Hip Hop Honeys Keep it Real by Matt C

The hip hop honeys are beautiful women who've been models whether in music videos, television or film roles, in magazine pictorials or elsewhere. Some of the most famous of these video vixens are Vida Guerra, Melissa Ford and Ki Toy Johnson. These ladies have helped ignite magazine sales or music video song airplay. They've also been controversial as some feel they are degrading to women and portray sex objects in the roles they choose.

Other terms for the hip hop honey are dimes, dime pieces or video vixens. They've been seen in music videos by Snoop Dogg, Pharrell, Jadakiss and Outkast among other hip hop acts. The main aim of many hip hop honeys is to land a role in a top rap star's video so that she can then gain more exposure. This usually gives way to roles on TV or in film and magazine photo shoots. Vida Guerra is the most well known of the hip hop honeys, as she's crossed into mainstream magazines such as FHM. She also has appeared on the cover of Playboy magazine and is a regular on the Telemundo station.

The hip hop honeys are not without their fair share of controversy. They've been criticized as representing negative and subservient images of women. The main argument many critics have is that members of the African American and Latino cultures are exposed to hip hop videos and may develop negative connotations of women based on what they see on MTV or BET. A book was even released in 2005 by Karrine Steffans to detail the lifestyle that hip hop honeys live. Her book titled "Confessions of a Video Vixen" criticized hip hop modeling as a way of degrading women.

Despite controversy and criticism, the role of the hip hop honey or video vixen has been important not only to hip hop culture but towards the advancement of careers. Many of these models have gone on to start fan websites, become movie or TV stars and even launch successful businesses. There's no arguing their beauty and sex appeal has helped propel them into great careers.