Legendary MC Rakim Rocks The Stage

On June 8^th, 2014, the 39^th ODUNDE Festival came to Philadelphia at 23^rd & South Streets. It featured over 100 arts and crafts vendors, great food, and my favorite part, live entertainment. I had the pleasure of being able to attend the festival with my fellow ladies of JAE Blog. This year on the main stage featured Messiah Danceworks, Noni Renee, and one of the greatest MC’s and legends of Hip Hop, Rakim. DJ Techician played some songs to warm up the crowd and my old soul started to show lol. I danced and sang along to classics by DJ Kool, Marvin Gaye, Frankie Beverly&Maze, Rob Base,  and DJ E-Z. After a few minutes of mixing, the crowd was more than ready to see Rakim rock the stage…


Rakim is known as one of the most influential and most talented MC’s of all time. He was ranked #4 on MTV's list of the Greatest MCs of All Time. He is one of hip hop’s legends and has released classic hip hop music alongside his partner, Eric B. On Sunday, Rakim hit the ODUNDE stage with his army fatigue from head to toe, more than ready to SERVE the crowd. People of all ages, young to old were engaged in his performance, rapping along and not missing a lyric. Rakim performed some of his classics, “My Melody”, “I Ain’t No Joke”, “Paid in Full”, “Microphone Feign,” “Follow the Leader”, and “Don’t Sweat the Technique.” One of my favorite parts of his performance was when he had children on stage, dancing and clapping their hands while he rapped “Make Em Clap to This.” It warmed my heart to see the children of this generation dancing and appreciating old school hip hop music. Rakim delivered a great performance with so much energy as if it were still the 90’s. I’m glad I was able to experience seeing such a legend MC perform and it will definitely be a music memory that will forever stick with me.





http://youtu.be/FeQ-5RSM02I