This past Saturday, the annual hip-hop nostalgia-fest Rock The Bells stormed through Governor's Island in New York City to celebrate a bygone era. The all-day rap show featured a hodgepodge of major label and independent acts rocking on four different stages. Headliners included Lauryn Hill, Nas, Raekwon & Ghostface Killah—all performing their respective classic albums, sprinkled with hits from throughout their catalog.
The crowd of roughly 17,000 was filled with ‘80s and even ‘90s babies who were maybe in their teens when half of the featured acts peaked. Rock The Bells is more about yearning for the good old days of “real hip-hop” than any sort of relevance to today’s music scene (which might explain why almost no one performing here has had a Top 40 hit nearly a decade, if ever).
Still, RTB does hold a soft-spot in the hearts of many hip-hop heads. So even though it was a nightmare scenario of long lines, confusing set times, and the exhaustion that comes with any music festival, we hit the scene to see how it all went down.
Written by Insanul Ahmed (@Incilin)
Governor's Island / Random Axe
Black Star
Cypress Hill
GZA
Erykah Badu
Back on the main stage, Hot 97’s Peter Rosenberg introduced Erykah Badu as “The Queen and ambassador for hip-hop culture.” Stylish, graceful, and jazzy as ever, Badu kicked things off with “The Healer” from her 2008 album, New Amerykah Part One (4th World War) before unleashing a wail that could be heard all across the island.
“Ya mind if we go back to 1997 A.D.?” she asked the audience before launching into cuts from her debut album. On stage, Badu strutted and bounced along as the band played on. She stood at center-stage with the microphone in front of her, a thermos and an MPC to her side (at times Badu actually banged out a few beats live on her MPC, a la araabMUZIK). She brought a raw level of musicality that most hip-hop acts could scarcely match.
The crowd kept grooving along throughout the entirety of Badu’s set. When looking at the audience you saw something rarely seen at hip-hop shows: Lots of girls smiles. It’s too bad for fans in the back since the jumbo-tron was straight static during her performance. Maybe the frequency Badu was transmitting was too strong for the circuits. Or maybe she was just too damn funky.