@app.com.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: MTV salutes Jersey hip-hop with anniversary celebration