Day 7 was officially hip-hop day at Bluesfest, with a variety of different acts from the genre playing. Original gangster Snoop Dogg was the headliner for the evening, with a very capable supporting cast playing around the various stages featuring A$AP Rocky, Chali 2Na, and Deltron 3030.
I started the evening with A$AP Rocky, an up-and-coming rapper from New York. Taking the stage with his DJ and hype man, A$AP performed a variety of songs off his mixtape LiveLoveA$AP, including such memorable titles such as “Purple Swag,” “Get Lit,” and “Bass.” Believe me, the young rapper had seemingly turned the bass all the way up past 11, enough to make my ear drums feel like they were bleeding. A$AP also played some of his new, unreleased material for the crowd from his upcoming full-length album due out this fall. Near the end of the set, a handful of lucky fans were able to get up on stage and party with A$AP, which was fairly cool to see.
Some serious wordplay was also going on at the Electro Stage in behind the War Museum, with Chali 2Na up first. The former member of hip-hop group Jurassic 5 played a selection of his solo material to a lively crowd. This time around, Chali 2Na opted to drop the bass with a live bass guitarist and accompanying band. The man’s skill at delivering rhymes was incredible, running through beats at various tempos without fail. He couldn’t thank the audience enough for coming to watch his performance.
Following up was another impressive hip-hop act, Deltron 3030. The group has released one album, a legendary rap opera concept album telling a story of the state of hip-hop music in the year 3030. Hard at work on a second effort, Deltron played a mix of the old material and even previewed some new tracks from the upcoming disc. The group’s three members Dan the Automator, Del tha Funkee Homosapien, and DJ Kid Koala were backed up on stage by a drummer, a guitarist, and a live string section, horn section, and choir. The sound of all these elements combined was incredible, with Del rapping effortlessly over the group’s music while Kid Koala jumped between three separate turntables, scratching records with incredibly quick hand movements.
Finally, the big draw of the night was the Doggfather himself (sorry, I had to): Snoop Dogg. I wandered over just in time to see Snoop and his crew launch into the rap standard “Gin and Juice”, which the crowd easily knew all the words to. He then performed his verse from Katy Perry’s “California Girls” with the help of some scantily clad backup dancers, and then moved in to his song “Sensual Seduction,” which really got the audience feeling good. Also, he was the third act of the evening to play House of Pain’s “Jump Around” like A$AP and Lauryn Hill before him.
It was a wonderful evening to get my hip-hop fix in at Bluesfest, and it’s safe to say my street cred went up by a fair bit as well.
