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On July 5th, 2009, Rock the Bells returned to Canadian soil.

As Ken Masters would say: Hooray!

First off, as if it needed to be said, as far as venues with all-day concerts go:
Molson Amphitheatre >>> Arrow Hall. Peace to the organizers who gave Guerilla Union the go-ahead. Hip hop is world culture now. Equality is nice.

Second: I MISSED SLAUGHTERHOUSE’S CANADIAN DEBUT!
Fuck!!! My reputation is ruined! I was not everywhere for once in my life, LOL! But really, I feel
Peace to Bishop Brigante though, he saw it. He also did this:

Bishop Brigante: The Success and Failure Tales of Gamblers and Gangsters

Third: TORONTO’S OWN K-NAAN IS OFFICIALLY GLOBAL HIP HOP ROYALTY.

Fourth: The show was pretty motherfucking awesome. How awesome?

So awesome that I wrote this mini-book about the entire experience.

Beyond me having a wonderful time, a few other equally-important things happened. So, get a drink, a snack, a smoke, an instrumental Dilla album, or whatever you indulge in… and relive Rock The Bells 2009 in Toronto with Mindbender.

Word was that Slum Village was dope, but Baatin (or Elzhi, I didn’t see ) couldn’t get across the border. So it wasn’t an official Slum V reunion in Canada… but peace to ‘Selfish’ anyways. I love that song (even though the word on the street is they stole the idea and sample from a Canadian homie).

People said M.O.P. was hype too. Duh. Of course they were, LOL.
It’s the Mash Out Posse. Rugged never smooth, motherfucker.

When I walked in at 3 PM, I saw Tech N9ne taking his name literally, spitting a blast of poly-syllabic havoc over some gunshots, wearing white face paint and a white jumpsuit.

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His homie/hypeman Krizz Kaliko also held it down with similar gusto, furiously firing clips of rhymes into the slowly-growing crowd. (And the weather was immaculate). He rocked jams like “I’m A Playa” (over the ‘Amadeus’ melody. wow.) and slayed the ‘Touch It’ instrumental with some Busta Rhymes worthy rap energy. The “Ohhh Weee Ohhhh” chants were simply something else. You have to have a lot of… je ne sais quoi… to get away with that. But Tech does. Gotta respect a true showman when you see one.

Next was the Dusty Foot Philosopher, reppin’ for Canada hard.

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I could go on and on about how important it was for K-Naan to be on the 2009 Rock the Bells line-up, how he is opening doors for Canadian hip hop all over the world, how he’s redefining the definition of MC and the future of hip hop due to his multi-lingual, multi-cultural, multi-continental representation… but I’ll just stick to the program.

4 piece band. The homie Ray on back up mic. K-Naan ready to give you another reason to go out and get a retail copy of ‘Troubadour’. And choons. Nuff bad man choons. Lovely to start it off with ‘TIA – This Is Africa’, then slide into ‘ABCs’, the Chubb Rock-blessed 90’s-era banger.

It was also great to hear the whole crowd roar in appreciation when K-Naan brought the enormous RTB experience right back home with a fat ass Rexdale shoutout from on the Molson Amphitheater stage.

I couldn’t hear it all over the crowd, but the acapella he was delivering had some ill ass lines about “you ain’t brolic/ you a skinny black Sharpie/ *something something* make a a gangsta thug look like a skinny Black Barbie/ a hungry man is an angry man said the great Bob Marley…”

Ahh, K-Naan rules.
I had to run around a bit, so I missed little pieces of the show, but I’ve seen K-Naan at least 6 times. Was this the first show he did where he only performed new material? I don’t remember hearing ‘Soobax’ or ‘Smile’, but I could be wrong. What I’m NOT wrong about is knowing that ‘Waving Flag’ (in all three of its incarnations) is one of the best songs ever written in hip hop history. If Canada had to contribute something on the level of Public Enemy’s ‘Fight the Power’, THIS IS IT.

“When I get older/ I will grow stronger/ they’ll call me freedom/ just like a waving flag…”
Marley-level righteousness.

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Next, it was John Forte’s old college buddy, Mr. 2000 Seasons.

