A couple of weeks ago, I made the trip up to Chi-town to check out the 1st leg of the Rock the Bells tour. This is an awesome hip-hop festival that has been going on for a couple of years now. They started off exclusively with one-day shows in California and have now been traveling for the last couple of years. I’ve been wanting to go and finally had the opportunity this summer. How rewarding it was.. Since this is a music blog, what I decided to do with this one is speak a lil bit on some of the people I was anxious to hear and let you hear a sampling of the atmosphere. Without further ado…
This year’s show to me was like an ode to mid to late 90s hip-hop.. some of the best acts performing were going strong through that period.
1st up.
Buckshot.. absolutely showed why he’s a true MC. Got on the mic and had the crowd going from jump street. This is a clip of him doing “How Many Emcees” w/KRS One as his hype man.
KRS-One was a host, setting folks up, but since he and Buckshot have an album coming out in September, he grabbed a mic and did a little bit for the crowd.. the quintessential emcee.Shouts to Rusty of the Mighty Mudkids.. “REAL HIP-HOP IS OVER HERE!!”
M.O.P. – Pure energy.. this is when I started to get hoarse, so I was done.. but 30 sec. of the “classic” is all you need to know about their performance…..
K’Naan – Slept on cat from Africa, but I see has the potential to be universal ala Akon.. nice music.. this is ABC.. most cats who play Madden a couple of years ago remember this track.
Slum Village – one of my favorite groups in hip-hop (with or sans J. Dilla R.I.P.)… the best thing they could’ve done once they lost one of the best beatsmiths in the business was get one of the best lyricist in Elzhi. Two clips.. one of a freestyle that Elzhi spit.. and the other is Raise It Up, one of my fav tracks.
Talib Kweli.. one of the best in the business.. I’ve seen him a couple of times and he stays dope.. he’s kickin’ a freestyle in this clip.
Slaughterhouse… the group I was most anxious to see because I like all these cats and it’s something new and fresh to the industry. Sadly, I liked them too much because their videos were too long and too big for Blogger. Their album comes out August 11 and they are Joe Budden, Royce Da 5’9, Joell Ortiz and Crooked I… check for the real hip-hop.
Raekwon the Chef – From my favorite group of all-time, the Wu-Tang Clan.. he came through and spit classics and some new stuff from OB4CL2. There as a guy that was standing directly behind me that knew every Raekwon verse old or new. He was so good and so loud that even Raekwon would stop and let him finish bars..pretty amazing if you ask me.
Busta Rhymes – Somehow overweight or not… stays the most entertaining performer in hip-hop.. non-stop energy, always wants the crowd into it. Something to behold…plus a ton of hits as well… this is a clip of what got him on. “Scenario”.. a funny story to me was always when one day Diddy told him to calm the “eff” down so the Ladies would love him… that’s when he dropped “Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See” and the cool, laid back flow was invented for Busta.
Other people that performed who I wasn’t able to get video of included Tech N9ne, Mickey Factz, Big Boi, the Roots (show only last 35 minutes instead of a hour), and the co-headliners Nas and Damien Marley… all of them got down however. Overall, a pretty dope show, probably the best I’ve been to and I’ve been to some decent ones in the past.. (No Way Out tour, Spitkicker… ATL Birthday Bash (don’t sleep).. this is just another to add to the list..
Until next time…
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