Hello Brooklyn.
1st off shout out to Wes Jackson and Craig for hooking me up!!  You can hear my interview with Wes Jackson (founder & CEO of Brooklyn Bodega) on www.thebsideshow.com.


The 2008 Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival was this past weekend and it was a great show!!  I can't even call it a show.  It was hip hop at its finest.  New school met old school on one of the most beautiful days of the summer (you couldn't have asked for better weather).  The day started off with the Brooklyn Bodega Family day which included activities for the kiddies, health screenings, food and merch vendors and more.  I can't really speak on it because I came thorough a little bit later but from what I saw it looked like a success, there were damn sure a lot of families out there so that's was a good look.

Wes Jackson and Ralph McDaniels

Ralph McDaniels hosted the event and if you don’t know (I’m speaking to the kiddies on this one) before 106 and Park, TRL & Vh1 countdowns there was Video Music Box (lets keep if funky channel 31 in Brooklyn if you didn't’t have cable)  the ONLY place for you to see the new videos and get the best interviews from the newest up and coming talent.  I want to be like him when I grow up.  It’s crazy that VMB is 1 year older than me lol.  He is the original VJ, period.

THE SHOW...

SIDEBAR I took well over 200 pics so trust I will be narrowing it down to about 2-3 pics for each performer, sorry lol

Yes yes yall, BK really came thorough for this 1



Throw ya W's up (Wu-Tang)



1st up was the winner for the Spit 16 contest.  His name was Jared Evans aka Freelance.  He was ok, I'm sure you can google him.

Next came one of the performers I was very excited to see, Homeboy Sandman!!  If you live anywhere in the 5 boroughs you have seen this guy's neon colored posters plastered on the trains billboards with the phrases "Big Pun would be proud" or "Big L would be proud" lol I love it.  He's a great performer and has a huge fan base who def repped for him on Saturday.  He's also The Source's unsigned hype for June. 

We Can Fly...





"Encore, Encore, Encore" must be nice

Next up was a female from Canada called Zaki whom I'd never heard of until then.  Think a Canadian version of Floetry with both girls wrapped in 1. 



The girls were dope (she had another chick with her who I thought made up the group but apparently she was just a backup singer)every song sounded good, can't remember the names (some artists fail to let the audience know what the name of their songs are lol) I really liked "You Choose" and the last song she performed.

btw her DJ's name is DJ Eloquence...I love it

Speaking of females, WE GO SO HARD!!!!!!!

I can't count the number of females that were out there rocking to ever song form every artist knowing every word to everything new and old!!!!

Next was Brooklyn's own Fresh Daily.  He did great performed Superspectacular, Colors and a few more joints.


I see that's he's going to be @ The Bowery poetry lounge on the 29th...may have to check that out



Dj equipment not working properly so let’s fill some time...
Brought these 2 on stage to see who could recite a Biggie verse better, you would think the dude with the banging ass Legendary Roots crew t shirt would right? Hell No, homie couldn’t string together 1 BIG verse smh. The sistah came thorough with a verse and made him look like trash. How do you not know at least 1 BIG verse and be allowed in Brooklyn?




Ralph Mc Daniels gave away a few cd’s and talked about the Video Music Box 25th anniversary coming up next Saturday at Central park, I’m on it!! 

DJ ready, back to the music. 

88 Keys. Imo he’s a bit too animated. This is not saying that he’s not a good rapper or performer or whatever just not my thing. His album entitled “The Death of Adam” is due out in October and is executive produce by Kanye West according to him, but he still needs more ppl.



The Carlton Dance lmao


Mr. Blu Collar worker himself!! I was amped to see Blu & Exile. Blu did forget his lyrics a few times (the no cursing thing got to him lol) but he redeemed himself.


He’s also a sweetheart. I got a chance to chat with him backstage & he seems like a very humble dude.


Blu with my biz card 


Itz Mickey!! Facts that is lol. I walked away from this dude’s performance a huge fan, real talk. I’d only heard a few of his songs (keeping up with “the Leaks”) but seeing him perform shed a whole new light on his music. I love this dude’s energy and he loves to perform.



 get it.



DJ J Period brought out a few surprises.
Jeru the Damja


lol @ him calling J Period “DJ S-1”

Crooklyn Dodgers aaahhhhhh!!!!!

Keith Murray





WTF it’s Kevin Powell!!

 
This guy is steady on the grind. He’s running for congress man for Brooklyn in September and anybody who comes out to a hip hop festival rocking a Yankee fitted and uptowns while passing out mixtapes with voter registrations cards in the sleeves can get my damn vote.


“Kevin Powell for congressman. Brooklyn son.” Damn remember when he was on The Real World… damn I can't believe I remember that.

Buckshot!!!! Damn can we get a Boot Camp Clik reunion album or something?


Buckshot’s performance was huge. Say what you want but the crowd was singing along to every song (at least the ppl in front were). He did a bunch of songs (too many to remember at this hour) but each one took me back to the early 90’s sitting in front of my building hearing Black Moon blast from someone’s speakers outside…wow.






Premiere!!!!

 

I can’t front I felt a little cheated at how short DJ Premier's set was. He only had about 10 mins but I understand they had to get KRS-1 on stage before the 8pm we're cutting your mic off point. He kept the crowd moving tho, threw on some crazy classics from BIG, Big L, J Dilla etc.

I was trying my damn-est to get a clear pic of his shirt that read “HIP HOP IS NOT ON THE RADIO”...that's what I've been tryna tell yall.


The teacher finally hit the stage. I’ve never seen him perform and I’m glad that I got the chance to. This dude is truly a legend, period. I’ve heard stories but he is really a great performer.


He did Rapture’s Delight, Sound of Da Police, Black Cop a few freestyles & more. Everybody knows KRS-1 can get a bit preachy but he did kick some serious knowledge @ the festival. You can imagine that the air was filled with the typical Obama campaign slogans but KRS-1 spoke the truth. He talked about people choosing not to vote in this year’s election and that being ok because the votes only really count on the more local level (congress man, borough prez etc) He brought Kevin Powell out once again and urged ppl to vote for him in the upcoming election.


Lol @ him trying to get the DJ to “drop it on the 4” or some shit. What ever it was either he wasn’t doing it right or KRS-1 wasn’t hearing it right.
KRS-1 to Premiere “Yo do you know how to do that shit?” lol


He did an ill freestyle about everything from the Bklyn and Manhattan bridges to the cameras we were using! His set seemed to be a bit short as well but the show was running late and almost everybody had some type of problem setting up their dj equipment but overall he was amazing and I’m sooo glad I got to see him perform.





Please pass the mic!!

So Krs-1 got everybody all hyped when he said they were about to get into the biggest cipher ever with damn near every artist walking around only to be told that he had run out of time. DAMNIT! Charles Hamilton was READY!! I wanted him to grab the mic so bad because I already know this dude is nasty when it comes down to it, smh. That would have been something.

I did catch up with him backstage and he’s a cool dude as well. Be on the lookout for that album and if you haven’t do yourself a favor and download his mixtape.



Mickey Facts: Yo when are you getting on that incredible remix????



There were a bunch of people roaming the park that night. Sway from MTV, Amanda Diva, X Clan Members, Crazy Legs and a bunch of radio hosts and DJ's that only I would be excited to see lol!  All in all the show was great and I'm happy to report that nobody acted out!  We all came together and enjoyed the show in peace (something that the ppl in the neighborhood didn't think we would do but that's another post).  Till next year!