pics from Rock the Bells 2011 @ Governors Island (Nas, Erykah Badu, Lauryn Hill, Raekwon, Ghostface, Mobb Deep, more)
photos by Dana (distortion) Yavin, words by BBG
Lauryn / Erykah
Last year Rock the Bells, the touring hip-hop bonanza, picked up on the voguish festival concept in which an artist performs an old record from beginning to end. It went well, and this year’s edition bought in twice as hard. On Saturday on Governors Island, amid other, more ordinary sets, 11 albums were performed in their entirety.
What a gorging! What an obligation! It seemed to weigh on the crowd. It meant that listeners weren’t in the here and now, where they might be fratty or selfish or mean spirited. They were deep in the been and gone. They weren’t just listening to hits, or to sustained works of art, but to their own pasts. The exercise cooled them out. Saturday’s audience was truly racially mixed, with a heavy representation of the 30-to-45 age bracket, grown-up New Yorkers at their casual and courteous best. Many of them high, but still. -[New York Times]
Rock The Bells 2011 took Governors Island by storm on 9/3, and according to reports, ran smoothly and generally on time. There was a barrage of classic LPs (Nas‘s Illmatic, Mobb Deep‘s The Infamous, Lauryn Hill‘s Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, Erykah Badu‘s Baduizm, Black Moon‘s Enta Da Stage, GZA‘s Liquid Swords, Cypress Hill‘s Black Sunday, and others), and performances from some of independent hip hop’s great up-and-comers. Though it was clearly elders day, younger crews like Slaughterhouse, Big K.R.I.T., Fashawn, Blu & Exile, Freddie Gibbs, Roc Marciano and others also had the ability to shine on the Paid Dues stage (DOOM, an elder statesman via his days in KMD, was scheduled to play the Paid Dues stage but cancelled his appearance).
In true hip hop fashion, guests abounded. Nas capped the day off with a performance of Illmatic, and he didn’t hide the men/women behind the curtain of his first LP; MC Serch, DJ Premier, Pete Rock, Large Professor (of Main Source), Akinyele, Fatal, AZ and many others who either blessed the LP or were instrumental in his come-up all made appearances (yes, they performed the Main Source classic “Live at the BBQ” featuring Nas’s first recorded appearance). Pras of The Fugees joined Lauryn Hill for “Ready of Not”, Big Noyd joined Mobb Deep for “Give Up the Goods (Just Step)” and other tracks, and Black Moon brought a full band.
More pictures from the whole day, below…
Random Axe
Black Star
Genius GZA
…with Killah Priest
…with RZA
Cypress Hill
Fashawn, Blu, & Exile
Black Moon
Erykah Badu
Big Krit
Mobb Deep
…with Big Noyd
Slaughterhouse
Supernatural
Ghostface
Raekwon
Lauryn Hill
NAS
…with Pete Rock
…with DJ Premier
…with AZ