photos by Brook Bobbins

Ali-Shaheed Mohammed will return to the tables this weekend at Dekalb Market after spinning at Brooklyn Hip Hop Fest last weekend, along with (former?) bandmate Q-Tip and tons of suprise guests (like Busta Rhymes & Kanye West). You saw the videos. Here are the pics. More of them below...

Continue reading "Brooklyn Hip Hop Fest pics"

photos by Colin Kerrigan

Earth, Wind & Fire help Philly celebrate Independence Day

A little after 1 p.m., the Parkway was already jammed with people who had come from near and far for the Fourth of July celebration in Philadelphia - and it stayed that way well into the night as the Roots repeatedly rocked the stage, and Earth, Wind & Fire's Philip Bailey hit some stratospheric high notes.

Many came in red, white, and blue attire, with their children, their spouses, and their dogs.

Courtney Beckett, 22, a medical assistant from West Chester, even brought her six-foot boa constrictor, Sampson.

"They're cold-blooded, so they need heat," she explained as her cousin, Zhabree Jacobs, 8, let the reptile curl around her shoulders.

And, boy, did that snake get grilled.

Temperatures pushed 90 most of the day at the Wawa Welcome America celebration Monday, as people ate gyros and cheesesteaks, swayed to music, and reunited with friends and family to party Philadelphia-style.

Organizers had no official crowd count, although Mayor Nutter said, "This might be the largest Fourth of July event ever." The event has been known to draw a million or more people.

With a pink-and-orange sunset in the background and Sara Bareilles and the Roots performing. [Philly.com]

The Roots hosted and performed at their Fourth of July Jam in Philly with Earth Wind and Fire, Michael McDonald, Estelle, Sara Bareilles, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Boyz II Men and others. The concert, which was billed as "the largest free concert in America," lived up to its title, though as expected at a concert that big, not everyone has a positive experience. According to Anthony Sbarro, "Way too many people at the Roots Fourth Of July on the Parkway concert. Good luck to whomever is going! I'd recommend against it." Tamika Chandler posted a video to her YouTube account of what she dubbed the "4th of July Jam Fiasco." The video description and tags read:

People arguing & fighting. I wanted to enjoy the concert but because so many people were trying to budge in front of those who were smart enough to be early and sitting down in their own seats, I ended up filming the entertaining arguments/fights that arose from this.

Parkway, Philadelphia, Philly, Jam, Concert, Fourth, 4th, of, July, Fireworks, Fights, Beer, Drunk, Arguing, Arguments, yelling, crowded, crowds, kids, pot, marijuana, smoking, wild, fiasco, rude, the roots, earth, wind, fire, &, and, PA, pennsylvania, city, mayor, nutter, police, popo, smh, penn's landing, downtown, city, delaware river, wawa, michael mcdonald, sarah bareilles

Check out her video work, and a video of Estelle and Michael McDonald performing "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" together, below.

In other Roots news, Black Thought plays Brooklyn Bowl tonight (7/5) with J. Period, Mr. Mecca, Skotch Davis, Boogie Blind and DJ Suga Ray. Questlove DJs the same venue every Thursday. This Thursday is a "special free edition".

More pictures and videos from the 4th of July Jam below...

Continue reading "The Roots celebrated 4th of July in Philly w/ Earth, Wind & Fire, Estelle, Michael McDonald & more (pics & video)"

photos by Toby Tenenbaum, words by BBG

Last night's posted set times:
7:00PM-8:00-DJ JEFF CHAIRMAN MAO
8:00-8:30-BLACK THOUGHT & MONEY MAKING JAM BOYS
8:30-9:00-DJ STRETCH ARMSTRONG
9:00-10:00-GHOSTFACE & RAEKWON
10:00-10:15-DJ STRETCH ARMSTRONG
10:15-11:30-MOBB DEEP

The welcome home Mobb Deep show for Prodigy last night at Best Buy Theater (5/12), their first in three years, featured appearances from some of the biggest names of the 90's. Method Man appeared during fellow Wu-Tang Clan members Ghostface & Raekwon's set, and again during a DJ set from one of the crew's biggest supporters in their early years, DJ Stretch Armstrong. Ghost & Rae closed with Ol' Dirty Bastard classic and crowd favorite "Shimmy Shimmy Ya".