A Talib Kweli is always a pretty damn good show, for me. I know others feel differently, but meh. Internet critics and okayplayerhaters (ha!) aren’t impressed by anything anymore. Seriously, especially for a forward-thinking MC, he definitely does NOT come with the same old cliche, preachy performance. And he always has a sexy surprise or two in his pocket (we’ll get to that).

He started off with a DOPE new song produced by his very gifted DJ homie Hi-Tek. A Reflection Eternal album is certainly a good idea to give to hip hop now, fellas.

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And “Too Late” will ALWAYS be the fucking jam. “Where were YOU the day hip hop died? Is it too early to mourn? Is it too late to rise?”
Now, he always bridges the second verse to “Say Something”, off ‘Eardrum’, but the odd incorporation of the Lords of the Underground “Chief Rocka” horns throws me off the scent a bit. It’s cool, though.

Still, you can’t go wrong with the “glory, glory, hallelujah holy shit!”-ness of ‘Hostile Gospel’, which Talib performs with religious fervor. The Randall-Thorne-video-(aka Canadian future legend)-directed “We Must Be In Love” jam was next, but I was more blown away when Hi-Tek cocked and squeezed the timeless summer riddim for Jonell’s ‘Round and Round’. Everyone started groovin’. How can you not? That shit is hypnotic bliss!

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Talib always does something fun on Kanye West’s “Get ‘Em High”, and then he threw out that old Rawkus number “Move Something”. Didn’t expect him to jump on Black Rob’s “Whoa!” before he shot off “The Blast” though (complete with rapping verse by a very happy Hi-Tek).

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And like that, Talib Kweli’s job was done. His set was very energetic… and his secret sexy weapon was actually none other than Toronto’s Graph Nobel, who came out to sing a couple choruses for Kweli. Always nice to see her with the brains of Blackstar…

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KRS-One then took over from Supernatural as the host… and it was like an Uzi finishing the job an AK-47 started, LOL. Not only did KRS-One drop crazy jewels on the crowd, but he threw out the timeless party-starter ‘Step Into A World’ for half the jam… it was great!

But few things are greater than seeing RZA go berzerk and prove how much history he has created out of his genius laboratory mind… as well as proving how deep the Wu-Tang Clan’s impact remains on the heads of the generations of hip hoppers that come to Rock the Bells concerts. This was my third, and I have to say if I saw Slaughterhouse (and Slum Village and M.O.P., who I have seen repeatedly multiple times before, no disrespect), then this might have been the BEST Rock the Bells yet. (I normally don’t arrive late. I thought the show started at 3 PM for some reason, but it began at 1. The KRS-One/ManifesTO late night afterparty made up for it though.)

I digress. There’s a LOT happening. Gotta pay attention to as much as possible.
But when this happens:

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that means The RZArecta is ripping the stage apart and rocking the mic like a wild animal unleashed. When a show starts off with ‘Wu Tang Clan Ain’t Nuttin’ Ta Fuck With’, you KNOW it’s about to get insane. RZA became at least 4 of the members of Wu-Tang during the half hour set he sliced out of the Amphitheater.

Did you expect to hear him rock any Gravediggaz classics? Well, he did ‘1-800-Suicide’, son. What?! Also spitting a chunk of Method Man music amongst a medley of other Wu-Tang classic memories, as well as the slow motion broken explosion known as ‘We Pop’, RZA also took it back to ‘After the Laughter’, vintage Wu. Silent homage was paid to the God Russell ‘Osirus’ Jones. I love that they spit each other’s verses now. It’s such a mindfuck to hear RZA rhyming Ghostface’s lyrics, then jump into a Raekwon verse…

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What else did RZA do? Another new Bobby Digital slow jam, serve up a side of freshness from the killer Killarmy MC Kinetic, give a little Killah Priest “4th Chamber” madness, a few minutes in the “Shame on a NUH!” chamber, and a rousing spell of violin violence when inciting riots with his wicked verse on ‘Reunited’:

“take your brain on space walk/ talk strange like Bjork” for real, son!

