Posted on 07/20/2009
Rock the Bells 2009 in D.C. underscored the unity and brotherhood shared by some of hip-hop’s most prolific groups and artists. While hip-hop maintains an innate element of testosterone driven competition, the respect and admiration of fellow artists matter more than radio rotation/play lists or Billboard statistics. The band of brothers that included Busta Rhymes, Raekwon, RZA, Common, Talib Kweli, Buckshot, Big Boi, The Roots and God’s son—Nas, exhibited this love movement in grand fashion Sunday, July 12, 2009.


Rock The Bells, NYC, 2009, photos by Mel D. Cole


Buckshot, Murs and members of Slaughterhouse and Slum Village, among others, freely roamed the grounds of the Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, MD, nestled between D.C. and Baltimore. The love and respect from the fans was evident in the fact that none of the aforementioned artists could take a few steps without picture requests, supportive banter, and general good vibes from the fans.
 
And yes, there was some friction in the air because of a little static between a couple of artists but everything ended up being all good. Truth be told, battling and conflict is built into an emcees DNA. Sometimes an album needs to be promoted or whatever and no news is bad news. Consequently, beef happens.
 
While there was a main stage and an auxiliary stage (stage 2), make no mistake, who rocked where was not determined by status, there was simply too much talent on hand for one stage.
 
Enta Da Stage

Buckshot whipped the stage 2 massive into a cold sweat peppering them with a set closeout of “Shit is Real,” “Buck em Down,” “Who got the Props” and his gritty, no holds barred delivery of his verse from the timeless instant-classic “Crooklyn.” But before the set officially ended, he sent the crowd into a hand-waving frenzy by unleashing the hypnotic funk of “Got You Open.”
 
Reflections of the Way Things Used to Be
 
Of course, I’m referring to the reunion of Hi-Tek and Talib Kweli, a.k.a. Refection Eternal. The chemistry is still there. The duo ripped through “Say Something,” and “Hostile Gospel.” During the performance of the latter, Kweli pumped up the crowd and rejuvenated the front row with his energy.
 
Kweli rocked on with “1,2,3,4,” “Definition,” and the Hi-Tek/Jonell classic “Round and Round.” Kweli even previewed his new cut (off the upcoming Reflection Eternal project)  “Revolution,” a fitting title.
 
The Duo’s performance of “The Blast,” was something special. Kweli went on to deliver a semi-automatic a capella free flow before getting into “Move Something.” He raised the spirit of the crowd while closing the set with “Get By.”
 
Common Ground
 
By now it’s a given that Common is hip-hop. With many solo and collaborative classics under his belt he has nothing to prove. Yet with every performance he reminds those who are blind to the facts exactly who he is. RTB 2009 was no different; he roamed the stage through vintage selections—working the crowd into rock mode, and himself into a lather.
 
Of course he rocked the obligatory “Used to Lover Her,” and his verse from the Black Star collaboration “Respiration.” He closed the show with “The People,” an appearance from guests Plug 1 and 2 on “The Bizness,” a freestyle in which he shouts out Obama, The Roots, and KRS-One, then exited stage left on the back of “Universal Mind Control.”

 
Southern Playa—Plays On!
 
RTB 2009 was also blessed with the presence of one half of the uber-group Outkast—uh Daddy (you know what) Sacks—Big Boi. He brought a high energy set that included “Skew it on the Barbie,” “Rosa Parks,” “Ms. Jackson,” and closed with “Southerplayalisticadilacmuzik.” Undoubtedly he rocked and left the stage with plenty of stank on it.
 
To the Roots of the Matter
 
The hardest working band in hip-hop and late-night television for that matter, The Roots, kept it hip-hop and D.C. in their set. Black Thought, with Skills on the help-out, payed homage to the art by rocking EPMD’s “So What Cha Sayin,” Eric B and Rakim’s “As the Rhyme Goes On,” and Redman’s “Superman Lover.”   The crew also gave the crowd a little go-go percussion—which was much appreciated by the D.C. area massive. ?uest was rocking the drums and F Knuckles killed the congos - it was about to get real freaky up in Merriweather Post pavilion. The Roots crew cranked! However this was just an appetizer for the main entre.  
 
