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Tributes to the 50th anniversary of hip-hop continue with MTV announcing its upcoming special presentation “The Rock The Bells Festival – Celebrating 50 Years of Hip-Hop.”
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Premiering Sept. 19 (11 p.m. ET/8 p.m. PT), the one-hour special will feature performances from a host of hip-hop pioneers. The lineup includes Big Daddy Kane, Method Man & Redman, Monie Love, Queen Latifah, Rakim, Run-D.M.C., Salt-N-Pepa, Swizz Beatz and LL COOL J.
The performances are culled from the 2023 Rock the Bells Festival that took place Aug. 5 at Forest Hills Stadium in Queens, New York. The legendary lineup for the second annual festival also boasted rap trailblazers such as The Roots, Ludacris, De La Soul, Slick Rick, Fabolous, MC Lyte, Yo-Yo, Roxanne Shanté, Brand Nubian and the Lost Boyz.
LL COOL J
Rock The Bells
“This was a special year for the culture and for Rock the Bells in curating this experience, bringing together the icons of hip-hop,” LL COOL J tells Billboard. “It’s always a privilege to play for my hometown crowd in New York City. We really loved putting on this year’s second annual Rock the Bells festival to a sold-out crowd in Queens. Through this special airing on MTV, we’re excited for fans at home around the world to be able to feel some of the great energy from that day.”
Here’s the list of performances for MTV’s “The Rock the Bells Festival – Celebrating 50 Years of Hip-Hop”:
Big Daddy Kane – “I Get the Job Done”
LL COOL J – “Mama Said Knock You Out,” “4,3,2,1” and “Rock the Bells”
Method Man & Redman – “Da Rockwilder” and “Method Man”
Monie Love – “It’s a Shame”
Queen Latifah – “Ladies First”
Rakim – “Eric B Is President” and “Microphone Fiend”
Run-D.M.C. – “Down with the King” and “It’s Tricky”
Salt-N-Pepa – “Push It”
Swizz Beatz – “Party Up”
Co-founded by LL COOL J and Geoff Yang in 2018, the Rock the Bells global platform includes LL COOL J’s Rock the Bells Radio on SiriusXM (channel 43), the Rock the Bells Festival and the Rock the Bells Cruise. In partnership with the firm Sixthman, the cruise will make its inaugural sailing from Miami to the Bahamas on Nov. 13-17, 2023. Along the way, attendees will be treated to performances by Rick Ross, Lil Jon, Big Boi, DJ Jazzy Jeff and DJ Spinderella, among others.
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Ahead of the release of Revamped, a new album full of rock versions of her old pop hits, Demi Lovato brought their kinetic vocal energy to the VMAs stage — with some super-charged guitar riffs — at the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards, held at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey on Tuesday night (Sept. 12).
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The performance previewed a bold new vision of Lovato’s top 20 smashes: “Heart Attack” got the first hard rock treatment, followed by a pummeling take on “Sorry Not Sorry” and ending with a rendition of “Cool for the Summer” that somehow made its effervescent hooks mosh-friendly. Throughout, Lovato, who was dressed in all black, commanded the stage as guitarists sent off spiraling solos and the stage pyrotechnics burst around her.
Lovato’s voice remained their guiding light, though, with the new arrangements still following the cues of the superstar’s vocal power. In the VMAs audience, Taylor Swift and Lil Nas X were among the stars captured grooving to the rock tracks by the MTV cameras.
Along with the hits Lovato performed at the VMAs, Revamped, due out this Friday (Sept. 15), features re-imagined hits like “Confident,” “Tell Me You Love Me,” “Skyscraper” and “Neon Lights.” Lovato hinted at the newfound focus on hard rock on Holy Fvck, her 2022 full-length.
Lovato last performed at the MTV Video Music Awards in 2017, performing a more pop-leaning version of “Sorry Not Sorry.” Their music video for “Swine” was nominated for two awards at this year’s VMAs.
Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion brought the big beat to the MTV Video Music Awards at the Prudential Center in Newark on Tuesday (Sept. 12), with a performance of their brand-new collaboration, “Bongos.”
Cardi kicked off the performance, as she was lowered to the stage on a giant disco ball, with her hair let loose like ’70s Donna Summer. She was accompanied by shirtless male bongo players upon her arrival, and dancers in neon green and blue two-piece bathing suits joined her once the song kicked in.
Megan then appeared on a separate stage, flanked by her own set of backup dancers and doing her signature twerking. After her verse, Cardi joined her to link arm in arm to walk back to the main stage for song’s high-intensity dance breakdown. Taylor Swift and Ice Spice seemed to enjoy the performance, as the show cut to them bouncing along in the audience.
The pair’s new single was released on Friday (Sept. 8), as their first teamup since the blockbusting “WAP” in 2020. That song debuted atop the Billboard Hot 100, and its culture-shocking video was nominated for four VMAs in 2021, though it was ultimately denied all four.
Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion are also both nominees at this year’s MTV Video Music Awards. Cardi is up for best collaboration, for her guest turn on Glorilla’s “Tomorrow 2,” while Megan Thee Stallion’s “Her” video is nominated for three of the technical awards: best direction, best art direction and best cinematography.
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Lil Wayne kicked off the MTV VMAs at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., on Tuesday (Sept. 12) with an explosive medley to set the energy right.
The rapper welcomed fans to the awards show with a hood on his head before launching into “Uproar,” off Tha Carter V, followed by the title track off his 2023 album Kat Food, complete with pyrotechnics and high energy.
The performance comes just months after his Billboard cover story to celebrate the 50th anniversary of hip-hop, where he defended his musical abilities against the rising trend of artificial intelligence. “They were trying to tell me that A.I. could make a voice that sounds just like me,” he said. “But it’s not me, because I’m amazing. I’m like, is this A.I. thing going to be amazing too? Because I am naturally, organically amazing. I’m one of a kind. So actually, I would love to see that thing try to duplicate this motherf–ker.”
Among this year’s other performers are Anitta, Cardi B, Demi Lovato, Diddy, Doja Cat, Fall Out Boy, Karol G, Kelsea Ballerini, Maneskin, Megan Thee Stallion, Metro Boomin (featuring Future, A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie, Swae Lee and NAV), Nicki Minaj, Olivia Rodrigo, Peso Pluma, Shakira, Stray Kids and TOMORROW X TOGETHER.
Taylor Swift leads the 2023 VMA nominations with 11 nods, and is followed by SZA (eight nominations); BLACKPINK, Doja Cat, Miley Cyrus, Nicki Minaj, Olivia Rodrigo (six each); Kim Petras and Sam Smith (five each); and Beyoncé, Diddy, Drake, Ice Spice, Karol G, Metro Boomin, Shakira and TOMORROW X TOGETHER (four each).
When it came time for Olivia Rodrigo to storm the stage at the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards on Tuesday (Sept. 12), the pop star made sure to give fans a performance to remember.
Taking to the stage in a red halter top and skirt, Rodrigo kicked off her performance on a soft note, imitating the music video of her hit song “Vampire.” Laid out on the moss-covered stage, Rodrigo served pure melodrama as she crooned out the opening of her chart-topping hit.
But then, things began to break down — literally. Much like in her music video, Rodrigo watched in horror as the light rigging on the stage began to drop, as sparks began to shoot up from the stage around her, while even the camera appeared to drop to the ground. Being pulled off stage by what looked like a crew member, a glitching version of “Good 4 U” played behind her as the stage suddenly reset.
Once the chaos reached its peak, Rodrigo suddenly appeared back on the stage, surrounded by a series of backup dancers dressed in identical pink outfits to perform her Guts standout “Get Him Back!” Strutting up and down the stage, she belted out the catchy chorus to her latest single. “Oh, I want sweet revenge, and I want him again,” she sang. “I want to get him back, back, back.”
Rodrigo was nominated for six awards at the annual ceremony, including the evening’s much-anticipated video of the year award for “Vampire.” She was just one of a series of performers during the ceremony, including fellow stars Nicki Minaj, Cardi B, Demi Lovato and plenty more.
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Years back it seemed like A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie was going to be the next big thing out of New York and though he’s been keeping a low profile for a hot minute, the Bronx representative still has a dedicated fanbase that’s ready and waiting to eat up whatever the young rapper serves up.
Dropping off some new visuals for “Her Birthday,” A Boogie finds himself the victim of “Cupid” as his body is riddled with arrows courtesy of sharp shooting women who seem to have a bone to pick with the rapper. That looked painful.
Down South, Slim Thug is still rolling like a boss like it’s 2005 and in his clip to “Midlife Crisis” Thug shows off an impressive car collection on his front yard before taking to the booth where his ice glistens under the dimmed lights. That man is still living large.
Check out the rest of today’s drops including work from Icewear Vezzo, Nyck Caution featuring Joey Bada$$, and more.
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