Today is the final day of Harbourfront’s Global Hip Hop: The Four Elements festival, part of their free summer weekend festival World Routes. I had the privilege of watching one of the best classic Hip Hop films ever made, Wild Style.
Okay, so I had to leave an hour into to the film because I promised my friends that I would head down to watch Russell Peters‘ free performance at Yonge-Dundas Square, but that was worth it. The place was packed. I heard there was an estimated crowd of at least 15,000 that packed the Square. I was in the back b/c I got there around 7:30, but the speaker system was pretty good. Russell Peters had the large crowd in hysterics as he performed snippets of his well-known cultural routines. Filipino-American Jo Koy was also up from L.A. to perform. This guy his hilarious… I’m glad I got a chance to catch him live. Italian-Canadian musical duo The Doo-Wops also performed that evening.
After that I went off with my friends to add more clothes to my very large wardrobe: H&M had a big clearance sale (50% off all red ticketed items). I was shook by what I thought was some sort of terrorist attack (along with some other jumpy spectators), but I realized it was just the beginning of the pyrotechnic performance by the Bängditos. :D
I then rejoined my other friend at Harbourfront to catch one of the most amazing live shows I’ve seen in a while: The Wild Style 25 Concert featuring Grand Wizard Theodore, Busy Bee and Fantastic Five. Now this is what real Hip Hop is. Theadore (the inventor of the ‘scratch’) was phenomenal with his sets. And when the Fantastic Five and Busy Bee came on stage, they had the crowd go wild. I really wish more young people would listen to the roots of Hip Hop, and stop falling into the superficial traps of the ‘bling’, the money, the cars and the ‘hoes’. Hip Hop isn’t about guns, violence or how many years you’ve spent in prison. Hip Hop is about peace, love, unity and having fun.
Here’s a clip from one of the famous scenes from Wild Style:
Yesterday I also had to chance to see two interestings screenings at the festival: From Mambo to Hip Hop: A South Bronx Tale, and Remixed in Japan. Henry Chalfant’s From Mambo to Hip Hop examines the rhythms that blossomed in the Bronx in the late 1940s with mambo, through the birth of Hip Hop in the 70s, and it’s connections. Melody Weinstein’s Remixed in Japan shows the explosion of Hip Hop in Japan, it’s meaning, it’s form of self-expression, and follows some very intriguing Japanese people immersed in the Hip Hop culture.
Here’s a trailer for From Mambo to Hip Hop:
