True School Rules: Rock The Bells’ Sequel

Authenticity in hip hop has always been a hot topic: who are the REAL MC’s making REAL music and who are the frontin’ rappers getting pimped for dough. While the line marking realness blurs depending on who’s drawing it, it’s pretty much a given that every year Rock the Bells serves up one of the best “True School” lineups around: a day of classic hip hop, banging beats and new school treats for heads, backpackers and beatdiggers.

In comparison to previous years when Wu-Tang Clan, Rage Against the Machine and Public Enemy led the crowd through sets of throw ya mothaf—-n hands up bangers,

this year’s headliners A Tribe Called Quest presided over a mellower court with rounds of head nodding, way-back-when jamming and some well-timed wildin,’ smokin’ and crowd surfing, courtesy of Redman, Methodman and – whodathunkit — De La Soul.

Performers on both stages were on their game. The big names — from Rakim to The Pharcyde to Tribe to the Bay’s own Blackalicious — rocked the packed main arena like old school heads proving they could still kick it, while newer acts like Immortal Technique, dead prez, Wale and Jay Electronica stalked through early sets bringing progressive politics and heady wordplay. The hyperactive young guns over on the second stage, including the Kidz in the Hall, Berkeley’s The Pack, Spank Rock and Amanda Blank, buzzed over their pint-sized audience like first graders after too much sugar.

But this year’s King of Rock the Bells crown undoubtedly belonged the Nas. Fresh off a Billboard No. 1 album release, Mr. Nasir Jones got his rock star swagger on in between anti-big media tirades, cuts off the new album “Untitled” and Queensbridge classics like “Half Time,” “It Ain’t Hard to Tell” and “If I Ruled the World.” And as he adjusted his shades and looked out into the audience, he told them they indeed could rule the world and that hip hop, with it’s “pants saggin’ and hats on backwards, (is) the future.” And as a sea of hip hop voices rang in response, realness appeared to definitely be in the building.