HipHops best live performances
 

Question? What is the best hiphop show you've ever been to, and what made it the best?

J5
 

Jurassic 5 before it Cut Chemist Left, it was amazing, Chali 2NA and Mark7 Signed my sweat towel that they gave me, it was fuuucking SIIIIIICK.

The conscience

The video for 'What They Do' was a parody of rap clichés, demonstrating that they understand the fickle, hollow nature of the 'rap lifestyle'. The band are politically charged and ended up as house band on US satirical TV show The Colbert Report when it came to Philly.

Best live performance I've seen is this video.



But, uh, as far as who I've seen... Dilated Peoples were dope. Oh, wait. Freestyle Fellowship.

I saw Kid Cudi in his first show back in Cleveland. It was amazing. He just played the instrumentals of his beats and actually had to rap, and not just yell over the song.

It was a small venue so every spot was great, and he also sang the first verse of Day and Night a capella with the crowd singing along....it was so awesome.

The Roots take it hands down. Tied for second is Busdriver and De La Soul. Astronautalis would be my fourth.


That was way cool.

Well, i haven't been to too many hip hop shows, but my favorite so far was Wu-Tang. The opening acts were garbage though.

kanye @ coachella was epic. i'm so glad i live in cali.

While, even though I'm not a fan, I gotta say that Kanye's Glow in the Dark tour was unavoidably entertaining. (Think broadway and modern art seasoned with urban flavor).

As transcendent as that show was for the shape-shifting genre, I've got to say that my favorite live hip hop moments didn't come to me courtesy of hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of props and special FX. My favorite...

KRS-One: Kris the Blastmaster has energy that is just unmatchable by the hip pop poster boys that are his foil today. Maybe that has something to do with the fact that his lyrics aren't a bunch of petty invective but forceful messages. The Bridge is Over live is hype like nothing else.

@Bane of your existence: The Roots definitely know how to please a crowd and I read they do it an average of 220 times a year too!

Public Enemy 1987 Def Jam Tour Hammersmith

Best show live I've seen is Reflection Eternal, Talib Kweli and Hi-Tek sounded amazing. Just like the album. Another great show would be Mobb Deep - they didn't sound great but they sure put on a good show and played all their classics. Also Shad is amazing live saw him 2 weeks ago at Osheaga.

Atmosphere + Blueprint + Abstract Rude - Paint The Nation Tour.

or

Doomtree.


Doomtree's show was full of charisma. It was amazing.

Rock the Bells 2008 (I believe it was 08...)

Blackalicious with Gift of Gab, with full band. My GOD the keyboard player stole the show. I went home and got their albums and was slightly disappointed that the album versions didn't have the same ... gusto... as the live show. Still great work, but I wish I had recorded that show.

I saw them open for Del and Hieroglyphics (the whole team). That was also a sight to see. I've seen Del, Casual, A Plus, Opio all separately since, but nothing beats them all on stage together. One of their kids (Tajai I think) rapped for a minute. He was less than 10 years old for sure... and we loved it. Crowd went nuts for him. :P

That all lead up to Rage Against the Machine, playing together for the first time in years, and then WU TANG Clan. Wu Tang was pretty cool. They had a ton of folks and I was pretty unfamiliar with who everyone was. Although I could tell who the fugly dude with the clock around his neck was :laughing:

Also at that show was the Coup, which were pretty good. Boots Riley is a fun entertainer.

MF DOOM no-showed. Not even an impostor. Oh well/whatevs.

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Aesop Rock put on a sick ass show that I saw last year in Reno. He's Aesop Rock, he's amazing. A good couple freestyles, a solid set, and one of the more active and lyric-knowledgeable crowds I've ever been apart of.

There's a live recording of Aesop in Asheville, North Carolina that I downloaded and kept because it was really a great show. He did 'Float' over NightLight's beat. He did a savage freestyle. "Mom called, where can I find ya. Smokin weed in a hotel in North Carolina! <crowd goes nuts>"