Concerts: New York City Hip Hop - November 2009

Do you ever find yourself bored as hell on odd nights of the week? Are you trying to spice up your life a bit? Well there's nothing that the right hip hop concert won't fix. Here's my picks for NYC this month.

Hit Play Button to Preview a Few Tracks by Artists in Concert this Month!

Who: J.J. BROWN Connect The Dots Album Release Party Ft. Louis Logic, Craig G, Reef The Lost Cauze, Poison Pen, Block McCloud, and more special guests! - Hosted by Miz Metro
When: Tuesday, Nov 10, 2009 9:00 PM (7:30 PM Doors)
Where: S.O.B.'s
Ages: 18 and Over
How Much: $10 Advance / $12 Day Of Show
Why you should go: This bunch of up-and-comers have actually been around for a while if you check your history + I love Reef The Lost Cauze (Spittin’ straight up fire from Philly!)
Website

Who: Warren G with U-N-I and Kidz In The Hall
When: Tue, November 10, 2009 @ 8:00 PM
Where: Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey Street, New York, NY 10002
Ages: 18 and Over
How Much: $20
Why you should go: Warren G is the king of laid back west coast rap grooves. You will want to light up some indo when you here this Cali DPG (Fun fact: He is Dr. Dre’s step-brother).
Website

Who: The Roots Present: The Jam with Guest Performer Nneka
When: Tuesday, November 10/17/24, 2009 @ 12:00 PM
Where: Highline Ballroom
Ages: All
How Much: $10 Advance / $12 Door
Why you should go: The Roots are hip hop’s greatest band with one of it’s most fiery lyricists Black Thought. They play every week on Tuesday at the Highline (but that’s no excuse to wait).
Website

Who: Ghostface Killah Wizard of Poetry Tour with Skyzoo, Sosh B, Fashawn, Blu & Exile
When: Wednesday, November 11, 2009 @ 7:00 PM
Where: B.B. King Blues Club & Grill
Ages: 16 and Over
How Much: $26 Advance / $30 Door
Why you should go: Ok, Ghostface is the man. If you wanna see a real show by a hip-hop legend who has made up more words than Shakespeare, now is the time. Love him in concert.
Website

Who: FRIDAY THE 13th HIP-HOP MASSACRE - GOODIE MOB REUNION TOUR (All Original Members: CEE-LO+BIG GIPP+KHUJO+T-MO) + SCARFACE OF GETO BOYS + SLICK RICK (Backing by live band = Bad Rabbits) + Special Guest: OUTASIGHT
When: Friday, November 13 @ 11:30 PM
Where: B.B. King Blues Club & Grill
Ages: 16 and Over
How Much: $35 Advance / $40 Day of Show
Why you should go: This is the PREMIER show of the month. Goodie Mob + Scarface are to the South what Biggie was to NY and 2Pac was to Cali. And Slick Rick is the mentor for all the Jay-Z’s and Nas’s of the world. Top that.
Website

Who: Afrika Bambaataa "35th Anniversary Of Hip-Hop Culture" - Naughty By Nature (Headliner), Positive K, Grand Master Melle Mel, Chill Rob G, Large Professor, Craig G, Shaheim, Dana Dane, DJ DP One/DJ Chuck Chillout
When: Sunday, Nov 15, 2009 9:00 PM (7:00 PM Doors)
Where: S.O.B.'s
Ages: 21 and Over
How Much: $25 Advance / $30 Day Of Show
Why you should go: If you are an old school hip hop head, then you already know why you should go. 35 years isn’t long for something so amazing. Hip Hop will never die.
Website

Who: GRANDMASTER ROC RAIDA HIP-HOP TRIBUTE BENEFIT CONCERT: DITC, IMMORTAL TECHNIQUE, BRAND NUBIAN, GRAND PUBA, THE BEATNUTS, LARGE PROFESSOR - Hosted by: LORD SEAR - Music by : DJ BOOGIE BLIND (FROM THE X-ECUTIONERS) - MORE ARTISTS TO BE ANNOUNCED…
When: Tuesday, Nov 17, 2009 9:00 PM (8:00 PM Doors)
Where: S.O.B.'s
Ages: 21 and Over
How Much: $18 Advance / $22 Day Of Show
Why you should go: First, ALL PROCEEDS GO TO ROC RAIDA’S FAMILY. Second, holy shit this lineup is Off The Books.
Website

Who: The Seventh Seal Tour: Rakim with Guest Performer Rhymefest
When: Thursday, November 19, 2009 @ 9:00 PM
Where: B.B. King Blues Club and Grill
Ages: 16 and Over
How Much: $30 Advance / $35 Day of Show
Why you should go: Rakim is the innovator of the modern rap flow and one of the most influential MC’s ever. He has a New Album coming out called The Seventh Seal. It’s been 10 years since his last solo album and dude is still fire on the M-I-C. He is a rap God.
Website

Who: Eyedea & Abilities with Guest Performers Themselves
When: Friday, November 27th, 2009 @ 9:00 PM
Where: Knitting Factory Brooklyn
Ages: All Ages
How Much: $12 Advance
Why you should go: Eyedea & Abilities started out a battle MC/DJ combo, but now have turned to the more deep and experimental side of hip hop with their new album By The Throat. They are part of the Rhymesayers Entertainment label, which is an underground hip hop powerhouse.
Website

If I missed any significant concerts, please hit up the comments box below.

