The Big Apple was in full effect last night (Monday, March 22), at the “I Love NY Hip-Hop” concert at B.B. King Blues Club. Juelz Santana, Maino and Red Café graced the stage to a packed the house, despite a rainy night.
The show started with DJ Envy and DJ Self warming up the sold out crowed before Red Café took the stage around 11 p.m. The Flatbush-bred MC recited his current hits, “Hottest In The Hood and “I’m Ill.” Red shocked fans by bringing out fellow Brooklyn rapper Fabolous, who performed to some of his classic records, as well as “Body Ya” off of his latest DJ Drama hosted mixtape There is no Competition 2: The Funeral Service. Before Fab exited the stage, DJ Self played his “Swag Surfin” remix which found Juelz and Maino joining RC and Loso onstage together to perform the song live for the first time.
BK was definitely in the building as Maino screamed “Where Brooklyn At?” The Hustle Hard artist reminded the fans that he’s unstoppable, as he rhymed along to some of his tracks off of his mixtapes before getting into his hits like “Hi Hater,” “Million Bucks,” and “All Of The Above” off of his debut album If Tomorrow Comes…
A little after midnight, Santana took the stage to close out the show. The Harlemite took it back to the old Dipset era by performing his verses to “Hey Ma,” “Oh Boy,” and “Dipset Anthem.” Juelz showed the crowed that he’s “What The Game’s Been Missing” by performing some of his solo tracks like “Oh Yes,” “Shottas,” “Clockwork” and “Make It Work For You” off of his last album. The Skull Gang leader ended the show by performing “Harlem Forever,” “Back To The Crib” and “Beamer, Benz, Or Bentley.”
Everyone at Cali Christmas (Power 106), from the once world-crushing rapper 50 Cent on down to the welcome young crooner Jeremih, had a streak of self-deprecation to their acts.
Maybe it came from the humbling fact that their genres, which once prided themselves on distinctions between being gangsta and being a gentleman, are now indistinguishable -- and nobody can sound too thuggish over today's dominant Euro-trance beats and thin sales figures. Still, the shift humanized the boys' boasts regarding their earning and bedroom prowess in convincing ways.
Brooklyn rapper Fabolous has long operated at the fringes of pop while maintaining credibility as a dense, lyrical MC. His most recent album, "Loso's Way," sported the unfortunate Carrie Bradshaw-worthy shopping anthem "Throw It in the Bag." But during his set Wednesday, he made some welcome detours through his earlier, much flintier material.
From an opposite vantage point, T-Pain's lush robot quaver has become maybe the defining sound of pop radio in the latter years of this decade. His secret is that he's actually a fantastic singer and arranger; every single comes stacked with inventive harmonies and a playful way with melody. He's a much smarter songwriter than titles like "I'm N Luv (Wit a Stripper)" might lead one to believe, but he also refuses to take himself seriously.
50 Cent has had a tougher time of that in recent months. After Kanye West skunked him on the 2007 sales charts, 50 has struggled mightily to return to his "Get Rich or Die Trying"-era dominance. But one forgets that the 50 Cent who wrote "How to Rob" -- an older track that remains his most exciting song -- was a sneering underdog, not the guy who celebrates an actual "Curtis Jackson Day" in his über-rich enclave of Bridgeport, Conn.
50 does better when people don't see him coming. New singles like "Psycho" have a touch of his old menace; at Cali Christmas, he hit the high points of his conflicted new album "Before I Self Destruct," like the glitched-up ragtime-piano burner "So Disrespectful."
