On Saturday, Hip-Hop invaded Governor's Island in a major way. Rock the Bells 2010 was on deck and it was the best Saturday I had spent in awhile. Great music, great com­pany and best of all, I wit­nessed the return of Lauryn Hill. Yes, Lauryn Hill, whom we have been sum­mon­ing back to exis­tence since I started Tweeting last year, finally blessed us with her pres­ence. Since this is the biggest RTB news, I will start with her. I have been hear­ing people's opin­ions about her per­for­mance. Now I am going to give you mine. Granted, she is not the Lauryn we knew from '95 but, she can still do the damn thing. No, her voice is not the same but she can still flow. She took us through her hits with re-vamped beats and melodies. I caught up with Ms. Hill back­stage where we had a brief chat. The area back­stage was hec­tic so we had to do things quick and when we could get it in. She basi­cally expressed to me that she had been to "hell and back" but that she "remains pos­i­tive". I made sure to tell her that she is almost a daily con­ver­sa­tion topic when dis­cussing the best female rap­per. The smile on her face made me wanna cry. She shook my hand and said. "Thank you sis. I appre­ci­ate the love folks are shar­ing with me here today. I really am." And then she went about her way. The look in her eyes still seemed dis­tant. I can't imag­ine what she went through but it def­i­nitely took it's toll.

Lauryn Hill per­form­ing "Ready or Not"

Old school rep­re­sented as usual.  Eric B and Rakim, KRS-One, Slick Rick (and his entourage of chains) all rep­re­sented their respec­tive albums, per­form­ing the clas­sics.  It is a shame that albums are not cre­ated like those any more.  People are focused on the sin­gle, not the album.

The show was on point from begin­ning to end.  Aside from see­ing Miss Hill, I was excited to see A Tribe Called Quest.  Their set was amaz­ing.  Their energy was through the roof.  I dug deep into the "lyrics learned" sec­tion of my brain and went in as if I was a mem­ber of the group.  They went through all the clas­sics, "Bonita Applebaum", "Scenario", "Electric Relaxation".  They did a  J. Dilla trib­ute and out of the mouth of Q-Tip, "J.Dilla The best pro­ducer ever…" while Swizz Beats stood on the stage… LMAO

Tribe per­form­ing…

Consequence and Phife Dawg

ATCQ, Busta, Swizz per­form­ing "Scenario, Check tha Rhyme…"

The Wu shut it down as usual.  If you have ever been to a Wu show, you know what it is.  With the entire Clan in tow, includ­ing Old Dirty Bastard's son who per­formed his father's parts from the songs on the 36 Chambers album.  He looks and sounds just like his father.  It is a lit­tle freaky.

Wu per­form­ing "Da Mystery of Chessboxing" with an appear­ance by lil ODB

A Wu per­for­mance is def­i­nitely some­thing you have to see. Outside of the Dogg Pound, they are the only other Rap "Group" that can deliver a hard­core per­for­mance.  The Snoop moved through Doggystyle and enlisted the help of the Dogg Pound usual sus­pects.  Warren G, Lady of Rage and RBX were also on hand to per­form.  It was amaz­ing to see this crew, cre­ated so many years ago, still come together and deliver a Class "A" per­for­mance.  Snoop did the damn thing, long blue ban­dana suit and all.

Snoop focused on his way to the stage…

Snoop and tha Dogg Pound per­form­ing "It Ain't No Fun"

I did a few inter­views and have a few cameos on film.  Footage com­ing soon!!! There were a lot of peo­ple on deck to see the show as well.  Jay and Bey, Swizz and Alicia, Chris Rock, John Legend, Mary J. Blige were all back­stage enjoy­ing the show.  Rock the Bells is a show that I make it my busi­ness to attend.  If you have never been, you need to re-evaluate your love for music and get to one.
Jay and Bey…

RZA chop­pin' it up with my cam­era ace @IRunsNY