This past Friday, WBLS, and Hot 97 came together to celebrate 50 years of Hip-Hop.
The “Hip-Hop Forever” concert occurred at Madison Square Garden and featured Mary J. Blige, Sean Paul, EMPD, Tyrese, Maxwell, and Diddy. Our own Funk Flex curated the show and he also had surprises of his own.
After kicking off the show, Funk Flex gave the legendary Kool DJ Red Alert, DJ Chuck Chillout, and DJ Marley Marl their much-deserved flowers and thanked them for their contributions to Hip-Hop.
As the show went on, fans were taken on a musical journey with surprise performances from CL Smooth, DJ Kool, Audio Two, Lola Brooke, Coi Leray, Lil Vicious, TeeJay, and Greg Nice. They also witnessed an epic performance by Wu-Tang Clan, featuring all the members as they were introduced by Maxwell. Method Man brought out Redman to perform their hit, “Da Rockwilder.”
EMPD shut the stage down while performing their classics as well as paying tribute to the late Tupac Shakur. Sean Paul took Madison Square Garden to Jamaica as he performed classics such as, “Gimmie The Light,” “Get Busy,” “Temperature,” “I’m Still in Love with You,” and a new single as well.
Diddy wowed and surprised the crowd with a twenty-minute solo performance, singing all of his hits just before the Queen of Hip-Hop Soul, Mary J. Blige took the stage. The crowd sang most of Blige’s song for her, clearly showing her an overwhelming amount of love. During her performance, the singer brought out other artists including The Lox, Scarlip, Fabolous, WanMor, and Method Man to perform their hit “You’re All I Need.”
This concert was truly an ode to Hip-Hop!