By Odeisel
In the words of the late, great Christopher Wallace, spread love is the Brooklyn way. Despite continuous rain and the loss of its second stage, the 5th annual Brooklyn Hip-Hop festival was in full effect Saturday. Normally held in an open field, the event was forced indoors, fully tented, creating an almost club feel as the thousands of concert goers huddled shoulder to shoulder with each other to enjoy the show. From the unknown to the relatively known, to the headliners, the show was packed with Hip-Hip treats.
The show was full of surprises including a performance of “Top Billing” by Milk Dee, a performance by Fu-Schnickens heavyweight Chip Fu who was still laser sharp on the mic, and a rusty but game Grand Daddy I.U. performing his regional hit “Something New.”
Relative newcomers Tanya Morgan and Marco Polo & Torae both had solid performances, exceeding expectations but it was clear that in this environment that catalogue was key, and the more the crowd knew your music, the wilder they got.
DJ Premier, Brooklyn’s adopted son, held down a DJ set as well as best-of mixtape titan J. Period, who had a live mixtape segment. Period’s set included the dissemination of dozens of CDs flung in the crowd, one of which hit me in the head while I was writing this.
Veteran Brand Nubian performed together again for the second time in a month, with the rust from May’s show almost fully diminished. A solid medley of their individual and group hits gave the true school crowd what they were looking for.
The unsung hero of the show was Roots front man Black Thought who showed up to freestyle during two separate sets while also banging out “Clones” and “The Next Movement” displaying the control of an emcee that performs live over 200 dates a year. The freestyle over “BK Go Hard” was particularly aggressive.
The show was littered with words from politicians, in particular, NY mayoral hopeful Bill Thompson, a Brooklyn native, intending to garner the same Hip-Hop generation support that pushed Obama to victory this past year.
Special shout goes out to Styles P, who bodied his performance. I’ve seen the Lox/D-Block twice this year in much larger venues and their energy did not translate, but in this setting, sans frontman Jadakiss, Styles rhymed like his mother’s life was on the line. It was a definite improvement from recent shows.
Dead prez performed a host of new joints from their new Green Lantern produced album due to drop Tuesday. It was well-received but nothing compared to the response they got from their super banger “Bigger Than Hip-Hop.” The festival crowd was definitely not the too-cool, emotionless pretty New York show crowd. Summer Jam this was not.
Headliner Pharoahe Monch opened with a cover of seminal Public Enemy classic “Welcome To The Terrordome.” From there he launched into newer material, eschewing the classic approach of the previous emcees. He performed “Free People” backed by a live drummer and a female vocalist. There was a certain rock feel to his performance but it was well-received and coolly delivered.
Unfortunately, his set was cut short due to time constraints but all hell broke loose for “Simon Says.” The crowd went nuts when the first attempt was cut short by organizers, but got even more raucous when the DJ was cut off and the drummer continued the song. Let the video speak for itself.
To conclude, it was a family affair. Hardcore Hip-Hop still has a place in this electro-emo world and for one night that home was Brooklyn. When it comes to keeping it true and providing a vehicle for the true school, to paraphrase KRS-1, Brooklyn keeps on making it.
For More Video, Visit the Planet Ill Youtube Page
Follow Us on Twitter @ http://twitter.com/planetill
Follow Odeisel on Twitter @ http://twitter.com/odeisel
Join Us on the Planet Ill Facebook Group for more discussion
