Angel Amor Posted August 2, 2005 Report Share Posted August 2, 2005 SAN BERNARDINO, California — Nas, Redman, Ghostface and Raekwon headlined the Rock the Bells concert in Southern California this weekend, where more than 9,500 fans braved the 100-plus-degree heat. The daylong festival began just after noon Saturday at the NOS Events Center. Kicking off the show were such underground hip-hop acts as New York's Non Phixion and California's own Qbert. Guru, Supernatural and Sage Francis also filled in the bright, hot daylight hours as the dedicated masses stayed cool thanks to hoses and a misting tent. As the sun started to drop, the Bay Area's Hieroglyphics crew came on to spit early '90s classics as well as newer indie offerings. They made way for New York underground fave O.C. to do a couple of tracks, and then Cali's Living Legends did an hour-long set before the waiting game began. Blame it on L.A. traffic — Redman was late getting to the venue and ran from parking lot to stage. Despite his set starting about an hour after expected, the crowd waited patiently and was rewarded with classics like "Da Rocwilder," "Time 4 Sum Aksion" and "Da Goodness," delivered in true showman fashion, accompanied by a DJ, keyboardist, drummer and guitar player. Redman took the turntables himself at one point to make way for DJ Kool, who did his now mandatory party track "Let Me Clear My Throat." He left the stage after doing his part of the Def Squad "Rapper's Delight" cover to make way for one of the night's special guests, Talib Kweli. Talib did a quick set that pleased the indie-hip-hop-loving crowd, including the tracks "Move Somethin' " and "Get By." Nas, in an extremely rare West Coast appearance, made it to the stage after 10 p.m. His caravan pulled right up to the steps of the stage, which throngs of people were hanging out in front of and behind. Nas ran on to the sounds of his last album's title track, "Street's Disciple," moving the lyrics around a bit and repeating the phrase "this ain't 50" twice for added emphasis. The crowd went crazy for "Got Ur Self A ... ," followed by a medley of gems from Illmatic that included "It Ain't Hard to Tell," "The World Is Yours," "Represent" and "Life's a Bitch." Nas kept fans up, taking them through his seemingly endless catalog of singles before finally getting to the meat of the show — a series of beefs. He did "Ether," his classic battle track directed at Jay-Z, but asked his DJ, LES, not to play Jay's name, saying, "Don't say his name. We love him." Most of the crowd screamed out "50 Cent!" in place of Jay-Z, showing support instead for his latest feud. At the conclusion of the song, Nas informed the crowd that he has another one coming out later this year about somebody else, then went into the first bars of his latest track, "MC Burial," rapping, "They say Jada defeated him/ Joe too street for him/ What's next, I guess, it's for Nas to ether him." On a peaceful note, Nas showed that the Queensbridge/ South Bronx beef is old news as special guest KRS-One joined him onstage. KRS-One complimented Nas, saying he truly is "God's Son," then went on to assault the crowd with old-school bangers like "MC's Act Like They Don't Know" and "South Bronx." After a long a cappella conclusion that showcased his "temple of hip-hop" brethren, it was time to make way for Wu-Tang. Taking the stage almost at the midnight curfew, concert organizer Guerrilla Union allowed the show to go on well past 12:30 a.m. to give Ghostface and Raekwon time to bless the crowd. Celebrating the 10-year anniversary of Raekwon's classic album Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, the duo barreled through their best collabos as well as solo joints. Ghostface hit big with Ironman's "Daytona 500" and Raekwon reminded us of how he cooked it up in 1995 with "Incarcerated Scarfaces." The RZA also joined his fam onstage, running through Wu Tang tracks like "Wu Tang Clan Ain't Nuthing Ta F' Wit" and "It's Yourz." Ghostface stopped the show to remind everyone of last year's historic Rock the Bells, for which Wu Tang Clan performed for one of the last times with the entire original lineup (see "Original Wu-Tang Clan Lineup Reunites At Cali Hip-Hop Fest"), including the fallen ODB (see "Rapper Ol' Dirty Bastard Dies"). To honor Dirty, they brought out one of ODB's teenage sons to join them in doing "Shimmy Shimmy Ya." The plug was pulled just after Ghost and his Theodore Unit gave a taste of his upcoming LP, which he promised to have out later this year. The RZA encouraged the crowd to throw up one last "W" before heading to the parking lot after more than 12 hours of music. Despite the insanely sweltering heat, the solid day of hip-hop left fans with, as Ghost would say, "happiness in globs." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fresh-Ta-Def Posted August 2, 2005 Report Share Posted August 2, 2005 yeah i read this somewhere today and im glad people hittin at 50 im sick and tired of him Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kbfprince Posted August 3, 2005 Report Share Posted August 3, 2005 It sucks I couldn't go, sounded great. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigted Posted August 3, 2005 Report Share Posted August 3, 2005 That's dope to hear that KRS got Nas' back here, he should be on Nas' next album, in fact I wouldn't mind if they did an album together either, and since this is a "Rock The Bells" concerts, where's Uncle L at? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JumpinJack AJ Posted August 3, 2005 Report Share Posted August 3, 2005 Wow, sounds like a good show. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rcpbball30 Posted August 3, 2005 Report Share Posted August 3, 2005 I can't wait to hear what Nas has for him on his album, he is gonna tear 50 apart. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WesSyde Posted August 3, 2005 Report Share Posted August 3, 2005 that sounded like a helluva show... i was i could've seen Hieroglyphics perform Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigted Posted August 3, 2005 Report Share Posted August 3, 2005 (edited) :yeahthat: It sounds like a great show I could care less about the Nas/50 beef, that's why I renamed this post 'cause everyone else performing there is more interesting to me, it seems like it had everybody there except JJFP, PE, and LL, I'd like to go a whole year without hearing about 50 and his G-Unit click if I had it my way 'cause there's so many that don't get talked about for a year it seems that deserve some props like Wu-Tang Clan and Hieroglyphics, now those are legendary crews, KRS needs to blow up again and rip all these weak commercial rappers out now, he's the greatest battle rhymer, punchlines for days, you won't think Eminem is the greatest after you heard him. Edited August 3, 2005 by bigted Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fresh_from_sofia Posted August 3, 2005 Report Share Posted August 3, 2005 Wow, sounds like a good show. ← yeah and i am not surprised Nas diss 50 :1-say-yes: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigted Posted August 4, 2005 Report Share Posted August 4, 2005 They should put that on DVD, I'd love to see it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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