All year people have been celebrating the 50th anniversary of hip-hop. Now, Hot 97 has announced what might be the biggest celebration of the genre's anniversary this year. The show is set to take place on September 15th in Madison Square Garden. Headliners include rap legends Wu-Tang Clan as well as Mary J. Blige and Mariah Carey. Elsewhere in the line-up are EPMD, Tyrese, Seal Paul, and Maxwell. DJ Funk Flex will serve as host/curator of the event. Pre-sale tickets are already out and the general public will be able to get theirs later this week.
It's yet another celebration of the genre's 50th anniversary in a year packed full of outings dedicated to the genre. Just last week Hot 97 Summer Jam happened with a special performance from The LOX celebrating rap's 50th birthday. Just a few days ago, Mass Appeal and Live Nation teamed up to announce the line-up for a massive celebratory show happening later this summer. Lil Wayne, Snoop Dogg, Ice Cube, and Run D.M.C are all included in the show's all-star roster. Mass Appeal has also released a pair of EPs as part of a "Hip Hop 50" series curated by Nas and handled by various legendary rap producers. Last year's first volume was handled by DJ Premier while this year's 2nd edition was done by Swizz Beats.
Big Guns Showing Up For Hip Hop's 50th
During this year's Grammys, there was a massive performance dedicated to rap's 50th birthday. The Questlove curated show featured dozens of rappers from the genre's entire history performing a medley of rap's most well-known songs. The parade of artists reached all the way back into the genre's early days with an appearance from Run D.M.C. It also featured some of the most modern-day hitmakers, most notably Glorilla.
HotNewHipHop is celebrating rap's 50th anniversary with daily recaps of the genre's history year by year. Check out today's edition covering the 4th year of rap music development, 1976. What do you think about the line-ups of the Hot 97 Hip Hop 50 celebration shows this year? Let us know in the comments below.