Note: DMX show at B.B. King was cancelled.

Concerts: Roc Raida Tribute [10/22/09] & Duck Down Showcase [10/24/09]

This past week I had the chance to go to 2 fabulous gatherings representing both of the two-letter elements of the hip hop underground - DJ's and MC's.

The first concert was a tribute to one of the great turntablist DJ's in hip hop, Grandmaster Roc Raida, who passed away unexpectedly on September 19, 2009 from complications after two surgeries from a mixed-martial arts accident. This man was part of the legendary DJ troupe The X-Ecutioners (formerly named the X-Men), was the first man from New York to bring home the DMC World DJ Championship title in 1995, was knighted as a Grandmaster DJ, released 7 solo albums and 3 more with the X-Ecutioners, was an accomplished producer, and was the DJ for the artists Show & AG, Big L, Lord Finesse and most recently Busta Rhymes.

You could tell how legendary the man was when you saw all the famous DJ's, producers, and MC's on the stage that came to pay homage to Roc Raida. Legends like Kool Herc and Large Professor were in the building. The extensive list of DJ's included: The Beat Junkies (J-Rocc, Babu, Rhettmatic, Shortkut), Craze, A-Trak, DJ Scratch, Roli Rho, Idee, DJ Dummy, Slyce, Shiftee, and Z-Trip. Of course there were even more names that just showed up in the background like Clark Kent, DJ Skribble, and many others that I'm forgetting or never heard of. And then at the end of the night, Busta Rhymes came out and praised Roc Raida and his family for a good 15 minutes on stage. It was quite inspiring to know that Roc Raida touched all these people's lives in some way.



It was awesome to see so many legends and DJ's cutting it up on stage and performing the routines that Raida used to do himself. It's so crazy what these guys can do with just two turntables, like making new beats with no musical instruments just by cutting up two records. It makes me wish I could be that good on my own turntables without putting in the years of dedication it takes.

Smif-N-Wessun at Duck Down Showcase

Musical Concert Recap - Press to Play Songs*

The second concert was the Duck Down Showcase. This concert represented the MC portion of my weekend and it was FUCKING AWESOME. So many underground artists were there and they all just came out and rocked the mic back-to-back with DJ Evil Dee of Da Beatminerz on the mix. First, Masta Ace & Edo. G came out as a tag team because these two legends are recording an album under the moniker A&E called Arts & Entertainment. Check out the track A's & E's*. Also, I was so pumped when Ace did his song Good Ol' Love*. Shortly after came Geologic of the Seattle group Blue Scholars (unfortunately the DJ/Producer Sabzi couldn't be there and I almost cried because he is one of my few hip hop heroes). Geo smashed it on his song Loyalty*. Then Skyzoo broke it down with his new single The Beautiful Decay* followed by Kidz in the Hall (Penn Alumni!!) who looked way more the part of hip hop artists since the last time I saw them in Philly two years ago. No longer fresh out of college, these dudes performed their smash singles Wheelz Fall Off ('06 Til)* and Drivin' Down The Block (Low End Theory)*. Then Marco Polo and Torae came out with a quick set (I really just wanted Masta Ace to come out and do the song Nostalgia* with Marco. This flowed straight into Sean Price (aka Ruck) who was joined by Rock to reunite them as the group Heltah Skeltah. Then Smif-N-Wessun stomped through with crazy energy and some of their classic material like Bucktown* and Sound Bwoy Bureill*. Next came Buckshot of the group Black Moon who is the leader of the Boot Camp Clik (also made up of Heltah Skeltah, Smif-N-Wessun, & O.G.C.). You could tell by all of their intensity that these guys have been doing it for a long time ('93-'95 era). Then two guest appearances surprised the crowd as Pharoahe Monch and Sadat X came out. First, Pharoahe and Sean Price smacked the crowd with their unbelievable song on the Tronic album by Black Milk called The Matrix* and as always Pharoahe performed his most famous song Simon Says*. Finally, to round out the amazing evening all the rappers came back out on stage and watched the Boot Camp Clik rock a few songs that they've collaborated on in the past.

