Posdnuos of De La Soul, the headliners of this year’s festival.
Assata Rhodes enjoys the warm atmosphere and this is her fourth year attending the Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival.
The view from backstage.
Backstage at the Brooklyn Hip Hop festival.
There are very few places where you’d see 40 year olds and 14 year olds all at the same concert, bopping and mouthing the words to the same songs, but on a muggy and rainy Saturday afternoon that was the scene as people of all ages came together to celebrate classic Hip Hop.
Hip Hop legends, and perhaps soon to be legends took to the stage over the weekend for the 6th annual Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival produced by the Brooklyn Bodega. Despite the humidity and even the rain, the vibe under the Brooklyn Bridge in DUMBO Brooklyn was dictated by the positivity of the music.
Hosted by Uncle Ralph McDaniels and with headliners De La Soul along with performances by Pete Rock, CL Smooth, Money Making Jam Boys, Curren$y, Skyzoo, Fashawn and others the Hip Hop festival took the celebration back to it’s roots with a clever mix of iconic artists and new up and coming independent rappers.
The main show started off with Smif-N-Wessun, and BlackMoon for a special performance honoring the 15th anniversary of Duck Down Records. The show then moved into the newer sounds of Money Making Jam Boys, Fashawn, Skyzoo and Curren$y. The “youngins” held their own, but, it was clear who the audience was there to see. As the show got closer to the headliners the crowd grew larger and louder. Everyone went absolutely crazy once the horn and bass sample dropped and Pete Rock and CL Smooth took to the stage and opened with “They Reminisce Over You (“T.R.O.Y.”)
After a few minutes of rocking out with the crowd came the renowned trio De La Soul who hit the stage and had everyone vibing out to “Potholes on my Lawn.” Sprinkled in between were DJ sets by some of the top DJs and of course food, drinks, face painting and even double dutch. It was Hip Hop the Brooklyn way.
