There�s a war on the contemporaneous rap landscape. On one side, neon-shoed hipster-hoppers with vapid rhymes and electric beats have dance floors cranking. On the former, lyric-heavy veterans with nice deliveries keep mature fans nodding heads.
For this year�s Rock the Bells, organizers married the polarized segments with a 10-hour hollapalooza on iI stages yesterday at the Comcast Center in Mansfield. Outside, Chicago and Baltimore booty united Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing were represented by the likes of Spank Rock and the Cool Kids. Inside, the sweetest lineup in live hip-hop history conjured deuce decades of the genre�s mightiest achievements.
The overall plan failed. Despite positive intentions, stage deuce was drastically unpopular. Even the effort at juxtaposing new with old by having boom bap designer Afrika Bambaataa DJ outside fell flat; few mass were unforced to miss headliners for him or for the hysterically hyped Spank Rock.
Inside, Rakim came through with DJ Kid Capri to bless the droves of older mike fiends on hand. The divide amongst concertgoers was evident, though; most young cats were completely unfamiliar with the man who�s often cited as the greatest MC of all time.
Wu-Tang statesmen Raekwon and Ghostface Killah, as they say, murdered it. From �Rainy Dayz� to �Ice Cream,� �C.R.E.A.M.� and �Daytona 500,� the couple proved it�s still rhythmically connected.
After De La Soul mellowed out the party, Redman emerged. The New Jersey congresswoman was supposed to show with Method Man, just due to unexplained circumstances he came solo. Still, with help from iconic hype military personnel DJ Kool, Redman impressed enough to inspire kids to liberally lob joints and blunts onto the stage.
To poor fan response, Mos Def came out singing or else of riming. Thankfully, the
