DJ Premier & Bumpy Knuckles played Highline Ballroom
April 2nd, 2012 by chocko
Last Monday DJ Premier and Freddie Foxxx (aka Bumpy Knuckles) tore the roof off Highline Ballroom in celebration Bumpy’s birthday and also the release of Kolexxxion, a new album featuring Foxxx on the microphone and Premier on the beats. The night started with DJ Technician from The Bronx spinning new and classic tracks. He announced that there was a Wu-Block album coming out soon that features Ghostface Killah of Wu-Tang Clan and Sheek Louch of D-Block.
DJ Premier emerged behind the turntables and early in the night was surrounded by some Legendary Hip Hop Pioneers: Grandmaster Flash and DJ Kool Herc. If you don’t know who those two guys are, you need to do your homework! Herc got on the mic later on to drop some knowledge and to also mention his favorite MC’s: Nas, KRS-ONE and Jadakiss! Flavor FLav of Public Enemy was the host of the evening’s festivities and flew in from Las Vegas where he recently opened up a fried chicken restaurant. Don’t worry people of the tri-state area…Flav’s got a chicken joint planned to open soon in New York City. He did an excellent job hosting the show and started the night with “911 Is A Joke” from the Public Enemy album, Fear Of A Black Planet. Rock Out With Your Clock Out!
Preemo affiliates and longtime members of the Gang Starr Foundation, NYG’z (Panchi and Shabeeno) performed “Same Team No Games” along with H. Stax. Sweet Tee, a female rapper from the 1980’s came out of the woodwork and got the crowd pumped with a performance of “It’s My Beat” instantly bringing the crowd back to the days when they blasted Sweet Tee from the back of their Jettas. Brooklyn’s Shawn Pen, who used to go by the name Little Shawn, also did some songs. Anyone remember him? He had a 1992 new jack swing hit titled “Hickeys On Your Chest” and rhymed with Notorious B.I.G. on the track “Dom Perignon.”
Bumpy was getting antsy to rock and came out growling on the track “The Key” from his newest album, Kolexxxion. He paced the stage in a pointy, black hoodie and was surrounded by a posse that included Eric B. Props to that dude…the albums he’s worked on especially Paid In Full were game changers. Throughout the night, many more artists including Lord Finesse (pictured), Pete Rock, and Kid Capri stopped by to get on the microphone for a few words and to wish Bumpy a happy birthday.
Bumpy not only let the DJs get some shine, but he also brought out his heroes growing up-The Cold Crush Brothers! The Cold Crush are a legendary crew from the Bronx that Bumpy emulated early on, in particular the Captain of the Cold Crush, Grand Master Caz. After Bumpy set it off with a song paying homage to the art form, Cold Crush countered with a quick song with their signature powerhouse rhymes.
O.C. from the Diggin’ In The Crates Crew (D.I.T.C.) came out and performed “M.U.G. (Money Under Ground)” with Bumpy which is a track off of O.C.’s 1997 second album Jewelz. O.C. then proceeded with a special request-his 1994 classic and most well known track, “Time’s Up.”
Big Shug, also a member of the Gang Starr Foundation, performed “Militia” with Bumpy. Guru’s verses played through the speakers while live footage of the Gang Starr MC was projected on a huge screen in back of the stage. It was a bittersweet moment of the night. R.I.P. Guru.
The party then continued with M.O.P. performing a few songs including the crowd-moving “Ante Up” and “My Kind Of Nigga” with Heather B. Treach was pretty visible throughout the night, but once Vin Rock emerged there was no question…Naughty By Nature was in the house. Some of Jersey’s grimiest and finest performed a quick set of jams including “Uptown Anthem” and “I Gotta Lotta.” Bumpy ended the night with another track off Kolexxxion titled “The Gang Starr Bus.” Peace to Premier on the 1’s and 2’s. Check out some videos below!
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“911 IS A JOKE” by FLAVOR FLAV
“M.U.G.” by Bumpy Knuckles and O.C. and “Time’s Up” by O.C.
“My Kind of Nigga” by M.O.P. + Heather B.
“Uptown Anthem” and “I Gotta Lotta” by NAUGHTY BY NATURE
Tags: bumpy knuckles, concert, dj premier, freddie foxxx, highline ballroom, new york city, nyc, review, show
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