Troy L. Smith with another great interview, covering a lot of history with Kool Kyle: Hollywood, Eddie Cheeba, Luvbug Starski neck and neck. Pete DJ Jones to Flash, Kool AJ Scratch and Theodore. Keith Cowboy, Busy B to Johnny Wa & Rayon. Disco style of rhyming to MCs singing routines. This is important. Link

Great interview with Tito from the Fearless Four from last summer, sharing all kinds of crazy memories. Too many to mention, I added a few tags to indicate how important he is to all of this. Peace to Jayquan Link

I missed the first. I loved the second. And I’ll definitely be at BB Kings for the third installment of Funkmaster Flex’s Hip-Hop Legends Concert series. link

When dozens of scantily clad girls start frolicking near the water fountain in the local park, it can only mean one thing. Another summer of free Hip-Hop shows around NYC. Get your mind out of the gutter. The two shows I’m looking forward to the most is going down in Queensbridge Park: Sugar Hill Gang and Lovebug Starski & Friends. Raekwon performing in Staten Island should be a great one too. Big ups to City Parks Foundation. Peep the original emcee DJ Hollywood getting down last summer @ Marcus Garvey Park in Harlem. link

Bronx
St. Mary’s Park
146 St. & St. Ann’s Ave.
Tuesday, July 7th: Hector Tricoche y Su Orquesta
Tuesday, July 14th: Paquito Guzman y Su Orquestra
Tuesday, July 21st: N’Klabe

Crotona Park
173 St. & Crotona Park East
Wednesday, July 8th: Soulsonic Force
Wednesday, July 15th: George Lamond / Judy Torres
Wednesday, July 22nd: KRS-One

Brooklyn
Red Hook
Bay St. btwn. Henry St. & Clinton St.
Tuesday, August 4th: Frankie Negron
Tuesday, August 11th: Lisa Lisa
Tuesday, August 18th: DJ Premier vs. Pete Rock hosted by Danny Castro of Lyricist Lounge

Von King Park
Tompkins Ave. btwn. Lafayette Ave. & Greene Ave.
Thursday, July 2nd: Kiki Sheard / Keith Wonderboy Johnson
Thursday, July 9th: MC Lyte
Thursday, July 16th: Chico DeBarge

Brower Park
Brooklyn Ave. & Prospect Park Pl.
Wednesday, July 29th: Wayne Wonder
Wednesday, August 5th: CaRiMi
Wednesday, August 12th: Tribute to the Classics: Black Moon and Smif n Wessun w/ Live Band

Manhattan
East River Park
At the Band Shell along the East River
Between Grand & Jackson Sts.
Thursday, July 16th: Man Man
Thursday, July 23rd: Slick Rick
Thursday, July 30th: Ismael Miranda

Highbridge Park
174 St. & Amsterdam Ave.
Tuesday, August 11th: Andy Andy
Tuesday, August 18th: Xtreme
Tuesday, August 25th: Bachata Heightz / Watata

Marcus Garvey Park
124 St. & Mt. Morris Park
Thursday, August 6th: Jon B
Thursday, August 13th: Joe
Thursday, August 20th: Hezekiah Walker

Queens
Queensbridge Park
41 Ave., Bridge Plaza, Vernon Blvd. & East River
Tuesday, July 14th: Sugar Hill Gang
July 21st: Lovebug Starski & Friends
Tuesday, July 28th: Rhythm Review with Felix Hernandez

Springfield Park
184 St. & 147 Ave.
Thursday, July 30th: Chrisette Michele
Thursday, August 6th: Heather Headley
Thursday, August 13th: James Fortune & Trin-i-tree 57 hosted by Hezekiah Walker

Rochdale Park
Guy R. Brewer Blvd. at 134th Ave.
Thursday, August 20th: The Persuasions

Staten Island
Mahoney Playground
Beechwood Ave., Crescent Ave., Cleveland St. & Jersey St.
Wednesday, August 12th: Raekwon
Wednesday, August 19th: Naughty by Nature

Tappen Park
106 Water St. between Bay St. and Wright St.
Wednesday, August 26th: Rhythm Review with Felix Hernandez

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

Be sure not to miss Lovebug Starski tonight at Crotona Park in the Bronx. Last year, he performed in Harlem and it was one of the best shows I’ve ever been to. The friends he brought out were cats like Mele Mel, Grandmaster Caz, Busy Bee, Doug E Fresh, Kurtis Blow, Kool Herc, T-Ski Valley, Dana Dane, Crash Crew and Mike C (of Fearless Four). I imagine tonight will be a similar experience. I haven’t put up the videos yet but you can check out the pictures in the meantime. Link

