By Bridget Bland
MTV has enlisted the help of some incredibly entertaining stars to host their annual Video Music Awards over the course of the past 27 years, and it was inevitable that some of these notable figures would have ties to the world of hip-hop.
Since the first MTV Video Music Awards, where Bette Midler and Dan Akroyd passed out Moonmen to the biggest music acts of 1984, the show has had its share of comedic geniuses on hand to host, like Eddie Murphy, Rosanne Barr, Ben Stiller and more recently, Russell Brand. They've kept viewers laughing in between music acts.
This year's host, Chelsea Handler, also has close ties to the hip-hop community and, as we inch closer to the big show, we take a look at back at some of the previous years' VMA hosts.
Diddy
In 2005, MTV enlisted the help of Bad Boy Records founder Diddy to host the VMAs, which were held for the second year in a row at the American Airlines Arena in Miami. The music mogul, who has launched the careers of the Notorious B.I.G. and Mase, to name a few, also owns a posh crib in MIA. He remains one of the few non-comedians to lend his witty, fly personality to the show as host. The "Get Him to the Greek" star definitely took the gig seriously – holding a dance-off, awarding Gwen Stefani and Snoop Dogg $50,000 for the charity of their choice for winning his Fashion Challenge and sharing the wealth in the form of a $10,000 Jacob the Jeweler-designed watch given to a lucky audience member.
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Tags Chris Rock, Diddy, Jamie Foxx
