Wu Tang Clan, Public Enemy, RATM Rock The Bells

Although Nas may tell you hip-hop is dead, last weekend's Rock The Bells festival in New York was out to prove otherwise.

Headlined by the recently reunited Rage Against The Machine, Rock The Bells 2007 assembled what is without question the strongest lineup of hip-hop artists ever showcased on a single tour, including veterans Wu-Tang Clan, Public Enemy and Cypress Hill as well as the new wave of underground talent Mr. Lif, Sage Francis and Brother Ali. I'll certainly remember this as an overall positive experience although the event wasn't without its somewhat unavoidable drawbacks. Amongst them:

1) The weather gods certainly had a good laugh, delivering impossible heat on Saturday and pouring rain on Sunday, resulting in huge puddles and deep mud. But it's an outdoor music festival. God forbid it should be a pleasantly sunny day with a cool breeze.

2) Everything was extremely expensive. Unless you can store water like a camel, bottles set you back $4 each. Two friends each bought chicken fingers, fries and a drink for a combined $36.

3) There were long lineups for everything. The entrance and exit, food and beverage vendors and merch tables literally took hours of your life away. Even getting close to the main stage involved going past two rows of barriers, and that's before the struggle to get through a bunch of sweaty people to secure a decent spot in front of the stage. But at this point we all need to realize that bad weather, high prices and immense crowds are something you just have to deal with when it comes to these types of shows. You just hope, in the end, it's the music you'll remember.

The event was hosted by freestyle legend Supernatural and beatbox hero Rahzel, who kept the crowd entertained between sets. Supernatural did a freestyle that involved people from the audience handing him belongings that he would rap about. One fan gave him a Maple Leafs hat, and the ensuing rap received a pretty loud pop from the large Toronto contingent that was on hand at the event.

As soon as you passed the first merch table, the Paid Dues Independent Hip-Hop Stage was the first thing you could hear and see. Although the crowd was understandably smaller, the energy and audience participation throughout the short time I spent there was stronger than the main stage.

Even though I wasn't at all familiar with Brother Ali's music, I stuck around for his entire set and watched the crowd sing every word and bob their heads and wave their arms the whole time. Unfortunately, the second stage overlapped the main stage timewise and, since I waited in line forever to get to the main stage from there, I didn't want to risk it more than once. It was too bad because I really wanted to see Sage Francis and Doom.

Talib Kweli and Mos Def
These two collaborated on their Black Star album, so it was appropriate that they shared the stage. Although they both delve more into the conscious realm of hip-hop, Kweli has more of pop flare and therefore is able to reach the larger crowds that he's otherwise not accustomed to.

This marked my third (and hopefully last) time seeing Mos Def in a festival setting. Instead of catering to a large festival crowd by delivering the hits, he insists on doing his lengthy a cappella wail and nearly loses the crowd entirely every time. Thankfully, Kweli came in and got the crowd going again before the two dipped into material such as "Brown Skin Lady" from the Black Star album.

Public Enemy
Accompanied by a DJ, a three-piece band and two men in fatigues who stood at centre stage, PE were the first act to really command the audience. Forty-seven-year-old Chuck D jumped around the stage more than any performer on the bill except for Zack De La Rocha. The group delivered all the classics, including "911 Is A Joke" and "Fight The Power," and were even joined on stage by Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian for their historic crossover collaboration, "Bring Tha Noize."

They would have been able to play more songs had it not been for Flavor Flav's introduction of the band, which dragged on despite Chuck D's slightly irritated plea to make it quick. At the end of PE's Saturday performance, Flav went on about the success of The Surreal Life, Flavor Of Love and his upcoming Comedy Central Roast ending the set with a long "Yeah Boyyyyeeeeeee." Organizers knew better on Sunday and cut his mic as soon as the performance was done.

The Roots
With band leader ?uestlove providing a lone drum beat, frontman Black Thought began spitting the lyrics to "Web" from 2004's The Tipping Point. People who didn't recognize the song thought it was a freestyle because Black Thought has such a natural flow. With the addition of a three-piece horn section and guitars and bass, the band played modified renditions of "Star" and "Don't Feel Right."

