VH1.com and the 2nd Annual VH1 Hip-Hop Honors have just announced the introduction of FREESTYLE 59 --an online competition searching for the U.S.'s best unsigned Hip-Hop artists. Five finalists will be selected by a panel of celebrity judges and flown to New York City to film a video clip of their performances. The winner with the most online and wireless votes will receive $10,000 and be announced at the 2nd Annual VH1 Hip-Hop Honors show on September 26th. Big Daddy Kane, LL Cool J, Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five, The Notorious B.I.G., Ice-T, Salt-N-Pepa and the movie Boyz N The Hood will be among this year's honorees. FREESTYLE 59 requires emcees nationwide to showcase their best rhymes in 59 seconds or less. Contestants will be able to post their videos on VH1.com where viewers will watch the clips and vote to name 2005's FREESTYLE 59 King. Hopefuls can submit their clips starting July 12th until August 8th. The five finalists will be reviewed by a panel of music industry insiders including Public Enemy front man Chuck D, Capitol Records Executive Vice President of Artists and Repertoire (A&R) Wendy Goldstein, XXL Magazine Editor-In-Chief Elliot Wilson and the nation's hottest deejays like Hot 97's Cypha Sounds (NYC), Power 106's DJ Felli Fel (LA), KKBT's Poetess (LA) and WGCI's DJ Vaughn Woods (Chicago). Viewers will then vote for their favorite finalist through text messages and VH1.com during the four weeks leading up to the show. The emcees with the least amount of votes will be cut until a winner is crowned. The 2nd Annual VH1 Hip-Hop Honors featuring the 2005 FREESTYLE 59 crowning airs on VH1 on September 26th at 9p.m.

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