Mid-July 2014 we met at 50 Kent, a fenced-in corner concrete park in Brooklyn, for the festival's tenth anniversary and return to Williamsburg. No one in our group had paid more than $30 per ticket. The headliners of the 2014 line-up included veteran turntablist DJ Rob Swift, the highly anticipated Jay Electronica & Wu-Tang rep Raekwon the Chef. Surprise guests were the norm most years but 2013 had been straight protocol so our hopes weren't very high.
CyHi the Prince's incredible set was entirely new to me. I'm a tough critic but have now downloaded his free mixtape Black Hystori Project. These aren't mindless tracks though, prepare to use your brain for a while. I recommend Mandela and Napoleon.
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Spike Lee was in attendance on activist duty discussing gentrification but was kind enough to talk with me for a few minutes about one of my favorite films that he happened to direct, Do the Right Thing. If you haven't seen it, watch it.
The festival lasted for an entire day and every single person had an awesome time despite the scalding temperature hovering in the nineties and absolutely zero shade for refuge. We didn't care. It was live.
Check out this article from Wes Jackson, Brooklyn Bodega Executive Director, on how their local organization full of passionate hip hop lovers put on an amazing show that required an immense amount of hard work, dedication, secrecy, and above all else, belief in themselves.
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