By Odeisel

When I left New York, one of my biggest concerns was for The Planet and whether or not I’d have Hip-Hop shows and if I did, whether my non-driving, city-slicker self would be able to get to them and from them. My prayers were answered and Charlotte has a strong music scene with enough venues to support music. When I saw Rae and Ghost were coming to town, you already knew I was on it. Then they had the nerve to have Mobb Deep on the bill. Needless to say I was happier than an octopus in a strip club.The show was opened by Carolina rapper J Capri, repping a crew called the Bornstars. Kid’s got a long way to go to be special but he had good energy, his hands weren’t glued to his nuts and every other wors wasn’t n***a. That gets him in the door at least and he rocked the partisan crowd well.

After some delays (if this was NY and the venue was open later, they probably would have been watching the fight (always keep your guard up, Ortiz), but Mobb took the stage with The Alchemist on the wheels of steel.

The premise of the Rock the Bells format was for the group to perform their album, The Infamous, in its entirety. We didn’t get that by any means, so on that end, I was a little disappointed, but make no mistake, the Mobb and guest 40 Glocc made it happen. They went through all of the hits from their classic run, including “Drop a Gem On ‘Em,” “Give Up The Goods,” “Survival Of The Fittest” and “Shook Ones Pt II.” The East side and West side of Charlotte was in full effect repping in the audience but no matter where you were from everyone, including the girls knew all the words. I lost my voice during the Mobb set between yelling and beer (24 oz cans of PBR, thank you Filmore) and gained a healthy respect for 40’s crowd control skill and “ringsmanship” onstage, but the best was yet to come.

You already know how I feel about the purple tape, so I was hyped out the gate. That they had Cappadonna with them was an added bonus because he was a very strong part of that album. Between Rae’s too-cool-for-school stage presence, Ghostface’s overwhelming charisma and Cappa’s frequent a capella exhobitions onstage, this set was a sure thing.

I nearly lost my mind and the chick behind me nearly lost her toes as soon as I head, “CHECK OUT THE RAP KINGPIN. THE BLACK JESUS.” It’s Monday morning and I sound like a stalker or Jadakiss with a sinus infection so all the word for word singing along did a number on me. The trio went through the great hits from the. Great Wu-Tang run. Ghostface pretty much ran the show with his extensive solo catalog but all three starred on the night.

Rock the Bells was a great show without the myriad delays that can effect run of show and veteran acts with classic catalogs go a long way towards making the show a hit.

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