Unlike in the days before the release of their classic LP The Infamous, Queensbridge duo Mobb Deep did not freestyle rhymes over Stretch beats, but Black Thought did open the show dropping freestyle verses before The Money Making Jam Boys joined him on stage.

And the 41st side crew had a surprise of their own during their headlining set, bringing out Lil Kim for a rendition of the awesome "Quiet Storm". Video of that, Mobb Deep performing "Burn" and "Right Back At You", and more pictures from the whole show, below...

Continue reading "Mobb Deep returned @ Best Buy Theater w/ Black Thought, Ghostface, Raekwon, Stretch Armstrong & more (pics & video)"

photos by Tim Griffin

Their new friends Dirty Projectors didn't jam with them, but plenty of others joined the Roots at their $10 show on October 1st at Brooklyn Bowl. Pictures and video below...

Continue reading "The Roots played Brooklyn Bowl w/ Talib Kweli, Pattern is Movement, Mayer Hawthrone & special guests - pics & video "

by Black Bubblegum

Marty Markowitz and Ralph McDaniels

The theme of this summer has been rain, and though the skies opened up halfway into the 5th anniversary show of The Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival on June 20th in Empire Fulton-Ferry State Park, that didn't stop the crowd from swaying to the classic beats and rhymes by a stable of 90s artists. Thankfully the organizers of the DUMBO show thought ahead, and though it was a little packed in there, everyone stayed perfectly dry inside the emergency tent.

With all the veterans of hip hop on Saturday's lineup, you'd think that the most kinetic performance of the day would come from a Grand Puba or Pharoahe Monch. You'd be wrong. Oddly enough, the least "conscious" MC and the one that I always felt was slightly overrated, Styles P of D-Block (fka The Lox), delivered an energetic performance of hits that was matched only by the energy that the crowd bounced back. I was shocked, though pleasantly so.

I was glad to be wrong about Styles P, and I definitely learned a few other things that rainy Saturday:

Continue reading "the 2009 Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival - in pics & review "

by Black Bubblegum

Ft. Greene's own Just Ice

Since the last time we talked, the Rakim show at Knitting Factory on Dec 19th (Friday) has expanded quite a bit, adding performances by Black Thought of The Roots, (he's) Keith Murray, and the "original gangster of hip hop" Just-Ice. The whole night will be hosted by Sascha Jenkins of ego trip fame and will feature "all vinyl" DJ sets from a sick lineup of DJs including fellow ego trip-per Chairman Mao, along with Dante Ross, Ge-ology, Psycho Les of The Beatnuts, JS-1, Dooley-O, DJ Amir (of the legendary Kon & Amir), J-Zone, Jel, and Thanksgiving Brown. That makes it three nights in a row for Jel & Thanksgiving Brown. Tickets are still available, check out the flyer below.

Kon & Amir dropped their On Track Vol 2 via BBE in June of this year. When they aren't dropping one of their killer mixes, they can be found either at their blog or behind the decks... which is where you'll find them on Jan 16th, 2009 as part of Disco 3000 NYC at APT. Get your dancin' shoes out (sorry to trample 'ya Showtrotta).

In other news related to what some see as "The Golden Age Of Hip Hop", Irving Plaza added a show on Feb 7th, 2009 billed as.... The Golden Age of Hip Hop Pt 1. No word on what part 2 entails, but we do know that Doug E. Fresh, Chubb Rock, Brand Nubian, Positive K (yeah, him), and Lord Finesse will be on hand for part uno. Tickets are on sale. Lord Finesse recently played Knitting Factory as part of DITC.

While we're on the old school tip, LL Cool J announced a show at Nokia on Feb 19th, 2009 as part of his "Pursed Lickable Lips Tour 2009" (ok, I made that up, it's just the one show). Prepare to wade through a sea of ladies with bamboo earrings (at least two pair). Tickets go on Amex presale on 12/18 at noon and regular sale on 12/20 at noon here.

Continue reading "Rakim, Just Ice, LL Cool J & the Golden Age of Hip Hop "