What Do You Get When You Mix Wu-Tang, Lauryn Hill

by: Jon Hudson

Los Angeles, CA -  Southern Californians are considered celebrated hip-hoppers, but are often seen as secondary when compared to New York listeners, who honor their home as the arts birth place. Well, the estimated 20,000 So-cal "Rock the Bells" attendees may disagree.

The first of the festivals 2 appearances took place in the first week of August, 2006. In its third year running, the concert ran over 14 hours, 7 of which landed me in the midst of a blazing 90 degree San Bernardino sun.

This was a special year for "Rock the Bells", for the Wu-Tang Clan, and for art of the freestyle rap. Going into the event fans knew 3 things for sure - respected battle emcee Super Natural was setting up to break a Guinness record for the longest running freestyle (he did - completed over 9 hours), all the members of the Wu-Tang Clan would share the stage for a supposed last time, paying tribute to ODB, and a guaranteed surprise guest artist would help make "Rock the Bells".

Begging early in the day many "underground" acts like the Visionaries and Immortal Technique commanded the stage. As the day grew into night, the crowd got bigger and so did the acts… Dilated Peoples, Red Man, De La Soul, Talib Kweli, and Mos Def, who delivered a well valued but unexpected extra-long performance. The crowd became tired and started to demand the Wu. Chants and "w" hand signals became the trend, so when 1am rolled around and a live Jazz band started playing on stage, the response was not necessarily pleasant. To ones surprise the band was back-up for none other than Ms. Hill… Lauryn Hill that is! The special guest that had everyone guessing. Surprisingly the crowds response was mellow �" needless to say they had been on their feet for almost 14 hours. Lauryn told the crowd that she wanted to come by and do a song or two, performing "Doo Wop (That Thing)," "Lost Ones", and "How Many Mics", over fast Jazz beats.

So it was finally the time the hungry and tired fans had been waiting for �" Wu-Tang has taken the stage. Performing for almost an hour, the Wu delivered all the classics that put them on the map… and the crowd responded - nodding heads and quoting verses right on queue.

When it was all said and done, "Rock the Bells" became an overpowering musical experience that I won’t soon forget. I am honored to be apart of hip-hop history to say the least.

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