I Love NY Hip Hop Concert Review [3-22-10]

Hip hop was in an Empire State of Mind last night on 42nd Street, and Jay-Z was nowhere around.

The “I Love New York Hip Hop Concert” set out to be, in essence, a rap pep rally for the United Boroughs of Hip Hop America, each area beaten back by years of audience oversight and industry neglect, but still able to send forth some of rap’s brightest talent to defend the honor of the former regional rap superpower. Wielding lyrical firepower, the strength of a few hit records and the spirit of those who came before them to guide them, New York rap lieutenants Red Café, Maino and Juelz Santana valiantly tried to prove that Big Apple hip hop is indeed alive and well.

A packed B.B. King Blues Club showed that, at the very least, New York artists could indeed draw a crowd, even if their names don’t start with 50 or end in Z. Power 105.1’s DJ Envy and DJ Self were on hand to administer the hosting and crowd-hyping duties, and after a typical borough round-robin shoutout session, the opener, Mysonne, of the Bronx, came out and introduced himself, and then the theme of the evening, changing into a “$5 I Love New York t-shirt”, performing a freestyle over Drake’s “It’s Over”, and his own song “Things That Make You Go Hmm”.

After a moderate lapse between Mysonne and anything else, the show continued with recent Konvict Music signee, French Montana, also from the Bronx, rocking for a bit before bringing out one of the “surprise guests” that the hosts had previously alluded to, Jadakiss, who spit a couple of LOX/D-Block classics and his own recent hit, “Who’s Real”. Jadakiss is an almost universally respected artist, and the unexpected appearance from the veteran artist really started getting the crowd into the mood.

The pace of the show however, sometimes made it difficult to remain so. A bit disjointed, the show reconvened with the introduction of Red Café, who blazed through his heavy-in-the-streets catalog, including “Hottest in the Hood” and current bubbler, “I’m Ill”, and any lapses were soon forgotten. Causing one of the night’s biggest crowd reaction was Café bringing Brooklyn’s Fabolous to the stage during his set, followed by an even bigger swell as the DJ Self remix to “Swag Surfin’” came to life, with Cafe and Fab joined briefly by Maino and Juelz Santana, the first time the foursome performed the song together. The moment hinted at the unity that New York hip hop has been accused of lacking, and for a moment, the theme of the show lived up to it’s promise.

Maino took to the stage shortly thereafter and gave a headliner-worthy performance, whipping through his singalong-worthy catalog, including his breakthrough hit “Hi Hater”, “Million Bucks” (with the obligatory make-it-rain toss of significantly-less-than-a-million-bucks into the crowd), and most emphatically, his anthemic, T-Pain fueled, “All The Above”.

Lastly, Juelz Santana swaggered on stage and lit into his own string of songs and collaboration verses, including “Clockwork”, “Back to the Crib”, his duet with post-Rhianna-scandalized Chris Brown, and the culmination, a Lloyd Banks-less “Beamer, Benz or Bentley”, the smash of the season.

All in all, the night was a strong showing by a harder core Empire State contingent that is out fighting in the fields, doing battle to reverse damage to the New York hip hop armor. B.B. King’s is a great venue, and perfect for the type of up-close-and-personal, but not too grimy or gritty, night that New York hip hop needed. But for a true resurgence to continue, New York will need more than just a handful of charismatic thugs and solid shows in high profile venues to lead the way.

The true potential of the New York area urban music scene may be the combination of these veterans and newer, fresher blood, the artists who are building their live performance chops throughout the NYC showcase circuit, honing their showmanship as we speak. They are almost ready to emerge into a post-CD, post-big-budget-video world where style, substance, and creativity will once again be valued as a package, and the ones who best put those factors together, will help usher in new golden era in New York area rap music. To use a basketball analogy, after years of sitting in last place, fallen from grace, New York hip hop is in a strong rebuilding phase, and soon, new stars will emerge, helped indirectly by those we saw perform last night, who are starting to latch on to the movement to scratch and claw for New York to be recognized as the home of champions once again.

In fact, Maino directly addressed the issue at one point when he paused, shirtless and sweaty in between songs, and directed his attention to “the media” in the house, commanding them to “stop perpetuating that New York hip hop is dead!” (Of course, he wasn’t talking about us, we do quite the opposite).

“This is the NEW New York,” he exclaimed. And while it may not be where it should be, could be, or will be, a night of unity in New York hip hop can only help to further dispel the murmuring that we can’t all just get along.