Jess Jamez is really feeling his fellow South Bronx MC. (Photo by Amy Hume)
If you check up on this site, you are already a true hip hop fan. There's not much we can tell you about the music and the history of the culture. So when we tell you we had KRS-ONE in the house this past Sunday at EOW, you know who the man is, you know the legendary status, and more than likely you have seen him rock a few times. Hell, I personally saw him rock twice this past summer alone, at both the Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival and the Rocksteady Anniversary Concert. And while those are both mad official shows, filled with thousands of real hip hop fans, it ain't nothing like seeing KRS rock EOW.
Every performer will tell you that the crowd makes the show, and Sunday night we had over 250 ravenous hip hop heads frothing at the mouth, dudes literally swinging from the ceiling, in a seething cauldron of anticipation and excitement, and you can't help it, that shit is contagious. And KRS caught the virus.
Prior to his arrival, the Dub was popping. The energy was crazy, and everyone was just mad psyched to be there. 3 Kings, hosting as usual, did what they usually do bodied the beginning of the show, and set the bar for every MC in the house. Only this week, they set the bar higher than Sergey Bubka.
Throughout the nigh DJ Calabrass dipped into the crates and pulled out classic after classic challenging the crowd to recite the lyrics, and since we have the realest crowd in the world, heads knew every word of every song and rocked them all verbatim.
We were also hosting a competition for MCs to win a sit down with KRS, and to appear on a track with him as well, so you know the hunger was on full display. That is an opportunity you do not pass on, and we will announce the winner of that when KRS makes his decision.
Speaking of hungry, I would be remiss to not mention what was going on outside the club! Ciphers were forming so large that they literally were blocking traffic on Avenue A. Dudes thought it was 1992 out there, and were just out in the streets with 40s, blazing dutches, and r hyming their asses off. But since its 2008, we had to break that up and sheppard them back inside before we heard the sound of the beast.
Then we got into our opening acts, including a major highlight, Mad Illz, who trekked up from Orlando for the occasion, and who alone was worth the price of admission. Dudes show is tight. Also big up to Truth, who did a hardbody set. Of course, in-house vets like Webbafied, Jess Jamez and Kay-M also went into blackout mode. When the legend arrived, we had Izrayl and Big Ox up on stage doing the EOW dancehall anthem We Nah Give In To Dem, and KRSs eyes lit up!
3 Kings went back in to warm up mode, and got the crowd even more worked up. When they shouted, Do you wanna hear some classics?!?, the building was literally shaking and if you thought there was an earthquake around midnight on Sunday it was the DUB!
Not only did KRS get on and murder it with his unequaled catalogue of classic material, but dude got in on the ciphers on stage, and really, the best rhyme of the night was probably Zoo blacking out and paying a freestyle homage to KRS. They even went in on the classic EOW freestyle maneuver of trading four bars, and KRS was more than happy to oblige, and just play his part in the symphony. To me, that was just incredible. No ego, no fronting, just a pure unadulterated love of hip hop. His presence made everyone else step it waaaay up, and that in turn, made KRS turn it up. As a dude in the crowd watching, it was just beyond insane. But true story, Kris acknowledged the dopeness and the authenticity of the Dub, and then continued to rock for another 20 minutes. Sometimes it was hard to tell who was more excited, the fans or KRS for discovering the Shangri-La of hip hop.
But true story, the best part may have been when Temple of Hip Hop contacted ProPayne the next day to express how much KRS enjoyed rocking with us, and to relay that he said "I gotta come back to this spot."
All in all, it was without doubt, as Zoo has made official, "THE GREATEST NIGHT IN THE HISTORY OF THE DUB!"
And here is a little preview of what went down, the bananas Vice Verses, Big Zoo & KRS freestyle
Stay tuned for the footage of the full evening
Big up to Chilly S for filming the whole thing.
Also big up to Shades Of Hip Hop, our partners from the other side of the river.
And it doesn't stop! Because next Sunday we have Ice-T, DMC, Smooth Da Hustla, and Trigga Da Gambla!
- Stedy McRuckus