Here’s the GOAT Rakim giving the Ruby Skye crowd a whirlwind tour of his enviable catalog. Ra performed gems like “Paid In Full” and “I Know You Got Soul” as if it was ‘88 all over again.
If you’re in the Houston area, you can catch Rakim, Rhymefest, and Three 6 Mafia at the House of Blues on November 3rd. If you’re in other parts of the States, proceed to see the remaining tour dates.
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If you guessed that last night’s BET Hip-Hop Awards was business as usual, you deserve a bag of Cheetos and an autographed copy of the Internet for being right on the money. The same names won the same categories. Most of the performers could have easily been replaced with dry ice. The only bright moment, aside from Ice Cube’s “I Am Hip-Hop” award, was seeing Kid ‘N Play sneak in and steal some dance steps. Despite the show’s pitfalls, there’s a segment that continues to stand out every year – the Cypher. The setting is perfect and they always seem to pick the right combination of MCs. Forget an MTV Top 10, Eminem is seriously making a case for all-time Top 10.
Peep high quality clips of the cypher bits below:
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You gotta love how all things Rae-related have been popping up ever since that punch. Now as for the freestyle, its Ricky Retardo.
My tarot reading tells me that you walked in here praying, “Man, I wish Riz could just play us out with a gem from the GOAT.” Consider your path enlightened and your prayers answered. You’re welcome.
[Raise one to: em2wice]
Now this is how you freestyle off the top. More importantly, I never thought I’d see Mos Def freestyle to a GZA classic…on BET. Judging by the crowd’s reaction, those 106 & Park teenyboppers weren’t ready for this lyrical showdown.
If you liked this, you’ll love Mos Def’s The Ecstatic (due out Tuesday).
[H/T to Yardie for the footage]
Here’s Mos Def with another cute poem. It’s actually a roundabout way of saying that you should buy his upcoming album, The Ecstatic, due out this Spring. The poem is so cute, in fact, that I went through the pain of typing it up. It’s exactly 111 words, which is probably a secret binary message to the Illuminati. Jump in for the lyrics.
Q-Tip – “Renaissance Rap” Remix (Ft. Busta Rhymes, Raekwon, & Lil Wayne)
What do Q-Tip and Busta Rhymes have in common? For starters, they both hold the same “person” responsible for hip-hop’s demise. Whatever that means. More importantly, they’re senior citizen rappers who have managed to stay relevant without resorting to brainless gimmicks. So, drink to this, Internets, and keep senior citizen rappers from going extinct.
PS: Some might think that the presence of Lil Wayne on a song alongside three rap elder statesmen symbolizes a passing of the torch from one generation to another. You’re dead wrong. Master Wayne agreed to appear on the “Renaissance Rap” remix so as to acknowledge a few of the lyricists he has influenced over the years. Carry on.
PPS: How weird is it that Megaupload generated the following verification code while I was downloading this song: “A-S-S”?
[Raise one to Legend]