Even though I knew the songs, The Roots' live shows have such an organic feel that it really seems like they just get up on stage and jam. After their performance on Saturday, I was excited for my fellow Torontonians knowing they were going to see them the following day at the Rogers Picnic. But for those of you in T.O. who were wondering why ?uestlove never made it to there, it was because he was too busy doing a DJ gig at a club in New York late Saturday night.

Rakim
I'll admit that while I was well aware of his contribution to hip-hop, I wasn't too familiar with Rakim's music. At least I didn't think I was until I heard the songs and realized I actually knew more than I thought, including classics "Microphone Fiend" and "Don't Sweat The Technique." But whether you knew the songs or not really didn't matter. The simple fact that we all got a chance to see the man who people in hip-hop circles refer to as God was a privilege.

Cypress Hill
Although both Rage and Wu-Tang have enjoyed success among both hard rockers and hip-hop heads, Cypress Hill are probably the biggest rap/metal crossover act ever, which was apparent by the mosh pits during "Insane In The Brain." While the excessive marijuana references may seem a little cheesy, you have to take it all with a grain of salt, especially with the giant inflatable Buddha and bong brought on stage. And how can you hate on "Stoned Is The Way Of The Walk" and "Hand On The Pump," which still sound as funky as they did when I was 14 years old? "I Wanna Get High" and "How I Could Just Kill A Man" also brought back blurred memories. That rowdy dope smoking teen in all of us definitely returned for the brief period Cypress Hill were on stage.

Wu-Tang Clan
Even though I was excited to see Rage, there's a good chance that the band do a full reunion tour next year. However, the possibility of getting all eight members of the Wu-Tang Clan north of the border into Canada is slim to nil, which is a major reason why more than a few Canucks made the trip to New York. It was great to see the entire group on stage performing favourites "C.R.E.A.M." and "Da Mystery Of Chessboxin'" as well as paying respect to former Wu-Tang member, the late Ol' Dirty Bastard with a rendition of "Shimmy Shimmy Ya."

It's too bad the stage crew wasn't able to arrange eight microphones that worked properly, as there were times you could hardly hear anything, forcing members to pass mics to each other. Also disappointing was the fact that even though all members were there, some of the verses on songs were skipped entirely, limiting the participation of seldom used Masta Killa and U-God.

Despite some of the shortcomings, Method Man and RZA had enough stage presence to keep the crowd roaring and throwing up the "W" throughout the set. An appearance by Redman during Saturday's performance of "Da Rockwilder" really got the crowd pumped before Wu-Tang closed with a complete performance of "Triumph," ending the set with bang.

Rage Against The Machine
After a long set change the black flag and red star of the Zapatistas was raised in the background. Tim Cummerford, Brad Wilk and Tom Morello walked on stage with De La Rocha, who announced, "We are Rage Against The Machine from Los Angeles, California," which was all the stage banter you would hear for the remainder of the night.

Although fans have been waiting for a Rage reunion ever since they disbanded in 2000, the seven-year gap did little to date the band's message of political resistance. And even though their music is catchy and funky with lots of energy, it had become a little stagnant after three records so the wait also gave the songs a fresher feel.

Let's be honest, if this wasn't their reunion tour, as good as they are, Rage wouldn't be headlining this festival. But after a seven-year wait, "Bulls On Parade" and "Guerilla Radio" were nothing short of explosive. "Know Your Enemy" and "People Of The Sun" had the entire park dancing and everyone screamed at the top of their lungs during "Vietnow" and "Bullet In Your Head." The grand finale included bright lights that illuminated 35,000 people with middle fingers in the air screaming "Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me" at the end of "Killing In The Name Of." What a difference a few years away can make.

While Nas' statement on the current state of hip-hop may be valid if you're talking about the mainstream, the number of attendees and the calibre of performers who made Rock The Bells a success shows that hip-hop is indeed still alive and well.