A Grammy Salute to 50 Years of Hip Hop is airing tonight

Bun B, Doug E. Fresh, The Fresh Prince, Flavor Flav and LL Cool J at A GRAMMY SALUTE TO 50 YEARS OF HIP HOP from the YouTube Theater in Los Angeles, California, scheduled to air on the CBS Television Network and available to stream on Paramount+.* Photo:
(Image credit: Matthew Taplinger/CBS)

This year marked a big anniversary in music: five decades since the advent of hip-hop, the world-changing genre born in the early 1970s in the Bronx borough of New York City. The Grammys is celebrating the occasion with a special tribute concert, A Grammy Salute to 50 Years of Hip Hop, featuring a star-studded lineup of hip hop legends and Grammy-winning artists. 

Held at the YouTube Theater in Los Angeles, A Grammy Salute to 50 Years of Hip Hop will "showcase and celebrate the genre's profound history and monumental cultural impact around the world," per a press release. 

And given the talent that will be taking the stage for the special, it will certainly do that: along with appearances by Regina Hall, Jennifer Hudson, Machine Gun Kelly, Lin Manuel Miranda and Seth Rogen, there will be performances by The Fresh Prince himself Will Smith along with DJ Jazzy Jeff, Queen Latifah, Public Enemy, LL Cool J, Questlove, Three 6 Mafia, T.I., and many more. 

Like other recent concert specials, including the upcoming Willie Nelson's 90th Birthday Celebration, the Grammy salute will air live on both CBS and Paramount Plus. You can tune into the show live on Sunday, December 10 from 8:30pm to 10:30pm ET (and 8pm to 10pm PT). 

That means that anyone with a traditional pay-TV subscription or a TV antenna can watch A Grammy Salute to 50 Years of Hip Hop on their local CBS station. Live TV streaming services that carry CBS are also going to have the special, such as FuboHulu with Live TV and YouTube TV. Or, if streaming is more your speed, you can join the party live with a Paramount Plus subscription bundled with Showtime. All Paramount Plus subscribers can watch it on-demand the next day, December 11.

Who is performing at A Grammy Salute to 50 Years of Hip Hop?

Here's the full lineup of performers taking the stage to celebrate the birth of hip-hop during the Grammy salute: 

  • Arrested Development
  • Battlecat
  • Big Daddy Kane
  • Black Sheep
  • Black Thought
  • Blaqbonez
  • Boosie Badazz
  • Bun B, Common
  • Coi Leray
  • Cypress Hill
  • D Nice
  • De La Soul
  • Digable Planets
  • DJ Diamond Kuts
  • DJ Greg Street
  • DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince
  • DJ Trauma
  • DJ Quik
  • Doug. E. Fresh
  • E-40
  • GloRilla
  • Gunna
  • Jeezy
  • Jermaine Dupri
  • J.J. Fad
  • Kool DJ Red Alert
  • The Lady of Rage
  • Latto
  • LL COOL J
  • Luniz
  • MC Lyte
  • MC Sha-Rock
  • Monie Love
  • Public Enemy
  • Queen Latifah
  • Questlove
  • Rakim
  • Remy Ma
  • Rick Ross
  • Roddy Ricch
  • Roxanne Shanté
  • Spinderella
  • Talib Kweli
  • The Pharcyde
  • Three 6 Mafia
  • T.I.
  • Too $hort
  • Tyga
  • 2 Chainz
  • Uncle Luke
  • Warren G
  • YG
  • Yo-Yo
Christina Izzo

Christina Izzo is the Deputy Editor of My Imperfect Life. More generally, she is a writer-editor covering food and drink, travel, lifestyle and culture in New York City. She was previously the Features Editor at Rachael Ray In Season and Reveal, as well as the Food & Drink Editor and chief restaurant critic at Time Out New York. 

When she’s not doing all that, she can probably be found eating cheese somewhere.