On Thursday night, Brooklyn based Mixtape Dj J.Period recorded another installment of his live mixtape at Sony Hall in New York City. This time it was the Top 5 Mc's edition featuring Rakim, Black Thought, Pharoahe Monch, Dres from Blacksheep and Smif-N-Wessun.
After 2 DJ sets by @thewhooligan and @djevildee, Pharoahe Monch started the mixtape and got the crowd amped up with a set including My Life and Simon Says.
After that, Dres from Blacksheep blessed the stage with a few classics including Flavor of the Month and The Choice Is Yours with a guest appearance by Native Tongue's Chi Ali who appeared on Blacksheep's debut album A Wolf In Sheep's Clothing.
Next up was a set by another legendary hip hop duo, Smif-N-Wessun, consisting of members Tek and Steele. Smif-N-Wessun comprise one quarter of the Brownsville supergroup Boot Camp Clik. One of the highlights of the night was watching them perform their 1994 classic Bucktown.
The next legendary MC to take the stage was Black Thought of The Legendary Roots Crew. He started his set with Act Too (Love of my Life), and also brought out Grammy nominated female rapper Mumu Fresh AKA Maimouna Youssef, and Pharoahe Monch for a 3 way cypher. Thought also did a cover of Slick Rick's Children's Story and dropped some of the bars we heard on his now famous 15 minute Funk Flex Freestyle.
The show culminated with yet another legendary hip hop duo Eric B and Rakim. It was a nice surprise to see Eric B as he was not listed on the original lineup. This year marked the 30th anniversary of the classic album Paid In Full so another highlight was getting to see Rakim perform I Aint No Joke and I Know You Got Soul. Rakim also brought out some very talented break dancers from the KBL (Kids Breaking League) to show off their talents as he performed Juice (Know The Ledge).