Always been a huge fan of CityParks Foundation and these shows. Where else can you see legendary Hip-Hop acts like KRS-One, Big Daddy Kane, Slick Rick, Naughty By Nature, Jungle Brothers and Brand Nubian perform for free? Be sure to come out and support. Link

All concerts begin at 7:00 PM

Bronx
St. Mary’s Park, 146 St. & St. Ann’s Avenue
Tuesday, July 8th: Orquestra Broadway/DJ Louie JR
Tuesday, July 15th: Ray Castro Y Su Cojunto Classico/DJ Louie JR
Tuesday, July 22nd: Frankie Morales & His Mambo Of The Times Orchestra/DJ Louie JR

Crotona Park, 173 St. & Crotona Park East
Wednesday, July 9th: Johnny Pacheco Y Su Tumboa/DJ Louie JR
Wednesday, July 16th: Lovebug Starski & Friends
Wednesday, July 23rd: Tony Touch & Brenda K Starr

Brooklyn
Red Hook, Bay St. btwn. Henry St. & Clinton Street
Tuesday, August 5th: Jungle Brothers
Tuesday, August 12th: BT Express
Tuesday, August 19th: Michael Stuart

Von King Park, Tompkins Ave. btwn. Lafayette Ave. & Greene Avenue
Thursday, July 3rd: Felix Hernandez Rhythm Review
Thursday, July 10th: Whodini
Thursday, July 17th: 21:03 / Kurt Carr

Brower Park, Brooklyn Ave. & Prospect Park Place
Wednesday, July 9th: Brand Nubian
Wednesday, July 16th: Richie Spice
Wednesday, July 23rd: Bahamadia

Manhattan
East River Park, At the Band Shell along the East River btwn. Grand & Jackson Sts.
Thursday, July 17th: The Fiery Furnaces
Thursday, July 24th: KRS-ONE
Thursday, July 31st: Willie Colón

Highbridge Park, 174 St. & Amsterdam Avenue
Tuesday, August 12th: Toby Love
Tuesday, August 19th: Shino Aguakate
Tuesday, August 26th: Tulile

Jackie Robinson Park, 147 St. & Bradhurst Avenue
Wednesday, August 6th: The Chi-Lites
Wednesday, August 13th: Slick Rick
Wednesday, August 20th: Donald Lawrence / DeWayne Woods / The Murrills

Marcus Garvey Park, 124 St. & Mt. Morris Park
Thursday, August 7th: Eclectic Ride presented a live musical tribute to the originators Stevie Wonder & Prince
Thursday, August 14th: Big Daddy Kane
Thursday, August 21st: Rashaan Patterson and Lizz Fields

Queens
Queensbridge Park, 41 Ave., Bridge Plaza, Vernon Blvd. & East River
Tuesday, July 15th: Felix Hernandez Rhythm Review
Tuesday, July 22nd: Naughty by Nature
Tuesday, July 29th: The Delfonics

Springfield Park, 184 St. & 147 Avenue
Thursday, July 31st: Marvin Sapp
Thursday, August 7th: The Chi-Lites
Thursday, August 14th: Main Ingredient featuring Cuba Gooding, Sr.

Staten Island
Mahoney Playground, Beechwood Ave., Crescent Ave., Cleveland St. & Jersey St.
Wednesday, July 30th: The Delfonics
Wednesday, August 1st: Barbara Mason
Wednesday, August 6th: Chubb Rock

Since I start my new job the next day, I convinced myself not to go. Then I receive this flyer and now, I’m not so sure anymore! Also, the promoter or whoever is organizing this event keeps spelling Lovebug Starski‘s name wrong.

see also:
Ralph McDaniels’ The Bridge Live feat. Rakim, Chuck D, Lovebug Starski + more! in Brooklyn, NY (1/20, 8pm)

The Bridge has been one of the best shows on TV in recent years. If you’re not familiar with it, check out some episodes uploaded recently. Not much to say about this except I’ve seen all these cats rock their own sets so bringing ‘em all together should make for an incredible night in Brooklyn. buy tickets (via)

Sunday, January 20th @ 8pm
18+
$20 advance tickets available starting 1/14, 10am

The Bridge Live in Brooklyn (a new series on the golden era of hip hop)
Featuring: Rakim, Chuck D (of Public Enemy), Lovebug Starski.
Plus special guest appearances.

Live video mixes by Ralph McDaniels

see also:
Download Ralph McDaniels’ The Bridge Episodes Now!
Ralph McDaniel’s The Bridge on NYCTV