As The Roots forayed into their eccentric and quite extensive catalog, the ubiquitous ?uestlove orchestrated and directed traffic from the drums. Then Black Thought went in rocking, banger after banger; “Star,” “Next Movement,” and even shouted out Cody ChesnuTT with “The Seed 2.0.”
 
Captain Kirk was caught up in the moment and walked to the speakers to get up close and personal with the people up front, picking them strings all the while.
 
Ughh, Ughh, Ughh, All Over the Track Man
 
As Busta Rhymes approached the back stage area he was a study of focus and intensity. No one approached him, asked for pictures, or autographs as they did with other performers, for his intense aura acted as a virtual force field. This was not Busta being standoffish, it was simply him getting ready to destroy the stage. He surveyed The Roots performing on stage, the energy of the crowd, and must have been wondering how he could take it to another level.
 
He came out and ordered to his loyal subjects, “Everybody Rise!” Busta’s rah-rah nature and the sick keys on the track caused the energy level in the building to rise a couple of levels off of that hook alone. Next he brought out a couple of special guests and instructed the crowd to “Ante Up” with a major assist from Billy Danze and Lil’ Fame of M.O.P. The laws of inertia took over and Merriweather Post Pavilion was explosive.
 
Busta and Spliff Star worked the crowd into a controlled-riot and pure mayhem ensued. He rocked his epic verse from ‘Scenario,” then went on to sprinkle gems; “What it Is,” and “Fired Up.”  
 
Everybody from Pete Rock to Rza, K’Naan to Hi-Tek came out to watch Busta rock. With the little undercurrent of Budden/Deck beef, the brotherhood that hip-hop fosters was overwhelming. They understand that many are called to the game, but the chosen are few. Believe me the chosen really respect and love this game.
 
During the last segment of Busta’s set he brought out the heavy artillery inducing major head nods with “Respect My Conglomerate,” and set the crowd ablaze with “Arab Money,” and “Touch it.” Busta had the motley crew of black, white, yellow, and brown bouncing collectively under a groove to the El Gabong driven kinetic energy of the “Pass the Courvoisier.”
 
Busta closed the set with “Give it To You” and "Get High Tonight.” He scoped, he rocked and once again conquered. Nuff respect for showing the puppies how the big dogs rock Busta.
 
...And of Course N-A-S are the Letters that Spell...
 
Off top, Nas was out to contradict his statement that “Hip Hop Is Dead.” He wove detailed stories of “Street Dreams” just to give you a glimpse of what the artist “Nas Is Like.” He even brought out special guest AZ to join him to converse about how quickly you can go from feeling that “Life’s a Bitch” to living fat on “Sugar Hill.” And once you’ve made it, be careful what you discuss on the celly, watch out for the infamous “Phone Tap."
 
This opening blast brought everyone back out from the dressing rooms. Rza was dappin’ up Hi-Tek. Black Thought, Elzhi, and Lil’ Fame pow-wowed. Busta and RZA gave up love watching God’s Son do his thing. Tuba Gooding, Pete Rock, Styles P and Pharaohe Monch were watching from the wings as well.
 
Nas then dropped “Got Yourself a Gun," and brought out special guest Jadakiss, who lauched into “We Gonna’ Make It." Jada brought out Styles P who literally and figuratively delivered "I Get High.” All of a sudden Pharoahe Monch came out to join Styles P for "The Light," then performed "Simon Says" and told everybody to “Get the #!%*! Up!”
 
Nas wasn’t done yet—uh-uh, the party aint’ over. He blasted off “You're the Man," then got really nasty with his infamous verse from “Live at the BBQ.” The hits continued "Thug Life is Mine,” and "Hate Me Now.” He closed out with "Get Down” and had everybody rocking with "Made You Look” then chilled everybody out with "One Mic."
 
Just like that the bands of brothers were off to the next venue. 

- Mel Blunt
 
*All photo sets by Mel D. Cole, visit Village Slum for more of his work.  Below are 3 more photo sets from Rock The Bells NYC, 2009.

Rock The Bells, 2009, Set 2, by Mel D. Cole


Rock The Bells, 2009, Set 3 by Mel D. Cole


Rock The Bells, 2009, Set 4 by Mel D. Cole