Summerstage at Red Hook Park: Flatbush Zombies and Rakim (Recap, Photos, Video)

Though summer doesn’t officially start for another couple of weeks, the City Parks Foundation’s SummerStage events are well underway.

Last week fans were treated to two of New York’s most popular acts, the legendary Rakim and Brooklyn’s own Flatbush Zombies. Both shows were held at Red Hook Park in Brooklyn.

Flatbush Zombies hit the venue first on Tuesday. Though they didn’t start their performance until around 8 p.m., by 7 p.m. a massive crowd was already forming in the park.

Bass thundered throughout the block as the Zombies opened the show with the hit “MRAZ.”

The overall energy in their performance was very reminiscent of Wu Tang Clan with a heavy lean toward ODB, maybe with a splash of Wiz Khalifa. The stage was packed with entourage and their hype-folks mixed with the Zombies’ became a potent concoction of infectious hype.

Not a single fan stood still throughout the performance. Flatbush Zombies’ more popular hits like “Thug Waffle” or the collaborative effort “Bath Salt” instigated near-pandemonium.

Though some may question their lyrical content, these guys know how to do a show. The ferocity of their performance is even more impressive considering their relative newness to the rap game.

Aside from a few overly-rowdy fans, premature moshing and a few minutes of technical difficulties, the show was thoroughly enjoyable. With energetic guest appearances from The Underachievers and A$AP Mob, plenty of crowd surfing and teeth-rattling bass, Tuesday’s SummerStage event was a welcome retreat from the woes of the work week.

Wednesday night, the God MC himself hit the stage.

The atmosphere was a marked change from the Flatbush Zombies show just 24 hours earlier. Though the crowd was generally older, the energy was just as strong as the previous night.

Few rappers can emcee on Rakim’s level in the booth and even fewer can match his skills in crowd manipulation. Simply putting the mic to the crowd and bobbing his head sent ripples through the massive gathering of fans, many of whom rattled along Rakim’s classic songs word for word.

Besides the music, one of Rakim’s greatest performance attributes was his synergy with the DJ.

Rakim and Technician The DJ effectively made the audience as much a part of the show as they themselves were. At one point, each performed the classic, never-fails, crowd hype exercise, urging one half of the audience to out-shout the other.

SEE MORE PICTURES FROM RAKIM AT RED HOOK PARK

Of course, the music was also on point. Rakim performed several classics from his eclectic catalog in short bursts while Technician mixed and cut in between. Highlights include “Don’t Sweat the Technique,” “Mahogany” and of course, “Juice,” the fast-paced crowd favorite.

At the crest of his show, Rakim began bringing out guest artists, most notably Sadat X of Brand Nubian fame, Styles P of The Lox/D-Block and Young Dirty Bastard, the son of Wu Tang’s ODB, bearing a striking resemblance to his late father, visually and sonically, as he performed “Brooklyn Zoo,” to the delight of the prideful Brooklynites assembled.

In all, the show was a textbook example of a hip hop show done right, by a professional veteran with an eager and receptive audience,  even going slightly over the time limit, ending about ten minutes later than scheduled.

If the performances by Flatbush Zombies and Rakim were any indication, this year’s SummerStage indeed will be one for the books.

For a calendar of SummerStage concerts, visit THE CALENDAR on BirthplaceMag.com