5th Annual Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival

Yesterday was the main event for the Fifth Annual Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival was going down. This is yet another reason why I just gotta move my ass to NY! Thankfully my man Junclassic was there to attend the event and cover it for us. Hit the jump to hear his story of how the whole event went down. If you were there, let us know about your experience at the show in the comments!

Waddup My Geez! My name is Junclassic. 1/2 of Dynamix. 1/7 of Monsta Island Czars.

BIGGUP to Kevin Nottingham for allowing me to share my excitement over yesterday’s HipHop Festival wit chall.

And BIGGUP to Monsta X, Amy and Bakari for joining me in at the Festival!

Yesterday I got to hit up the Brooklyn HipHop Festival for the first time. It was their 5th annual event and I had never been to one. BiggUp to Wes Jackson and Brooklyn Bodega for putting together a dope event!

It started at 12 but a Brother ain’t get there until 3:15 pm. There was mad police and mud EVERYWHERE! Gray skies and a slow, steady drizzle ain’t what many would consider “hip-hop,” but as I got to the tent I was BUGGIN off the amount of people! There had to be 500 plus heads packed up under that tent! Despite the strong police presence I enjoyed the welcoming aroma of that Good Good lingering in the Brooklyn air. With so many people packed together, it’s amazing what one can get away with!

First act I got to peep was Brand Nubian. Grand Puba is a showman!! They started the set with “Step Up To This.” If my hip hop knowledge serves me correctly that was a track off his Reel To Reel debut solo joint. His flow was so immaculate. Then the speakers began to pump the Rocky theme from “Punks Jump Up.” The crown roared! Sadat X grabbed the mic and all you heard for the first 8 bars of his verse was the instrumental. The mic had a nasty short that randomly messed wit the emcees throughout the show. It did Sadat X the dirtiest tho. Finally his voice boomed in halfway thru “Punks Jump Up.” They also did “All For One” and the classic “Slow Down.” The crowd damn near spit Grand Puba’s entire verse! They cut the music an everything. Them Brothers did they numbers.

Following Brand Nu was a surprise guest named Black Thought. The crowd went crazy for Thought, who did a short set beginning with “The Next Movement.” He BODIED the “Brooklyn Go Hard” track! Thought’s delivery was unparalleled. His status as a veteran performer is undeniable.

After Thought the legend himself Mr. Uncle Ralph McDaniels kept heads laughing and entertained with hosting duties. A Brother running for Mayor got up to speak. I forget his name… pardon me… he had the people hype in the beginning by proclaiming his hometown to be Bed Stuy, Brooklyn. Unfortunately, the mayorial candidate began to ramble on about Brooklyn being hip hop and the people began to stir. Uncle Ralph eventually got back his mic and said jokingly to the potential mayor, “Heyyyy kick a rhyme Mayor!”. Thankfully Uncle Ralph was just being the cool collected Funnyman he has been since the early days of Video Music Box.

Chip Fu from Fu Shnickens jumped on stage as the next performer after being named one of the illest lyricists by Uncle Ralph and went into a tongue twisting banger from back in da day called “Ring The Alarm.” He also brought out Grand Daddy I.U. who did a verse from his classic single “Somethin New.” NYOIL also graced the stage and did hee-lar-ee-us dance moves.

After they rocked I dipped to hit the urinal and saw a line stretching from Southside Brooklyn to damn near Southside Queens. I immediately looked for a spot to do what we do in NYC an jus leak anywhere but “The Boys” were all over so I had to hold it. Drank mad water too! Smart job jun! Spotted a cool looking tent with what appeared to be a bunch of free stuff so I hit that up quick (hey its a Recession! Shit, it could be a Progression and I’m STILL baggin free ish if its hip hop ish ya know?) and grabbed a poster and some fliers. Saw Dead Prez‘s new cd “Pulse of The People” wit DJ Green Lantern so I copped that and found out a free ticket for a future show came with the album! Thanx DP!! See y’all tonite!

My man Monsta X FINALLY got his ass to the spot and we hit the tent to see Dead Prez RIP IT!! After performing the first song, a new joint with a bangin’ piano and rebel music verses from Stic and M1, Stic informed the crowd that DP had a run in with the police right before the show. I thought to myself, “damn they go through that ALOT!!!” Stic said DP was good tho! They continued to rip the stage with new material and ended the second song with, “Just cause Obama IN/ don’t make Uncle Sam My FRIEND!!”. Coulda swore I heard a few boos in response to lyrics that questioned Obama’s loyalty to the poor and People of Color and denounced him as a “sell out.” Dead Prez always give that food for thought. Gotta Love It.

After rocking for a quick 15 minutes, Dead Prez left the stage and another politician hit the stage. I believe she got to speak for a minute and a half before the jeers became audible. She caught the hint and left the stage. Uncle Ralph declared, “That’s the last of the politics. I promise.” I had to laugh as the crowd roared with approval.

Didn’t take but a few seconds before the place exploded to Styles P jumping up on the platform with a big ass dude next to him. Oh shit! That big ass dude is Sheek Louch! Styles did his thug thizzle!! He did classics like “Here’s Why They Call Me The Ghost,” “I’m Black” and mad other joints. He damn near ripped down the spot with him and Sheek doing their verses from “Wild Out.” Black Thought surprised the crowd with a guest verse off a joint from the last Roots album I believe. Styles was straight up dancing and two steppin’ on the stage to Thought’s flow. Can’t describe how dope it was to see the “Hardest Out” two stepping on stage. Ganstas Do Dance DAGNABIT!! AND he got his General stripes by letting his young homies do they thing to a song off the new “No Security” D Block album. He ended his set with “We Gon Make It.” Every, and I mean EVERY hand was in the air!

The 5th Brooklyn HipHop Festival was dope! To see all them heads rock for $10 was priceless. Ima be there next year fo sho! And hopefully Ima get there on time.

One!

Jun

myspace.com/junclassic