Contrary to the belief that Hip-Hop is dead, the Rock the Bells tour shook California, and it wasn’t San Andreas’s fault. San Bernardino and San Francisco both held the all-star rap concert this month with Rage Against the Machine as the headliner.

Choosing to avoid the sweltering heat offered locally, a road trip was in order. Held inside McCovey’s Cove at AT&T Park, underground artist, Immortal Technique, blessed the audience with his dominant, well articulated political views. A relative unknown in mainstream rap, Immortal Technique did not stray from his style to gain fan appreciation. He incepted the show with true hip-hop roots, and set the stage for rap legends EPMD.

The crowd was multiplying like wet Mogwai. Only an hour into the half day rap version of Coachella, arriving fans couldn’t get to within a football field of the stage. EPMD did their thing while bringing true hip-hop “heads” back to the turn of the eighties decade. Heads bobbed in unison.

It was at this time when realization set in. Once EPMD left the main stage, Talib Kweli was set to perform. But on the other stage, significantly smaller, and reserved for the lesser known artists, Murs was performing. Arguably the second best lyracist on the west coast in terms of real hip-hop, The Game excluded, the Los Angeles based rapper’s performance went unattended by most. The same was the case for Blackalicious, Hieroglyphics, and others.

Back at the main stage, Kweli’s beat dropped, his voice echoed through the open parking lot, and thousands hurried to close any open space in an attempt to see the New York legend. Not on the list of performers, surprise guest Jean Grae teamed up with Kweli. Not to be outdone, she matched his delivery and intensity.

Mos Def was up next. He grabbed the microphone, and reunited Black Star by rapping alongside Kweli. They performed classic hits “Lions of Hip-Hop” and “Ms. Phat Booty” as well as many others. Fans simultaneously rapped lyrics with the same enthusiasm as the artists. Hip-Hop was anything but dead. Those feeling the genre was ready to flat line experienced certified resuscitation first hand.

The Roots were up next. Staying true to their “roots”, they continue to produce authentic beats performed with live instruments. This is the antithesis of the redundancy of beat machine’s sampling classics while brutalizing the brilliance of once original songs. Tuba, bass guitar, drums, and a keyboard accompanied the voice of Black Thought, the MC of The Roots. This act matched any preceding or ensuing performances.

Although temperatures were cool, the absence of seating wore on many fans. Between performances, the crowd would shift. As space became available nearer to the stage, the pursuing crowd merged closer together leaving little room anywhere. To bridge the gap, Rahzel entertained the audience being the human beat box machine. He sounded like he was an actual band on stage. Supernatural, the world record holder for the longest freestyle of nine hours and ten minutes also performed between shows. Audience members randomly held objects in their pockets, and he went down the line free-styling about everything he saw without a hitch. This may have been the most astonishing act of the day.

With the exception of Rage Against the Machine, Public Enemy was able to transmit their energy into and through the crowd as well as any performance of the day. Flavor Flav and Chuck D. performed with vivacity. Coercing nearly every person in attendance to raise their fist to symbolize unity, the often controversial rap duo incited President Bush chants laced with profanity. Eventually those fists turned into the number one in reference to their opinion of the political topic. Chuck D. juggled his microphone while Flav ran back and forth on the stage doing his part as the world’s greatest hype man. Then he closed out their portion of the concert by performing “911 is a Joke” from their 1990 album titled “Fear of a Black Planet.”

One of the more interesting stories came by announcement that Nas was missing from the lineup. One of the prevalent names in the industry, and unequivocally a top five rapper of all-time, Nas failed to deliver. His last CD is titled, “Hip-Hop is Dead,” but his absence did nothing to dispel the rumor of rap’s state of emergency. Instead of showcasing his brilliance as an MC, he cancelled. For the Southern California show, he was late, and managed to only give the audience one song. If he treated California like the East Coast, he would have noticed the dedication to the music that is “dying.” It is obvious sells are down, because of a lack of quality rap music being produced during the last five years, but when one of the biggest icons of the industry fails to entertain an audience, especially one where he was the main reason people purchased one hundred dollar tickets, this becomes a black eye for everyone involved.

Cypress Hill and Wu-Tang Clan were the last two groups to perform before Rage arrived on the scene. Although both groups are known more for their music over a decade ago, they were engaging, and followed the earlier groups by relying on their older hits. At times, Wu-Tang felt like they had thirty members. It became difficult to follow who was actually rapping.

Rage Against the Machine performed as usual with their intense show. The oddity with them being at the Rock the Bells concert is their genre rests contrary to everything else seen on stage. They are not a rap group, and it would be hard pressed to classify them as any sector of hip-hop. They are politically conscious, but that is not enough to categorize a group as hip-hop. Watching Rage after everyone else was like drinking punch after eating ice cream at a birthday party. The punch tastes great, but not after you eat the ice cream.

The quality of rap is diminishing, and with those in charge handling it with a lack of responsibility by trying to make catchy beats with lyrics conveying the importance of money, rims, bling, and grills, Rock the Bells gives hope that there are MCs willing to return to the basics of rap music. It is poetic when it is discovered by the right mind. Rap is powerful. Rap is influential. Rap is part of hip-hop. And rap is not dead: not yet.

By Trent Hensley