This past weekend I headed out to Brooklyn to check the fifth annual Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival. Since this was my second BHHF, I knew going in that there was a lot of high-quality hip-hop in store, including a slew of surprise guests that weren’t announced on the bill. Even with heavy rain on the forecast, the event coordinators did an excellent job of moving things under a pretty large tent just behind the lawn where the concert was going to be held originally. Overall, the lineup was a bit underwhelming for my own liking, but besides Blu & Exile, I thought it was a slight improvement from last year. Luckily almost every act came through strong, and the Brooklyn Bodega put together an almost flawless non-profit event that brought tons of different hip-hop heads together.

Hit the skip for a breakdown of every artists set…

Brokn.Englsh

Originally, I believe that there were suppose to be two stages, but since the forecast said rain, it appeared the combined both stages onto the main tented stage. Arriving a bit late, I believe I only missed Eagle Nebula, but was just in time to see the homies Brokn.Englsh rock the mic. Most of the small name acts only got about 5-7 minutes on stage, but Brokn definitely utilized their time wisely, letting out all their energy out there as they showcased their rapping ability. First time I saw them live, but I was extremely impressed by their overall composure out there. Definitely looking forward to seeing more performances from the NJ natives in the future.

Nyle

Moving quickly, up next was Nyle, you may know him from that video for “Let the Beat Build” we posted not too long ago here on the site. Telling from his short performance, this kid has all the potential in the world to become an elite emcee even with a live band, with which he utilized for his set. He has tons of energy, jumping off stage and into the crowd, and he definitely has a great rapping ability. Not too familiar with his catalogue besides the joint from the video, but he certainly had some bangers, and he utilized them well to get the crowd moving swiftly. The crowd by the way was already pretty deep, considering it was only about 2:30 or 3 pm!

Donny Goines

With the conclusion of another quick set, Donny Goines came to perform another high-energy set. This was another first time act for me, but once again I was quite impressed by his prowess on stage. He ran through what appeared to be a few cuts from his most recent album, The Breakfast Club. Donny killed it like a veteran, just him and his DJ, as he wheeled through a bunch of banging tracks, almost as if the threat of rain was non-existent.

Metermaids

Next up were two relatively new faces to the crowd, a very unorthodox act to say the least. I am not  a huge fan of these guys on record to begin with, and wasn’t too big of a fan of their performance either. They held down the stage relatively well with a live band, but it was just a little too in your face for what seemed like a laidback, old school hip-hop crowd. I was feeling a few joints, but just couldn’t get as interested as I wanted to, considering I just never really listened to any of there catalogue.

Kel Spencer

Up to the plate next for a quick set was Kel Spencer. Don’t know too much about this BK native, but I think he did a good job on stage. Nothing too spectacular, but he definitely held is own out there. The crowd was also multiplying at this point, so it was impressive to see him stay composed in front of quite a large crowd. Can’t tell you any of the songs he performed, but nothing that really held my attention for too long.

Brown Bag All-Stars

This was most likely my least favorite performance right here. I believe it was a five-man crew that came on stage, some of them were better than others, but overall it just wasn’t doing it for me. I believe some of these guys are based out of Fat Beats NYC, so they are definitely hip-hop heads, there production definitely showed that. It had a very 90’s boom-bap feel too it, but it just lacked a bit in the lyrical department. It might have been better to move these guys down a little bit to give some of the earlier acts a slightly longer set, but that is just a minor gripe. They actually seemed to hold the crowds attention quite nicely, probably because of their local status.

KeysNKrates

Moving on to some of the slightly longer sets came one of my favorite acts of the day. Haven’t really heard of this Toronto/NYC group, but they absolutely killed it. As you can tell from the name, a DJ and a keys player rocked in unison, along with a live drummer, remixing some hip-hop classics. My favorite part was when they ran through some Tribe joints, adding their two cents as they chopped up lyrics and played the melodies on the keys. It is nice to see some artists like this add a different spin on hip-hop. I think stuff like this is the future of the genre, definitely be on the lookout for them.

Tiye Phoenix

I Hadn’t heard of Tiye until about a week ago when Marty turned me on to her solo LP, Half Woman/Half Amazin’. A very solid record that had me intrigued to witness a live performance. She ran through some recognizable album tracks rather effortlessly  like any veteran emcee would, and added a few singing notes as well. A very good mix of powerful feminist songs that certainly held the attention of the attendees. This is another rising star from the festival that I will be watching to make some big moves.

Chip Fu

Don’t know too much about Chip other than a few appearances he has had over the years. He actually did a great job during his short set, nothing that I recognized but I thought it was a fair showing. If I am not mistaken, NYOIL also joined the stage to spit a quick few bars. Not too much else to say about this one.

Marco Polo & Torae

Double Barrel dropped a few weeks ago, not an amazing release, but solid to say the least. They ran through “Double Barrel”, “Party Crashers”, and a few more cuts before concluding their set. Torae always amazes me on the microphone. This is probably my third or fourth time seeing him rock it and was definitely his best. He has an amazing stage presence and ability to completely shred the mic.