Honestly, as much as it’s obvious I love RZA to death and back to rebirth, I would be lying to myself and to you if I said I was perfectly pleased with the decision to end the amazing show with the thematically-correct, but sonically-questionable ‘You Can’t Stop Me Now’. It makes sense for him to promote the recently released ‘Digi Snacks’ album, but let’s not lie: unlike the first Bobby Digital album, this one didn’t really connect to the masses. Or the crowd today at RTB, who arguably participated the most overall when they were throwing up their ‘W’s for RZA. The animated/superhero video for ‘You Can’t Stop Me Now’ was dope, but… it’s not a grand finale (AND Nas used it on the ‘Nigger/Untitled’ album). No ‘Triumph’? No ‘Protect Ya Neck’?

Ah, mercy. I see. Disembowlment this year, decapitation next. Peace to the RZA.

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^^^ and yes, that guy does have a tiger on his arm. That’s kinda fuckin’ ill, I say. As was RZA. Peace to Prince Rakeem!

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Next was EPMD, who I unfortunately kinda missed, as I was trying to get some interviews and introductions done. I did hear and see parts of it, some of which included the Green Eyed Bandit saying “Don’t look confused. This is real hip hop. Ain’t no ‘Laffy Taffy’ or no ‘Two-Step’ shit!” to the laughing and predominantly-under-25 audience, before ‘You Gots To Chill’ smashed the speakers. I heard ‘Crossover’ too, which was refreshing, but I honestly wanted to try and meet Crooked I and the rest of the Slaughterhouse gang to congradulate them during their first time in Canada together. I did hear ‘Strictly Business’ as well, and saw them end off with the immortal moshpit masterpiece “Headbanger”, but didn’t see much more. EPMD still are living legends, one of my favorite groups of all time, and (nearly most importantly) the ORIGINATORS OF THIS VERY COLUMN’S TITLE, CONCEPT AND MEANING. I’ve been saying “rap is outta control” since 1992… BECAUSE RAP HAS BEEN OUTTA CONTROL SINCE 1992! (WELL, MORE LIKE SINCE 1977, WHEN ‘RAPPER’S DELIGHT’ WAS CREATED, BUT YOU SHOULD ALREADY UNDERSTAND THAT IF YOU UNDERSTAND HIP HOP )

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I digress. (But I had to pay tribute to EPMD and teach de yout dem.)

Something VERY important happened next: KRS-One broke down how important it was in his career growth from the beginning, to have Michie Mee tell him what to do and what not to do in Toronto, in 1986. This fair city was the first place he performed internationally, outside of NYC, so he said Toronto was absolutely pivotal in establishing his name in the game. Say word. Seeing the Queen of Canadian Hip Hop aka Michie Mee then get on the mic and spit some heatfire for a sec was VERY inspiring! The people occupying the prominent positions within Canadian and American hip hop get closer every year, month and day. Soon… who knows what will happen? Well, just wait til the grand finale. This show’s not done yet.

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Word. And maybe next year there will be that Canadian stage that Rock the Bells Jersey had, with MURS‘ ‘Paid Dues’ stage. Some dreams do come true… such as seeing Big Boi murder the microphone for dolo, and keep the faint flicker of hope alive for at least one more proper Outkast album before it’s all said and done.

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Antwan Patton performed ‘Rosa Parks’, ‘Ms. Jackson’, ‘Art of Storytelling’, ‘Southerplayalisticadillacfunkymuzik’, ‘Elevators’, The Way You Move’ and ‘Kryptonite’ comprised the majority of his set, plus a few sprinkles of Southern sugar-fried funk. Big Boi murders the mic without mercy when he spits, and his stage presence is strong enough to keep your attention even though the admittedly more charismatic of the two is nowhere near a microphone to be found. Biggest flaw in Big Boi’s set was NOT PERFORMING ‘Morris Brown’. Blasphemy! Besides that, Daddy Fat Sack’s show was much more Wild than Idle. He advised us “look out for that Luscious Left Foot album soon!”
How soon is soon?

