Produced by Darryl Jenifer (Bad Brains) & Lordz of Brooklyn

It’s been over a week since the Cold Crush Brothers’ anniversary show but the feeling still lingers. It was a special night spent with the trailblazing group. Renowned artists such as Kool DJ Red Alert, Grand Wizard Theodore, DJ Scratch, Jazzy Jay, DMC and Big Daddy Kane among others took turns getting the crowd ready for the main event. It took place at the Hip-Hop Cultural Center, a museum/venue/auditorium filled to the brim with flyers, pictures and other items from the early days. If you have a chance to visit, go do it, it’s a great location dedicated to preserving the culture through curation of historical artifacts and exhibitions. The group rarely performs together so rather than do what most people expected e.g. performing all the classic routines from back in the day, the CCB’s totally flipped the script and went Unplugged (c) MTV. The night wasn’t going to be about them trying to prove they still got what it takes; it was going to be more intimate than that. It was about sharing their experiences, motivations and feelings around some of their most classic material. It was about establishing a sense of community amongst family, friends and fans. And it worked.

More pictures after the jump.

Cold Crush Brothers

Kool DJ Red Alert

DJ Disco Wiz

Grandmaster Caz and Easy AD

DJ Scratch and Tony Tone

DJ Scratch

D-Nice and DJ Scratch

DMC

Grand Wizard Theodore

Mighty Mike C

T-Ski Valley

Big Daddy Kane

Big Daddy Kane and Grand Wizard Theodore

Ice-T

Directorial debut from Will Tell

link

New DMC single produced by Freddie Foxxx, say word.

via crate kings

Battle For World Supremacy
1st: Switch (UK)
2nd: DJ Nelson (France)

World Team Championship
1st: Kireek (Japan)
2nd: Traumateam (France)
3rd: Intellivision (Italy)

World DJ Championship
1st: DJ Fly (France)
2nd: DJ Slyce (USA)
3rd: DJ Co-Ma (Japan)
4th: DJ Skully (UK)
5th: DJ Final (Norway)
6th: DJ Shub (Canada)

DMC live @ EOW last week. Peace to Chilly S.

Never heard about this before but it seems like a huge deal. Cash prizes are in the millions depending on how old you are. Not sure why age is a factor though. I’m sure, in his heyday, Shyheim could’ve wrecked most MCs regardless of age. The guest judges for the rap battles are a virtual who’s who of Hip-Hop culture with cats like Rakim, Big Daddy Kane, Kool Herc, Roxanne Shante, Afrika Bambaataa, Kool Moe Dee, Slick Rick, Nice & Smooth, Just-Ice, DMC, MC Lyte, Biz Markie, Whodini and A LOT more. Too bad they’re only judging and not performing. more info

The panel of judges for the upcoming World Series of Hip Hop rap battle and hip hop dance battle tournament has been released by the tournament’s organizing body. The tournament is set to award over $5 million in cash prizes to participants in nine categories.

Today in New York City, the World Series of Hip Hop released some of the names of judges who will oversee the championship matches of this year’s multi-million dollar tournament, scheduled for August 5-9, 2008 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, GA.

Rappers and dancers from all corners of the world are expected to converge on Atlanta this summer for the opportunity to be judged by some of hip hop’s pioneers. The tournament’s championship matches will be aired live on pay-per-view Saturday August 9, 2008 at 7 p.m. EDT and will be hosted by radio personality and legendary female rapper Monie Love, New York City DJ and MTV host Cipha Sounds and nationally syndicated radio talk show host Wendy Williams. The judges who will decide who wins the Million Dollar Grand Prizes include: DMC of Run DMC, Rakim of Eric B and Rakim, Big Daddy Kane, Yo-Yo, Dougie Fresh, Roxanne Shante and Slick Rick.

“We want to make sure the judges are so official, that their decision as to who is the better rapper is beyond reproach. And the list is still not done,” said Furqaan Clover the events organizer.

The Rap Battle Tournament will consist of 6 categories with Championship Prizes in each category.

1. Heavyweight Male (ages 25 and up), Championship Prize $1,000,000 CASH!!!
2. Heavyweight Female (ages 25 and up), Championship Prize $1,000,000 CASH!!!
3. Middleweight Male (ages 21 to 24), Championship Prize $500,000 CASH!!!
4. Middleweight Female (ages 21 to 24), Championship Prize $500,000 CASH!!!
5. Lightweight Male (ages 18 to 20), Championship Prize $250,000 CASH!!!
6. Lightweight Female (ages 18 to 20), Championship Prize $250,000 CASH!!!