I’ve been told by everyone and their moms that Hip Hop Kemp is the festival to be at for artists and lovers of hip hop music in Europe. I figured it would be a cool event to say I played. Nothing life changing really. Afterall, from touring with James Brown, Talib Kweli, The Breakestra, Estelle, Common, and so on, I figured, it would take a lot for any experience these days to be standout experiences. When folks in the states asked me what I was going to Czech Republic for this past weekend, I told them, “Oh, Me and Bahamadia are going to do some event that’s the European version of The Rock The Bells festival.” Maybe it was just the unresolved issue I had from not being invited to play that festival at all this year that made me drop their name. This festival is more like Woodstock than Rock The Bells and although Rock The Bells always has quality acts and I’d like to play that stage as well, Hip Hop Kemp makes it look like a park jam. I’m talking about 3 days of die hard hip hop fans, camped out under the sun, moon, stars, rain, and whatever else nature can offer. The whole situation is something you just have to see at least once. We had the pleasure of sharing the stage this year with Heltah Skeltah, Redman, Dilated Peoples, Black Milk, Hezekiah, Mystic, Dave Ghetto, M.O.P., EMC = Masta Ace, Wordsworth, Strick, Punchline, The Waxolutionists, and a whole laundry list of European acts, DJs, and so forth. It was bananas. From Redman climing the rafters, to Wordsworth lying down flat on the stage after simulating getting shot but still holding down the freestyle, the shit was an experience. I hope to be back next year just so I can catch many of the sites I didn’t catch this year due to being in and out pretty fast. There will be video clips coming soon as well as a bunch of photos so stay tuned…
***Big up to Gravity 508 for most of the Photos below***