Tanya Morgan

Tanya Morgan was actually not on the original bill, but they came out for about seven minutes to perform some dope cuts from Brooklynati like “So Damn Down” and “Bang N Boogie”. It actually wasn’t even the full Tanya Morgan as Ilyas was absent, leaving just Donwill and Von Pea on stage. I still think they did a good job playing for the local audience without him though. Von Pea’s energy was exceptional in my opinion, he definitely knows how to get the crowd hyped.

Homeboy Sandman

I guess with Sandman, you either have to know him and his music prior to seeing him perform, or you just have to be naturally open-minded. I don’t say this because he is a lack luster emcee, I say it because his rapping style is so unorthodox that you need to take a serious look past his wacky delivery to find the inner meaning of his lyrics. Of course many people just don’t have time for this and immediately choose to boo. But I definitely expected that as Sandman ran through some tracks produced by Shawn J Period. Homeboy also hosted much of the earlier half of the show, which seemed to go over much better with the audience.

Smif N Wessun

I can’t say I am that well emerged in the Smif N Wessun movement, but I can certainly appreciate some of their classic joints. Luckily that is exactly what they played. My favorite of course being “Bucktown”, one of my top hip-hop joints of all time. It was amazing to see the older audience that these guys brought out to the park, and they still go absolutely nuts for them. During their set the guard rail behind me was twisting and turning as people pressed up to get a closer glimpse of Tek and Steele in the flesh. Buckshot also came out to do a few songs with the Boot Camp Clik, another very nice surprise. Overall their performance stood at the top of the festival, quite impressive to see that they still got it.

J Period & Grand Puba

On the bill it originally stated that it was going to be DJ J Period spinning as Grand Puba held down the mic duties. But what was originally a DJ/Emcee act, soon turned into a “Live Mixtape” as J brought out tons of awesome special guests. First out was NYC undergrounder, OC as he did a few songs that I couldn’t quite name. Next up was Brand Nubian who also ran through about three cuts, my favorite of course being, “Slow Down”. The next guest came out of I don’t think too many expected, but it tore the house down. Black Thought walked out and went bizerk with two mics in his hands as he kicked it off with “The Next Movement”, which happened to be a crowd favorite. This was the first time I caught Though live with a DJ instead of The Roots, so it was interesting to see more of the spotlight directly on him. Let me tell you, this guy amazes me every single time, it was like the world stopped and stared to see this guy rap his ass off, and he came through once again.

DJ Premier

Not really a fan of the live DJ Premier set. It seems like every time he plays the same songs and he yells some random stuff at the top of his lungs. As usual he ran through mostly Gang Starr joints, asking the crowd over and over if they remember this. Yes Premo, we remember this…

Dead Prez

This was my second time seeing Dead Prez on stage, I was a bit more impressed this time, probably due to the local venue and the up-close and personal element of the set. M-1 and Stic.Man did a relatively short set running through some new and old material. DJ Green Lantern made two appearances throughout the set, throwing all sorts of freebies promoting the new Dead Prez record Pulse of the People, produced entirely by Green Lantern. Of course, the conclusion of the set was met by the performance of one of hip-hop’s favorite’s “Hip-Hop”. It’s astonishing how much this record hits, and the crowd always goes crazy.

Styles P

I am not the biggest D-Block fan, but I can say that Styles completely blew up that flimsy tent they had set up in Empire Fulton Ferry State Park. It actually seemed like a majority of the people that came out to the show were groupies of Styles P more than any of the other acts. Sheek Louch also joined Styles on stage from the get-go, quite a high caliber hype man if you ask me. He also got his fair share of verses in, but P stole the show. Black Thought also joined the stage once again, but instead of doing, “Rising Down”, a song where they both appear on, Black did his verse on “Get Busy”. No complaints there but it would have been nice to see them perform that together. Styles ran through some new material as well as the D-Block classics we all know and love.

Pharoahe Monch

By the time Pharoahe was set to take the stage, it appeared that the festival was running just a tad late. It also seemed like a substantial amount of people bounced after Styles left the stage, that surprised me a bit to see the large following that he had at the event. None the less, I was excited to see one of my all-time favorites hit the stage for approximately thirty minutes with a live band. Pharoahe ran through some cuts from Desire including “Free” and “Let’s Go”, some older classics like, “Oh No” and ending it with the show-stopping, “Simon Says”. Also a very special guest, Milk Dee, came out to perform his classic record, “Top Billin’”, which was very entertaining. Despite what sounds like a very strong setlist, I felt like some energy was lacking in the performance overall. Maybe it was the weather or the absence of some of the fans, but the place was still packed and not a drop of water had dripped through the tent. I also wish that Styles P came on at some point to perform “My Life” with Pharoahe. The set was also cut a bit short, probably due to curfew issues since it was in an outdoor park.

Despite the severe threat of rain showers and thunderstorms, the show went on. The folks at Brooklyn Bodega did a superb job running a relatively smooth ship, despite the over capacity crowd, actually having to turn several folks away. This was a free event, although you were encouraged to donate, which almost everyone did. Also, according to the website, almost all of the artists performed for free, something I don’t think happens to often these days. Overall just a great vibe, great music and an excellent cause kept this festival going. I am looking forward to the continued evolution of this young event, and attending for many years to come.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 24th, 2009 at 2:49 pm and is filed under Concert Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.