Jadakiss Conquers The Bronx
A weekend(last weekend to be exact) was finished by heading to a performance in the Bronx by the D Block General, Jadakiss. I have seen him perform in the past but as part of the LOX and never solo until now. I also had to keep in mind that was part of City Parks Summerstage concert series so it was going to be short and quick. I love City Parks for the free concert concept and of course as the saying goes you get what you pay for. In this case Jada has too many hits to only do a short set but hey it's free why complain. I usually don't when it comes to Summerstage. It is what it is and not much would change that and is the good thing about it. I got to Tremont Park which was the first time I ever went to that side of the borough(a lot of first for me this summer) and also had to take the Q44 for the first time in years. I knew it may or may not be in my favor to see this concert due to relying on public transportation on a Sunday. I manage to get there just as it was about to start and oddly I got to the front of the stage courtesy of my associates.
Of course there was some opening act entertainment before the main feature and Lil Waah and the Bartendaz was no slouches to the task. Both acts kept the crowd intrigued as much as they could. Lil Waah, the son of Ruff Ryders own Waah started things off with a crazy freestyle then proceed with his singles which played off the current trap/edm trend. It wasn't bad he had some bars over what the kids today enjoy. I definitely see a bright future for the kid especially when you are part of the new generation of Ruff Ryders where lyricists is at abundance. The Bartendaz was up next and if you never seen them in action just go to YouTube and see the videos because they are amazing. Bartendaz are a group that uses pull up bars to do dance motions on and also promote a healthy lifestyle. They the first group I remember saying "health is wealth" which I definitely need to do more often now than before. The crowd was in awe with the precision of the movements by the team.
After all that then it was time for Jay to the Mwah to step on the stage and bless the crowd with his presence. Being this was Summerstage he only had a 40 minute set which is way too short for someone with his catalog. He did make sure he put in enough work in that time frame. He ran through some of his hits along with his verses from the LOX albums. Along with the way he brought out some guests like Lil Cease from Junior MAFIA and Black Rob who look like he just out from a bid. Anyhow Kiss kept the crowd moving with the depth of his hits, for those who feel that he isn't a good stage presence definitely needed to this one. He commanded the stage with ease and engaged with the crowd for a minute. It was definitely a sight to see someone like him doing a free concert for the masses in this age. Usually you don't see this type of performance for free from OG's like him unless it's a sponsored event. Another tidbit was the limited amount of curses due to it being a family affair in the park. Overall it was a good show and definitely worth the trip to Tremont. I hope more hip hop legends take notice and do something like this once in a while.