July 27- Rock the Bells concert series in Columbia, MD!!!YES!!!!! We made the voyage from Raleigh, NC to Maryland for this historic MEGA concert series and YES SIIIIRRRRR! It was well worth the trip!!! Over 35,000 people from every race & culture were in attendance...and it was beautiful!!! NO DRAMA!!! The artists delivered powerful performances which took you back to the beginning of Hip Hop up to today!!! SuperNatural (who by the way holds the Genius Book of World Records title for free style rapping for over an hour) hosted the event!!! He blazed the mic between sets and had a ball doing so!!! I've had the pleasure of seeing him step out into the audience and include what ever items were held up into his rhyme!! Amazing! This brother is blessed with skills!
Opening the show was MURS... a brother out of LA who delivered hot beats and hot rhymes!!! His energy was outstanding and his performance was on point as well!!! Following him was out of DC. Again, another blazing performance!
Next was the TURN OFF THE RADIO kings... DEAD PREZ (M-1 and Stic Man) with the political fire filled lyrics they are known for. Like they say... it's bigger than HIP HOP!!! The crowd jumped and shouted as they led one of their most loved hits.
Immortal Technique blazed the stage next... again, spitting truth about life, politics and hip hop.... definitely a crowd pleaser with the acapella flow they demonstrated along with some HOT beats laced with verbal swords!!!
Next it was time to take a journey in time with RAKIM!!! Okay… I’ve always been a fan of Rakim… but seeing him up there rocking the mic… spitting lyrics.. took me back to the wop, my bamboo name earrings and 1987!!!! Not only did he kick the Rakim classics, but he put down his new joints as well!!! AND we have even more MAD love for Rakim, because he did acknowledge that there were children present, and announced that he would not do “certain” songs because they were too graphic with profanity.. his purpose.. To respect the shorties. Gotta love a brother for that!
RAEKWON & GHOSTFACE KILLAH were next to Rock the Bells!!! As prominent members of the WUTANG CLAN…they held it down while giving homage and respect to their lost soldier ODB (Old Dirty Bastard)… they ripped the mic and blessed the crowd with some of our favorites such as C.R.E.A.M. and new tracks from their forthcoming CD “Only Built for Cuban Linx II” which will release in the fall.
Taking us back to “Potholes” and “Me Myself and I” were none other than DE LA SOUL!!! DLS delivered an OUTSTANDING performance!!! The ENERGY was through the roof!!! And to our surprise and delight, Q-TIP made a special appearance which sent the crowd into a mad frenzy!! This was no doubt one of the hottest performances that night.
Okay… I know all the ladies want to know about their “baby daddies!” REDMAN & M-E-T-H-O-D MAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNN!!! What’s to say??? They put the damn thing down!!!! We shook our “Stankin’ Azzes”… We got chased by the Rockwalla… We got to tell Red and Meth “F” YOU!!! Cause you know “Red will BE THAT”… We Got “DIRTY”…. We “Shimmy Ya’ll Shimmy Yeah-ed” Basically, we lost our minds!!! The two also announced they are working on HOW HIGH 2 at the end of the year. So be on the look out!!! As always… it was a divine TREAT to see the WuTang Two in ACTION!!!! While Method surfed one side of the crowd… Red walked the other!!! Giving personal attention to their fans!!! ONE HOT PERFORMANCE!! Did I tell you, the crowd lost their minds!!! And what a treat…. Special guest DJ KOOL blazed his all time favorite hit “Let me Clear My Throat!”…. that joint rocked that same as it did back at Bahaman Bay in Philly!!! All the way LIVE!
MOS DEF was in the house as well!!!! A true artist - his performance was beyond words.
The crowd gave him MAD love as he performed some of his hottest tracks and gave love to his DJ by letting him rock the crowd B’More style! Following closely was THE PHARCYDE! Blazin’ with the original four members…They too delivered an outstanding slammin’ performance!!! But nothing could prepare us for what NAS had to deliver!!!! Talk about off the hook… NAS handled the stage with reverence… spittin’ his new material from his forth coming and VERY controversial CD… “Untitled” He couldn’t leave the stage without Ruling the World and BRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAVE HEARRRRRRRRRRT!!! He left us on Fire!
LAST but well worth the wait was TRIBE CALLED QUEST!!!!! Opening for them with a few of his solo hits was none other than Q-TIP!!! It was the perfect serve to an incredible and vibrant!!! Mos Def joined Q-Tip for his solo time… and helped set the tone for what was absolutely one of the HOTTEST most ENERGETIC performances of the evening!!! TCQ ripped, they blazed, they tore it up, down and over!!! Well worth the 11 hour wait in the hot sun & rain!!! Well worth the trip from NC to MD… well worth the itchy grass and minor sun burn. I’d do it all again in a BRAVE HEARRRT Beat!
True Love for Ol’ Skool HIP HOP!!! You’re the Love of my Life!C. “Ms. Majestique” Little –July 30, 2008
