Saturday was a very hot and humid day @ Randall’s Island for the Rock The Bells festival in NYC. My homeslice Immortal Technique invited me out to rock “Peruvian Cocaine” live during his set, so I made my way through. Upon arrival I met up with PackFM and Poison Pen at the gate. I got my badge, strolled through security and made my way to the trailer which was apparently David Banner’s before he dropped off the tour…like, the day before. Kinda sucks, cause I heard he’s a real dope performer too, but I can’t complain about free A/C, drinks and snacks in his absence.

We met up with the rest of the cast, hung out for a bit, and got the call for showtime. We loaded up the go carts, leaving all the exceptionally heavy muffuckas from Poison Pen’s Emveez camp behind, while Pumpkinhead made a final and unsuccessful dash for the last space. It’s these little moments that make these events fun. Once at the stage, we filed into a line and I caught a shot of one of RTB sound/stage crew catching a nap. Apparently, hammocks are what’s poppin on the streets right now.

This is a fine way to earn a living @ Rock The Bells

“Peruvian Cocaine” Live

I’m fairly certain this song has only been performed 2 times with ALL of the artists that were on the original song on stage at the same time. 9 times out of 10, someone’s always missing out of the equation. This time around it was C Rayz Walz. I was hoping he’d come through, cause I haven’t seen him in a minute. The last time we all rocked this song live in front a crowd this big was at the last Rocksteady Anniversary at the Pier. Walz came out on stage with a county orange prison suit to compliment his verse.

This year, sadly he couldn’t make it, so it was a 90% complete version of the song. Still, it was a mammoth crowd and it was just as fun as usual with Technique, Pumpkinhead, Diabolic, Poison Pen and even the elusive Lou Cypher in tow.

The funny thing about performing this song live is that…there’s usually only 2 mics on stage at once, and you can just see the anticipatory “where’s the mic?” scramble happening behind whoever’s rhyming. People are all looking around and shit, trying to make sure they don’t get caught without a mic when it’s their turn. Mic’s get snatched outta your hands and shit. hahah It’s pretty fucking funny from my viewpoint at least. The shit’s always fun to rock regardless and I appreciate Tech inviting the kid out to rock at this festival.

I headed up to the DJ Booth where DJ G.I. Joe from the Turntable Anihilists crew, put it the fuck down during the set with a mini-scratch routine. This kid does the damn thing and he got a new mixtape called Underworld Vol.3. Be sure to swing through the TurntableAnihilists.com site and pick up a copy.

Merch Madness

After the set, we all headed over to the merchandise area which was clear on the other side of the the park. When you roll with this many rappers, everybody got product to sell. 80% of the time, the person who comes up to the booth has no fucking clue who the hell you are and wants nothing to do with your CD. So, I like to stand by and watch as my buddies hustle unsuspecting consumers into buying their CD.

In most cases, like say… the random kid selling you his CD-R of mixtape verses in front of Virgin Megastore at Times Square..you’re wasting your money buying something you’ve never heard before. When you got cats like Pumpkinhead, PackFM, or Poison Pen pushing their shit on you… you can’t go wrong. Chances are you’ll bug out about how you’d never heard of those particular artists before or never bothered to listen to their music. So, when you see our fam…please continue to support.

A Glimpse At The Future?

A Glimpse At The Future? (L-R: Tonedeff, DJ Premiere & Pharoahe Monch)

So, before I headed home, I finally met Pharoahe Monch in the artists area, (Be sure to get his new album). Unlike alot of artists I’ve met, dude was real cool. Like everyone else, I’m a big fan of his work and I’ve always felt that we were on somewhat of the same page in terms of singing/rhyming, so it was a real honor to talk with him.. So, anyway, while we were talking, DJ Premiere (who I’ve met before briefly), walked into the mix and of course, I had to capture the moment for y’all to see. We took this flick and I looked at them both and said, “In a couple years, we’ll be working on something together – mark my words.” Of course, they looked at me like I had three heads, but I had to call it.

Stranger things have happened, right? :)

Hollerate.
Tone.

BUY YOUR MEGASHOW TICKETS EARLY and bring your friends!