Hip-Hop @ 50
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Hip-Hop 50 Live took over Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, New York, on Friday to celebrate the 50th anniversary of hip-hop and showcase some of its brightest stars. A jam-packed lineup of the genre’s most decorated legends — including Run-D.M.C., Lil Wayne, Snoop Dogg and Ice Cube — took center stage inside the legendary venue […]
“If you remember anything from tonight, remember this one thing: I ain’t s— without you,” proclaimed Lil Wayne at the Hip Hop 50 Live concert on Friday (Aug. 11). As tens of thousands of fans descended upon Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, New York, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of one of the most important and influential art forms in the world, Wayne’s message was proven correct.
Hip Hop 50 Live, which featured headliners Run-D.M.C. in their final show, was a celebration of the genre’s roots and evolution as much as it was a celebration of the fans and community that have kept pushing the culture forward for 50 years and counting. Featuring a crowd as diverse as New York City itself, the concert placed a heavy emphasis on honoring the genre’s pillars such as The Sugarhill Gang and Melle Mel. From undisputed icons like Roxanne Shante to new-school innovators like A Boogie wit da Hoodie, Friday night’s concert was the physical embodiment of the cross-generational impact of hip-hop.
Assembling a lineup that effectively conveys the cultural, regional, sexual, and generational diversity of a genre as multilayered as hip-hop is no easy task. While the show was notably lacking in contemporary stars, the concert’s lineup was more than capable of captivating the massive stadium. Performances included sets from Nas, Lil Wayne, Ice Cube, Wiz Khalifa, Ghostface Killah, Common, Lupe Fiasco, Cam’Ron, T.I., Lil’ Kim, Trina, Remy Ma, Fat Joe, Slick Rick, EPMD, Snoop Dogg and more.
Hip Hop 50 Live specifically commemorated a legendary party at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue hosted by Cindy Campbell and DJed by DJ Kool Herc — a party that birthed hip-hop. As such, the celebration took things all the way back to the beginning. The Sugarhill Gang delighted the audience with a rousing rendition of “Rapper’s Delight,” which is widely regarded as the first commercially released hip-hop song, and rap pioneer Grandmaster Caz rocked the house with performances of “It’s Us,” among other Cold Crush Brothers selections.
Of course, hip-hop is about more than just the rappers. DJs also got their due at Friday’s concert, with legendary DJs like Marley Marl and Mannie Fresh keeping the energy flowing with sets that frequently highlighted the sub-genres and sounds of hip-hop not present on the official bill.
As the night transitioned into lengthier sets, both Lil Wayne and T.I. reminded attendees that both have an endless stream of hits across eras and genres. T.I. held it down for the South and 20 years of Trap Muzik with a set that included such hits as “Swagga Like Us,” “Whatever You Like,” and “Live Your Life.” Lil Wayne, who masterfully tore through countless anthems, pulled out hits like “A Milli,” “Uproar,” “I’m Goin’ In,” and a cruel tease of “Back That Azz Up,” that left the crowd hanging.
Hip Hop 50 Live was co-produced by Mass Appeal, Live Nation, and the New York Yankees. Emmy Award-winner BASSic Black Entertainment CEO Adam Blackstone and producer and keyboardist Omar Edwards served as the concert’s creative music directors.
Here are the 8 best moments of Hip Hop 50 Live:
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Image Credit: Danny Vasquez/Mass Appeal
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Hip-Hop celebrates 50 years of existence on August 11, and the genre continues to expand far beyond its origins in the Bronx into what is now a global phenomenon. To honor the evolution and existence of Hip-Hop, Hip-Hop Wired compiled a 50-song playlist that we hope captures the best the music and culture has to offer.
Photo: Getty
We’ve been creating playlists for a while now but nothing was as difficult as this one. For starters, we agonized over how to group together 50 songs from over the decades and were frustrated with the fact we had to omit songs from the 1970s. The reason is, the music truly took hold of the world in the early 1980s, as we open up our playlist with one of the greatest songs created in any genre, “The Message” released in 1982.
Photo: Michael Ochs Archives / Getty
Most historians point to The Sugarhill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight” as Hip-Hop’s first music single, while others would say The Fatback Band’s “King Tim III (Personality Jock)” gets the nod. Both tracks were released within months of each other in 1979, laying down the foundation for the MCs that emerged in the following decade.
All throughout the playlist, there will be glaring omissions, regions that didn’t get love, and other points of contention. Trust us, we’re just as upset but we wanted to include 10 songs that we feel captured each decade from the ’80s until now. If we had more time, we probably could have included 50 songs per era but who is willing to sit through that?
Photo: Hulton Archive / Getty
To all of those acts who feel like we missed them, accept our apology and understand this was difficult to compile. We are also at the mercy of the DSP we used to host the playlist as some artists and their catalogs are not available in the digital realm
That said, we’re always honoring the veterans on our site and we pledge to return with a sequel to this playlist later in the month to get to those tracks we surely missed.
Photo: maksim kulikov / Getty
For now, check out our Hip-Hop @ 50 selection of tracks below. If you’re enjoying what you hear, sound off in the comments or via our social media channels.
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Photo: Source: Al Pereira / Getty
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Public Enemy co-founder and hip-hop legend Chuck D will have a key role in crafting Major League Baseball’s year-long Hip-Hop 50 celebrations. In a press release on Thursday (Aug. 10), MLB confirmed that Chuck D will serve as both music ambassador and content architect for their forthcoming festivities. This Friday (Aug. 11), Public Enemy will […]
Update: Hours ahead of the show on Thursday, Aug. 10, the 50 & Forever City Sessions show set to feature Ja Rule as headliner was canceled “due to unforeseen circumstances,” according to a message on the event’s page. Ticketholders will receive a refund, and no action is required. 50 & Forever will be announcing a new City Sessions show in New York City at a later date.