That question applies well to the next act: Pretty Boy Flaco aka The Mighty Mos Def (replacing Common, who couldn’t make it due to scheduling issues). How soon will Mos Def return to the universal magnetic b-boy vibe he had in the beginning? How soon will the world give up on expecting a Blackstar album anything like the first Blackstar album? How soon will Mos Def clarify why he says “boogeyman!” so many times in his show? And how soon will Mos Def realize that yes, he’s free to please only himself on stage, but does he care that also satisfying the audience in the process is a semi-requisite of a live performance? I love the guy, I buy his music, I liked ‘The New Danger’ more than most people, and I think ‘The Ecstatic’ is a BRILLIANT album. But live? Mos Def isn’t what he used to be in 1999. (Whether this is a temporary or permanent problem remains to be seen.) Last year’s performance at Arrow Hall was simply, a heartbreaking little disappointment. I was looking for redemption this time, but honestly got mostly only a mild improvement from last year.

He performed a few numbers off the new album first, which was both a bad and good thing. At such a huge festival, new material can be a risk to perform, but Mos stays taking risks since the sunset of the ‘Ms. Fat Booty’ days. (You saw how he packaged ‘True Magic’, right? LOL). ‘Priority’ is a wonderful song regardless of its mildly untraditional structure and length:

“Peace before everything thing/ God before anything/ Love before anything/ Real before everything…”

Can’t hate that, even if Mos Def’s stage presence isn’t as invested in creating an atomic bomb impact on the audience as it once way. He DID drop that timeless Black On Both Sides ill bomb ‘Hip Hop’, though.

“…Hip hop will simply amaze you/ praise you/ pay you/ do whatever you say do/ but, Black, it can’t save you”.

Still hella fuckin’ real talk, even 10 years later. He then sparked up the delightful little diddy bop that introduces “Auditorium”, the Slick Rick featured jam on ‘The Ecstatic’. Mos performed both verses, which was kind of odd, but entertaining enough. If only Slick Rick was waiting backstage to jump out on stage… the roof would have blown off the Amphitheatre.

But, what followed next was a languishing medley of great dancehall reggae riddims, that almost had no discernible purpose… until TALIB KWELI came flying out to the lick-a-shot drums of the super classic jam ‘Definition’ for what was one of the only performances of Blackstar to occur on Canadian soil. (Was that their Toronto debut? Quiet as its kept, it might just have been).

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On this day, their chemistry wasn’t as charged as it could possibly be (considering Mos Def was a last minute addition, its impromptu nature was probably why), but it was, ahem… most definitely a highlight to see these two living legends rock the stage together. Great to hear them run the tune all the way out into its sequel, ‘Redefintion’, the intensely emotional evolution of the KRS-One-inspired original. SPEAKING OF, how close was mind-blowing history about to be made, when KRS came out and spit a little bit of the chorus on his Blackstar-inspiring song? Imagine he did the whole hook with Mos Def and Talib Kweli: “one, two, three/ BDP, Mos Def and Talib Kweli/ we came to rock it on to the tip top/ best alliance in hip hop/ why-oooo!” Musical paradise.

Close, but no cigar. Maybe next time. This time, we just had to settle for a wonderful one-two punch of the underrated Mos Def single ‘Casa Bey’ stunningly setting us up, before the timeless ‘Umi Says’ knocks us down and out of this world.

Peace to Mos Def. He’s obviously going through some changes in his personal life and has grown since the bright-eyed MC who blessed ‘Oh No’ with Pharoahe Monch and Nate Dogg. I hope he’s on his way to happiness.

What happened next was history in the making on so very many levels.

God's Son

I could go on at length, but I already have. (This is more for those unlucky people who weren’t there. I hope you feel like you’ve lived it by reading this…)

How do I summarize the sacred synthesis of Nasty Nas, Damian Marley, and… K-Naan the Dusty Foot Philosopher? How do I convey the depth of awesome shock the crowd felt when Nas proudly stated “this guy here, K-Naan, is one of the realest MCs I ever heard…” And how do I warn everyone how powerful the music of this new holy trinity of riddim is? Sorry, I’m getting ahead of myself. I saw the future. Let me present to you the main event in point form. Think of these elements in their rawest form to appreciate their immense amazingness:

-Nas starts with the still-powerful statement song, ‘Hip Hop Is Dead’.