This was one of the cooler hip hop events I've been too in recent years. It was not very crowded (probably because events with this many performers are billed under names like Duck Down Showcase) and all the legends came outside the venue after the show and talked to people. Geologic of Blue Scholars told me that him and Sabzi would be moving to NY to record their next album and Beth gave Geo a vinyl record that she painted of a stencil of Sabzi (like the one pictured below). Geo promised to give it to Sabzi and then took her picture with the record (Very exciting).

Overall, this was what a true hip hop event is supposed to be like, with true hip hop fans, and artists from all backgrounds and experience just rocking on the same stage for the love of it.

Concerts: October 2009

Duck Down Crew

I got 4 juicy October concert listings for my New York area folks that might make you spend some money in this recession...

Who: AUDIBLE TREATS CMJ SHOWCASE: SOULS OF MISCHIEF, TANYA MORGAN, TRINITY (A.G., Sadat X, DJ Jab), KAM MOYE aka SUPASTITION, ODDISEE
When: Thursday, October 22, 2009 9:00 PM
Where: Southpaw, Brooklyn
Ages: 18 and over
How Much: $5 advance/$10 day of show
Why you should go: Because underground hip hop lives in Brooklyn and it just feels so raw
Website

Who: Duck Down Showcase: Blue Scholars, Smif-N-Wessun, Buckshot, 9th Wonder, Da Beatminerz, Sean Price, Ruste Juxx, Skyzoo, Team Facelift, Kidz In The Hall, and Marco Polo & Torae
When: Saturday, October 24, 2009 9:00 PM
Where: The Gramercy Theatre, New York
Ages: 16 and over
How Much: Who cares? But seriously…$20
Why you should go: It’s actually not possible to fit all of these awesome rappers on the same stage. The universe might collapse on itself so enjoy this concert while we still exist. Oh yeah, and I'll be there.
Website

Who: Snoop Dogg, Redman, and Method Man
When: Wednesday, October 28, 2009 7:00 PM
Where: Starland Ballroom, Sayreville, NJ
Ages: All? But shouldn’t be.
How Much: $40, but you know Ticketmaster, so that means $50 and parking is $6
Why you should go: Some of the coolest rappers to ever grace a stage come together to have a concert / cannabis cup.
Website

Who: CORMEGA with special guests LARGE PROFESSOR, HAVOC, FEME, LES, PREMIER, PETE ROCK, DR PERIOD, BUCKWILD
When: Thursday, October 29, 2009 9:00 PM
Where: SOB’s, New York
Ages: 21 and over
How Much: $15 at door
Why you should go: CD release party for Cormega’s New Album “Born & Raised”. For fifteen bucks at the door and all those guests, this would spice up anyone’s Thursday night.
Website

Think it over with this new video from Blue Scholars about Hawaii. And watch Sabzi eating throughout the whole video.

Concerts: September 2009

For all my New York hip hop fans, FIVE local concert updates...

1) Awesome lineup here: Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Method Man, Beanie Sigel, Talib Kweli, Slick Rick, Busta Rhymes, Lyfe Jennings and DJ Kid Capri (hosted by Diddy and Peter Rosenberg) on Tuesday, Sep 8 @ 9:00 PM at Santos Party House in NYC (21+: Tickets:). This just seems like a miniature version of Rock The Bells with general admission at $30. One word: Amazing.

2) Jay-Z will be putting on a benefit concert at Madison Square Garden on Friday, Sep 11 @ 8:00 PM and will air live on Fuse TV(Tickets go on presale Mon, 08/31/09 10:30 AM). Jay is also promoting the release of his new album The Blueprint 3 on the same day (expect the album review and download soon!!). All proceeds will go to the New York Police and Fire Widows' and Children's Benefit Fund (expected almost 1 million dollars). Thanks HOVA, very smart. More info at http://www.answerthecall.org

3) If you can't afford Madison Square Garden, or Jay-Z sold it out (for the 8th time), Naughty by Nature will be playing their hits and some songs off their upcoming album at Le Poisson Rouge on Friday, Sep 11 @ 11:00 PM. This joint is usually a weekly dance party called The Freedom Party (21+: Tickets $10).

4) Wanna see a bunch of crazy white rappers blaze the mic? Jedi Mind Tricks and R.A. the Rugged Man are coming to the Highline Ballroom on Sunday, Sep 13 @ 9:00 PM for the Hell Awaits Tour (Tickets $19 day of show). Show also featuring Reef the Lost Cauze (not white / less crazy) who is simply amazing live. Expect a bangin' show.

5) Common will be a featured artist at Madison Square Garden in NYC on Monday, Sep 28 @ 7:30 PM for Maxwell's BLACKsummers'night Tour also featuring Chrisette Michele. With Com, you can always expect him to do a mix of his new and older stuff.

Check out some old school Common with his alternate version of Resurrection below. Gotta love the handshakes in the video.