Dancing in the Rain: Hiphop in the Park '09

Bayonics - Live HHiP 2009


J-Boogie's Dubtronic Science - live HHiP 2009


Blu - Dancing in the Rain - live HHiP 2009


Yo god, I been bloggin' for a minute! The 13th annual Hiphop in the Park comes around, and I realize that this is the first time I'm scribin' double on an event. But more amazing than my own silly ass jazz, let's meditate a moment on UC Berkeley's Students For Hiphop group holding it down for the thirteenth year straight!

Think of it, each four years the torch has to be passed on to next generation of Hiphop heads in student form. In that case this is the fourth generation of beat driven park slangin' youngins who follow through with tradition and still push it forward on the next level for the new kids comin' up on the block. Thanks to yall for providing the livest jam for the whole community!

For those unfamiliar with the ritual, Hiphop in the Park is an annual celebration of the ultramagnetic spirit of Hiphop for the people by the people, and harmoniously enough, in Berkeley's very own People's Park. Breakers boast commandos on the linoleum, DJ's cut it up on the decks, graffiti writers bomb the boards, spit flows from MC's like hot blooded revolution, poetry expands the mental to the most high, and on the absolutely fundamental tip, the people from all walks of life celebrate the joy of living.

I admit I was worried this year. The rain clouds cast a dark spell on my expectations for the course of the Saturday afternoon. But even when I arrived at one, the park was already bubbling with over 100 heads, posted up with hoodies and umbrellas unwilling to let nature's gloom take away from their high spirits. By the time the ten piece funkified Hiphop outfit Bayonics hit it off, the rain had already subsided to occasional drizzles. And once Bambu ripped the mic with Phatrick cuttin' it up on the clocks, you could feel the shadowed rays of a sun just slightly reverberating in the clouds.


I definitely have to credit the highlights of the afternoon to J-Boogie's Dubtronic Science and the ever talented headliners, Blu & Exile. J-Boogie along with his brass band and a hoarde of mad decent lyristics delivered an amazing set in the lines of his recently dropped "Soul Vibrations" album sprinkled with more than a couple tracks of new material. And while Blu might have inhaled a little too much of that North Cali herb for his own good (memory loss!), he still together with beat conducta' extraodinair Exile, showed us why the duo is making some ridiculously potent music for the two thousands. Who knew dancing in the rain could sound, and feel, so fresh?

If you missed it, I got the live cuts, if the live cuts ain't good enough, rituals come consistently. See you next year!