There isn’t a strict dress code at this Friday’s “50th Anniversary of Hip-Hop” concert in Hempstead, but the city’s mayor, Waylyn Hobbs, Jr., has some suggestions.
“Bring your Adidas, bring your Kangols,” he said. “Come out and let’s have a good time.”
Scheduled for Oct. 20 at 6 p.m. at Hempstead’s Denton Green Park, the show features a mix of hip-hop acts, from world-famous pioneers to local talents. Among them are The Sugarhill Gang, whose 1979 single “Rapper’s Delight” introduced an entire generation to the sound of hip-hop; Roxanne Shanté, who blazed a trail for female rappers; Melle Mel and Scorpio, both of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious 5; the Hempstead rapper A+, who released his first album at the age of 14; and Central Islip’s Keith Murray, whose 1994 single “The Most Beautifullest Thing in This World” became a rap radio hit.
The event will also feature DJ Mister Cee, the former Hot 97 radio personality whose hip-hop career stretches back to his days spinning for rap icon Big Daddy Kane.
Murray, who can boast of collaborating with EMPD’s Erick Sermon and Busta Rhymes, said he’s “very happy” to be part of the 50th anniversary celebration. “I’m not left out. I’m acknowledged. I’m honored. And I’m inspired.”
Hempstead holds its share of hip-hop bragging rights. For starters, it’s the hometown of several hip-hop artists, including Roc Marciano, part of Busta Rhymes’ Flipmode Squad; Method Man, of the Wu-Tang Clan; and the late Grand Daddy I.U., part of the famous Juice Crew collective. Hempstead was also the home base for Spectrum City, a mobile DJ crew that included a young Chuck D; their headquarters, at 510 S. Franklin St., became the studio where Public Enemy would record its 1987 debut album, “Yo! Bum Rush the Show.”
“Hempstead has a rich history of having rap artists come out of here,” Hobbs said. “I thought it would be great for Hempstead to have an event celebrating 50 years of hip-hop. And so we were able to put this event together.”
It’s the latest in a series of 50th anniversary concerts and tours that have taken place this past summer in the metropolitan area. LL Cool J’s F.O.R.C.E. Tour, which stopped at Barclays Center, showcased Amityville’s De La Soul and the Wyandanch rapper Rakim. The rap pioneers Run-D.M.C. delivered a farewell performance at Hip Hop 50 Live, a star-studded concert at Yankee Stadium. The Hip-Hop Forever show at Madison Square Garden featured the Wu-Tang Clan, Brentwood’s EPMD and others.
Because of all the concert activity, booking artists wasn’t easy, according to Hobbs. “Many people we had relationships with, a lot of them were already committed to other performances,” he said, but he added: “Because the artists realized the history that Hempstead had, it wasn’t too difficult to get them to agree to come. Their schedules permitted it, and we’re excited to have them.”
The flood of concerts and other officially sanctioned events would seem to underscore hip-hop’s long cultural journey — from upstart urban folk music to profitable entertainment to legitimate art form.
According to lore, hip-hop was born Aug. 11, 1973, when DJ Kool Herc mixed two copies of the same record at a party in the Bronx to create a continuous percussive loop. Rappers added rhymes to the beats, then replaced DJs as the star attraction. Artists like LL Cool J pushed hip-hop into the pop charts, while acts like Public Enemy used it as a form of social protest. The music swelled in popularity during the 1990s, even as it became synonymous with violence and gangsterism. In 2018, however, Kendrick Lamar became the first rapper to win a Pulitzer prize, for his album “DAMN.” This year, the Brooklyn Public Library installed “The Book of HOV,” an exhibit dedicated to the art and artifacts of Jay-Z.
“Even now, I’m a little surprised that Hempstead is throwing this kind of event,” said the rapper Andre Levins, known as A+, who at 41 can still remember when hip-hop was a street-kid culture. “My first feeling of being in the music was when they would have parties in the park, just a DJ and a microphone,” he said. “These were just local parties that people would throw in the neighborhood and the community centers, just to give local artists a way to showcase their talent.”
The Hempstead concert will likely appeal to hip-hop heads who — like the 61-year-old Mayor Hobbs — fondly remember the music’s early, fun-loving era, when boom boxes were prize possessions and just about any high school lunchroom could become the scene of a break-dance battle.
“The crowd that we’re going to attract is more of a mature crowd. It’s going to be an atmosphere of celebration and fun,” Hobbs said. He recited a bit of “Rapper’s Delight” to illustrate his point. “’Hotel / Motel / Holiday Inn,’” he rhymed. “Who can forget it?”
