Rock The Bells 2009

July 7th, 2009

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I guess the problem with having a hip-hop-stravaganza in Canada is the fa-reaking BORDER. Why you gotta give hip-hop so much hassle, Monsieur Customs? Thankfully, no scheduled artists were prevented from performing at Sunday’s Rock The Bells concert, but the anticipation of such problems allegedly drained our line-up of some choice artists. Combined with scheduling conflicts and movie shoots, we were deprived of The Roots, Raekwon, House of Pain, Busta Rhymes, Mickey Factz, GZA, Cypress Hill… and at the last minute, Common was replaced by Mos Def. The loss of Common made a grown woman weep. Or at least think of weeping. (I totally shed a single tear in a dramatic moment).

More, and photos after the jump.

But less pouting, more celebrating an event that all told, was pretty fun and actually well organized this year. The lineup was decent – not the kind of fiesta that you pay close attention to, but meant for kicking back on a sunny lawn and busting a move when you hear one of your JAAAAAMS. Each artist took the stage for about half an hour until Nas and Damian Marley ended things with the best set of le day.

We came a little late and missed the first few sets – M.O.P., Slaughterhouse and Tech N9ne (did Slum Village not show up either?!?! *SMH*). Thankfully we showed up just in time for (newly shortlisted Polaris nominee) K’naan to command attention even when he busted out the spoken word. In a setting like the Molson Ampitheatre, truthfully it’s big tunes like “T.I.A” and “Waving Flag” that play best, but even kids on the lawn were cheering when he softly rhymed, “I spit Viagra so the game can get hard again.” You can’t really go wrong when K’naan comes back to Toronto anyway, ya know?

Talib Kweli and Hi-Tek reunited as Reflection Eternal for a decent set, which according to crowd reaction was highlighted by a short freestyle over “Get ‘Em High” (Talib’s collabo with Kanye West) and “Get By”. I think they could really rock a crowd in a smaller venue that more appreciates Hi-Tek’s deft skills and Talib’s wordplay. RZA came HARD, bounding onstage over “Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)” and performing for a sea of Ws in the air, running through tracks spanning his Gravediggaz, Wu-Tang and solo days. And it was his birthday!!

Ok, not gonna lie. I went for a food break during EMPD, who were apparently a Toronto-only event (not sure why my stomach decided to get hungry during an Eric Sermon appearance, but life is hard sometimes), and oh yeah, KRS-1 started his hosting duties somewhere around here (Pete Rock on the tables!!). He TEASED us with about 45 seconds of “Step Into A World” and shared some poignant thoughts about hip-hop (“it’s love!”). Later, he brought Toronto native Michie Mee onstage for a cameo, which was pretty cool.

Big Boi blazed through some Outkast classics like “Ms. Jackson”, “So Fresh And So Clean” and a danceparty ending “The Way You Move”. One day I’ll hear “Skew It On The Bar-B” live, but this was not my time. Mos Def was up next, a last minute adjustment after the love of my life Common canceled due to a film commitment. Mos’ set was a littttle off, maybe cause it was so last minute or maybe cause he just wasn’t that into it; breezed through some tracks from his new album The Ecstatic and of course mellowed out the crowd with “Umi Says”. Talib came out to join him later (together as Black Star), which was AWESOME.

By far the highlight of the day was Nas and Damian Marley, who were just as solid together as they were apart. Nas appeared onstage first, blistering through jams spanning his career (“If I Ruled The World”, “Hate Me Now”, “Got Ur Self A”), and was joined by Damian to perform some tracks from their collaboration album Distant Relatives. Nas left for a short while as Damian worked the crowd, particularly with reworked versions of his father’s music (“Exodus”, “No More Trouble”). Nas returned for a few more tracks including an incredible “One Mic”, spawning hundreds of lighters in the air. A gorgeous night ended with “Welcome To Jamrock”, “Road To Zion”, and K’naan reappeared to finish the show with the trio’s upcoming collaboration from Distant Relatives. INTERNATIONAL REPRESENTS!!

Check out some photos of K’naan, Mod Def, Nas and Damian Marley from the show…