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

Pharaohe Monch sez GTFU!

Its that time of year again... when NYC flexes its considerable Hip Hop muscle with a summer of killer hip hop shows. One of the most high profile of those is The Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival, taking place this year on June 20th at Empire Fulton Ferry State Park in DUMBO. Tickets are available online or at Fat Beats NYC at $10 for a single, $35 for four, and other configurations.

Headlining the affair is the incomparable Queens tongue-twister Pharoahe Monch, who will join the legendary DJ Premier, The Ghost (aka Styles P), dead prez, Smif N Wessun (who are also playing Brower Park & Southpaw), Grand Puba (no Stud Doogie, love?), Marco Polo & Torae (who are also playing Fat Beats & Southpaw), and many many others. The full two stage lineup is below.

The Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival is a few days shy of a month away from Pharoahe's appearance at All Points West as half of the mighty Organized Konfusion, and a few weeks after Marco Polo & Torae's new album Double Barrel hits stores.

Another major NYC Hip Hop Festival, Rock Steady 32nd Anniversary, has yet to announce any details. Brooklyn fest details below...

Continue reading "Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival - 2009 lineup, date & ticket info "

DOWNLOAD: Boredoms - Jungle Taitei (MP3)

The Boredoms (& 74 friends) played a free 77 drum "BoaDrum" show under the Brooklyn Bridge in the DUMBO section of Brooklyn, NYC on Saturday 7/7/07 @ 7:07 for about 77 minutes almost two hours. I unfortunately was one of the thousands that did not get in. According to the extremely heated comment sections HERE, HERE, and HERE, there were about 4000 people who did get in. I walked away only blaming myself for showing up so late. I didn't even realize until afterwards that those who arrived as early as 3pm didn't even get in, and I totally sympathize with the people who waited on line for hours just to find out the place was at capacity - that obviously should not have happened.

By the time stupid-me arrived, the line was still huge, and the police had just started to take control of the door. Everyone else associated with the event was left completely powerless against the guys in uniforms. Nobody was getting in - even some guy who was "with the Boredoms", press, a volunteer who had left or something - NOBODY. I was sad, but decided to make the most of it. I hung-out outside - listening, walking around, sitting on the rocks by the water, and taking pictures. About 45-60 minutes into the show I went back to the front entrance to find at least 200 people filing out early. "Excellent!", I and everyone else at the door thought, "one out, one in", but NOPE. The cops refused to even let in the diehards who never left their spots on line throughout the entire event. THAT was the most frustrating thing for me. It made no sense. They could no longer blame capacity - they (the cops) just felt like being dicks - even lecturing the pleading crowd, "blah blah you should get to free concerts early blah blah talk to my boss not me blah blah...". You could tell they were loving every minute of it.

More pictures, including some of those watching the show from up on the Brooklyn Bridge, below....

Continue reading "(outside the) BOREDOMS 'Boadrum' under the Brooklyn Bridge"