Mega late-night concert in New York celebrating 50 years of hip-hop

Thousands of people celebrated hip-hop’s 50th anniversary late into the night on Friday during a mega-concert in the Bronx given by pioneers of the genre like Run-DMC, Nas and Snoop Dogg at a Yankee Stadium with a huge overheated The atmosphere. For more than eight hours, New Yorkers and tourists alike celebrated with demonstrative joy five decades of music born on August 11, 1973, whose immense influence would irrevocably shake up culture and the music industry.

«I had no idea how monumental this would be when it startedKiesha Astwood, 50, a hip-hop born in 1973, confided at the 46,000-seat baseball team’s mythical stadium on Sedgwick Avenue in the Bronx. Here, on the first floor of a public housing building at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue in one of New York’s five boroughs, DJ Clive Campbell, aka DJ Kool Herc, of Jamaican origin, innovates: by spinning the same disc on two turntables, he isolates the sequences of rhythms and percussions and lets them ring through the speakers tobreakbeat», an integral part of hip-hop.

«It’s super invigoratinggushes Kiesha Astwood as Kool Herc receives praise on stage for his key role. “Here we are fifty years later“. During this marathon concert, which started after 1:00 in the morning, the stars of the genre followed each other to host hits like Run-DMC and others It’s tough, capturing the screams of an overjoyed audience. Another veteran, Nas, played him a number of tracks from his inaugural album illmaticnot The world is Yours etc New York state of mind.

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“One vote”

A cheer rose from the crowd as the New York icon ended her performance by inviting Lauryn Hill onstage to sing the track they had been collaborating on If I ruled the world (imagine that) as well as his own single Doo Wop (The Thing) and its interpretation of Kill me softly, originally sung with the Fugees. Snoop Dogg has voted titles among his fan favorites, such as The next episode Nothing but a gangster thing etc gin and juice.

Lil Wayne, The Sugarhill Gang, Wu-Tang Clan members and Ice Cube were also part of the show, all Melle Mel or Scorpio with Grandmaster Caz. “I think hip hop has really given a voice to people who didn’t have a voice to begin with.summed up Antoine Crossley, who came all the way from Chicago.

This concert was the culmination of a series of events. New York has spawned numerous cultural initiatives throughout the summer: graffiti or breakdance sessions”,block parties», concerts… For some critics and fans it seems somewhat arbitrary to give an official date for the birth of a musical style that actually existed before August 11, 1973.

also readNew York: Grandmaster Flash gives a concert in the Bronx to celebrate 50 years of hip-hop

“Our Lineage”

But perhaps no other genre of music deserves to celebrate its birth. For decades, hip-hop was vilified, ignored, and censored by an industry it profoundly shaped, in a country where rappers produced big hits and had a major impact on everything from music and fashion to language and dance. While life in New York was harsh and violent, the first was “block partiesPolitical parties offered young African Americans a way out of poverty and discrimination. Hip hop then spread to all parts of the world and most countries now have their own scene.

The audience, from children to grandparents, danced, sang and made the night sparkle in the light of their cell phones. But as the hours went by, some joked that they were aging like hip-hop itself.”All sitters are over 30, we have a bit bad knees here“Recognized one of them.

Fans who had the stamina to see it through to the end saw Nas bring DJ Kool Herc back on stage for another round of thanks. “It’s our love, our lineage“, he said. “Hip hop was born for you and me and we are where we need to be. In NYC».