Original story below:
As we enter hip-hop’s birth month, the entire music industry is pulling out all the stops to celebrate the genre’s 50th birthday. On Friday (Aug. 4), Amazon Music announced Ja Rule as the headliner of the final “50 & Forever” City Sessions livestream of the summer. The Grammy-nominated rapper will join a lineup of peers and collaborators for a performance from The Rooftop at Pier 17 in New York City on August 10, the eve of hip-hop’s 50th anniversary.
Throughout the “50 & Forever” series, Amazon Music is paying tribute to hip-hop’s monumental global influence on music, culture and society. Created by Rotation, the hip-hop and R&B brand from Amazon Music, “50 & Forever” has celebrated the occasion with curated events, livestreams, playlists, original content, and new music across a plethora of platforms, including Amazon Music, Twitch, Audible, Prime Video and Amp.
Ja Rule’s performance marks the finale of the “50 & Forever” City Sessions series from Amazon Music. This summer, the Amazon Music channel on Twitch has streamed content every week leading up to hip-hop’s 50th anniversary on August 11. Thursday’s (Aug. 3) City Session livestream from Atlanta featured Jeezy, T.I. and Young Dro. Amazon Music also streamed exclusive live performances from hip-hop stars like Rick Ross, Wale, Clipse, Joey Bada$$, Curren$y and more.
Ja Rule has earned eight top ten hits on the Billboard Hot 100, including the No. 1 singles “I’m Real” (with Jennifer Lopez), “Always On Time” (with Ashanti), and “Ain’t It Funny” (with Jennifer Lopez). On the Billboard 200, the hip-hop giant has sent a pair of titles to the chart’s summit: 2000’s Rule 3:36 (one week) and 2001’s Pain Is Love (two weeks).
On Tuesday evening (Aug. 8), hundreds of R&B and hip-hop executives gathered in Los Angeles to celebrate one another — and honor 50 incredible years of hip-hop. As the red carpet started to jam with guests eager to get the night started, those already inside Billboard’s 2023 R&B/Hip-Hop Power Players event were treated to a […]
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Source: MTA / MTA
Last year the MTA celebrated the memory of the late-great Notorious B.I.G. by giving him his own exclusive MetroCard and with the success of that rollout, the Metropolitan Transit Authority has decided to get in on Hip-Hop’s 50th birthday with more limited edition MetroCards.
Over the weekend the MTA announced that it was rolling out tens of thousands exclusive MetroCards which will feature some of your favorite Hip-Hop legends and artists. While you’ll notice that artists like Nas, Jay-Z and Biggie aren’t amongst the names of icons used for these exclusive cards, the lineup is still pretty impressive and will certainly be a must-have item for Hip-Hoppers and collectors alike.
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Per the MTA, 40,000 MetroCards that featured LL Cool J and the late Pop Smoke were available starting Saturday, August 5. The cards with rappers’ images were available at MetroCard vending machines at Forest Hills station for LL and and at the Canarsie-Rockaway Pkwy and New Lots Ave stations for Pop Smoke.
Rakim and Cam’ron will also get 40,000 MetroCards starting later in the month. Their cards are schedule to be systemwide.
As dope as this is, we need the MTA to step it up and add more Hip-Hop icons to the celebration.
Though people aren’t lining up to purchase these Hip-Hop MetroCards like they did with the Biggie joint last year (that was damn near an impossible copp), we’re sure those who do get one or two of these will still ultimately end up hopping the turnstile and becoming yet another fair evader in the subway transit system. It’s only right.
What do y’all think of the MTA giving rappers their own MetroCards? Who would you like to see on your MetroCard? Let us know in the comment section below.
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Tetris Kelly:Did Beyonce shade Lizzo as she’s getting sued? Hip-hop legend Lil Wayne is on our cover. Dua Lipa is “Levitating” back to court, as Ludacris is generous and Nate Smith teaches us hometown slang. I’m Tetris, it’s Billboard News and it’s Wednesday, August 2nd. This show is juicy and sweet so let’s start with the artists behind “Lollipop,” it’s Lil Wayne.
Gail Mitchell:What’s been your secret to longevity?
Lil Wayne:Me? I don’t have a secret. I just work and I never stop. I don’t do nothing but my music. In my mind, every single time I say the word “work”, I ask God to forgive me because I know this has never been a job. It’s just a dream come true so that’s why I’ve never stopped.
Gail Mitchell:I’m excited by the growing ranks of female rappers right now. I wanted to get your thoughts on that. I started a Billboard in 99′ and it was, you know, you had your Roxanne Shanté, (Lil’) Kim’s, and Queen’s (Latifah) and MC Lyte and stuff, and then there’s nothing and then Nicki pops up. Why is this happening, now? What’s your thoughts on that?
Lil Wayne:I think that it just wasn’t- it wasn’t interesting to women. You know, it wasn’t as interesting, you know, as the way Nicki and Meg and others have. It looks like, you know, it’s awesome. I don’t think it was just, you know, I don’t think they viewed it as something that they wanted to do and actually make a living from it.
Gail Mitchell:Right and it seems maybe the industry is a little more open-minded.
Lil Wayne:Oh, definitely. Now? Oh, what? Yeah, definitely.Watch the full video above!