-He performs the timeless classic, ‘The World is Yours’.

-He honors the recently reborn Michael Jackson by rocking his very first single, ‘It Ain’t Hard to Tell’, with its sublime Large Professor-produced, ‘Human Nature’-sampling foundation, as it helped launch the career of arguably the very best rapper alive.

-He delivers ‘Street Dreams’, and a focused ‘Nas Is Like’. Wonderful records to be performing with a combined sound of DJ Green Lantern on the turntables, and a 6-piece reggae band embellishing and enhancing the sample-based magic.

This is where it started getting truly historic. What happens when:

-Nas performs ‘New York State of Mind’… over the beat for ‘The Bridge is Over’? ~And then Damian Marley comes over a-chattin’ up a storm inna de middle a di’ record?~

-Nas performs ‘Life’s A Bitch’… over the Babylon-burning beat for ‘Welcome To Jamrock’?

-Damian Marley jumps in the middle of Nas’s ‘Represent’ beat, and starts speaking smart sharpness ‘pon di’ mic?

-Nas shouts “Free Prodigy! Free Shyne!”, and then launches into the classic Q-Tip produced ‘One Love’… before Damian Marley comes out and connects Nas’s version TO ROBERT NESTA MARLEY’S ‘ONE LOVE’?

Modern music history on the highest level imaginable thus far gets made, that’s what. The show was truly, truly remarkable. And that’s only half way.

Rapper Nas and the Yardie Jr. Gong had a song off their “90% complete” new album, ‘Distant Relatives’, where they were weaving in between each other’s vocals, and intertwining threads of history like Nyabinghi dreadlocks. Nas took center stage again, delivering a glitched version of ‘My President Is Black’ (and I heard him say at some point in the show, a line about “me and Damian are like two Obamas”), and dropping ‘One Mic’ passionately, before igniting a heart-warming rendition of the slept-on gem ‘I Can’, with extra special live keyboard accoutrements. Divine.

And then Nas got devilish, rocking ‘Got Urself A Gun’ over the sinister beat of ‘Deep Cover’, before cocking and squeezing the silver bullet that is ‘Made U Look’. Timeless.

Damian Marley performed ‘Road to Zion’ with Nas as well, and heaven on earth might as well have officially opened for business at the end of the incredible day.

Did I say end? No, as I stated above: it didn’t end without Nas inviting K-Naan on stage to perform with him and Damian Marley, a bass-heavy piece of Black power brilliance called ‘Africa Must Wake Up’. Nas’s world-wise words are connected to Damian Marley’s anthemic chorus before K-Naan’s impassioned third verse. Truly a milestone in Toronto music history.

It was a new manifestation in a new day, and a glorious sight to behold at the grand finale: Nas, K-Naan, and Damian Marley all saluting the crowd with peace, love, respect, and in unity.

If this wasn’t heaven itself, it’s exactly what I hope to find in heaven anyways, so it might as well be the perfect paradise.

Rock the Bells 2009 at the Toronto Amphitheatre was a party like no other.

Yes, the security was unthinkably difficult and unaccomodating, but… there were no incidents. (Peace to the Up in Smoke Tour). Yes, I hear the beer was expensive (I was high off music all day, sorry for all y’all alkaholiks). But all things considered, Rock the Bells Toronto 2009 will most likely be the biggest and best event of the year in this city.

And next year, it will be even better. Keep hope alive, and keep dreaming higher. I’ll see you there, fellow hip hop head. I hope you enjoyed the journey.

love,

Adhimu “Mindbender” Stewart

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p.s.

Yes, I know it’s kinda extremely obsessive. I had to pay the proper respect to the enormous undertaking. Peace to Chang Weisberg, Guerilla Union, Alexandra Greenberg, Bari Lieberman, Pound Magazine, Cityonmyback.com, Kevin Jones, Vivian (do you like the pictures?), Common, Bishop Brigante, Rich Kidd, Ridgeway Entertainment, Slaugherhouse (see you next time you come to Toronto) and everyone who helped me experience Rock the Bells for a third year in a row.

I love you all, even though

RAP IS OUTTA CONTROL!