New reality show to debut on BET next week. Before you proceed to “x” out of the page and curse me out, check out the actual premise of the show. With Kid Capri and Just Blaze playing host, big name DJ’s such as DJ Scratch, Jazzy Joyce, DJ Revolution and Rich Medina among others compete for the title. If I was a betting man, my money would be on Scratch. link

Little did I know that I would be called to task for my opinion by DJ Jazzy Joyce, who happened to be sitting behind Esquire preparing for her appearance as the day’s guest lecturer. For those who don’t know, Jazzy is a deejay who came up in the Bronx’s Forest Hills Projects with Fat Joe and the rest of the D.I.T.C. crew. She spent almost a decade working as one of the deejays on Hot 97′s “Ladies Night,” though as far as I’m concerned her greatest contribution to hip hop thus far has been her work with Sweet Tee on the classic 80′s cut It’s My Beat

In any event, as you might guess with a dj who’s been around since the 80′s and who’s spent a large part of her career at Hot 97, Jazzy is a friend of the entire Simmons family and, not surprisingly, was obligated to defend the young Simmons’ honor. After a quick back-and-forth, I was forced to concede that Diggy is certainly a better emcee than his older brother Jojo, occasionally even showcasing a surprisingly nuanced flow on the mixtape. If Diggy was an unknown, unsigned, young emcee I would have been a lot more forgiving of his efforts here. With an official record deal, though, expectations for any artist become considerably higher and I just don’t think he’s quite ready for prime time yet. The biggest problem is that, at such a young age and having grown up in such a privileged environment, Diggy just doesn’t have a whole lot to say yet. Certainly he’ll have experiences further on in life to share with his listeners, but at this point his lyrics consist of little more than talk about his family’s wealth and celebrity, talk that’s only interrupted by the repeated, and hard to believe, protests that the success he’s had as an emcee has not been aided by either his father or Uncle Russ.

Ten dollars for every ticket purchased will go to Scott La Rock’s family. Nice. link

The Video Music Box 25th Anniversary Show was a historic event. The artists either performing or in attendance was a virtual who’s who of Hip-Hop aristocracy (partial list below). The whole concert lasted about three hours with 10-15 minute sets for each act, which meant a steady stream of classic material. If you couldn’t make it to the show and want to get a sense of what tracks were performed, just throw on your best of 80s and 90s hip-hop mixtapes.

I gotta give props to Ralph McDaniels and crew for a few things that added to the show’s success. One is keeping the event so organized. Even with the hustle and bustle of artists continuously going on and off stage, everything ran smoothly. Also, the set lengths. There was always enough entertainment throughout the night to keep the crowd involved and on their toes. Of course, major props are due for the line up. Honestly, when was the last time you heard Spoonie Gee, Schoolly D or Milk Dee rock the mic? Let alone at the same free event! Throw on the fact that none of the artists who hit the stage got paid a cent. They all did it out of love and respect for Uncle Ralph and Video Music Box. Hip-Hop unity at its finest.

Obviously, there are plenty of highlights I could run through like Ralph showing off his DJ Clark Kent designed Air Force One’s made specifically for the anniversary. Or July 18th being officially declared Video Music Box Day by Mayor Bloomberg and Governor Paterson. However, the livest part of the whole show was when the Sugar Hill Gang hit the stage to the tune of Rapper’s Delight. By now, most of us should know the back story behind Big Hank’s verse. After Wonder Mike finished up, I wondered how the crowd would react to Hank’s part of the song. The answer was that they didn’t get a chance to because Grandmaster Caz suddenly ran onto the stage and started spitting the rhymes! The icing on the cake was when Rahiem and Mele Mel of Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five joined everybody up there. Amazing.

Big ups to Ralph for being the first and putting in 25 years of hard work. And here’s to another 25+! I got video footage for most of the sets but until those are edited and uploaded onto our youtube channel, check out some pictures I snapped in between recordings (after the jump).

Sugar Hill Gang
Grandmaster Caz
Rahiem
Mele Mel
Lovebug Starski
Crash Crew
Chubb Rock
Naughty By Nature
Nice & Smooth
Special Ed
Milk Dee
Spoonie Gee
Schoolly D
Dana Dane
DJ Jazzy Joyce
O.C.
A.G.
Fab 5 Freddy
Kool Herc
Awesome 2
Mr. Cheeks
Kool DJ Red Alert
Large Professor
Dres
Hakim (of Channel Live)

Sugar Hill Gang, Grandmaster Caz, Rahiem and Mele Mel

Special K

Smooth B

Ralph McDaniels and Kool Herc

Ralph McDaniels

Rahiem

Naughty By Nature

Mele Mel

Kool DJ Red Alert

Greg Nice

Greg Nice

Grandmaster Caz and Rahiem

DJ Jazzy Joyce

Dana Dane

Chubb Rock

2008 Crotona Park Jams, Bronx
Thursdays, July 10, 17, 24 & 31, 2008
6pm – 9pm

Crotona Park by Indian Lake
Charlotte St. & Crotona Park East
Bronx NYC 10460

Free! All Ages! Host: GrandMaster Caz. Legends only line up recreates true school park jams from the 70′s and early 80′s. A Hip Hop dream com true! Held in association with The Friends of Crotona Park and Councilmember Joel Rivera.

July 10: DJ Scratch, Jazzy Joyce & PopMaster Fabel
July 17: DJs GrandMaster Caz, Red Alert & Mix Master Ice
July 24: DJs Lord Finesse, Steve Dee, Rockin Rob + Busy Bee
July 31: GrandWizzard Theodore, DJ Cash Money & Jazzy Jay with special guest T La Rock