Marc Ecko's Save Them Rhinos '06 Wrap Up

I was trekking yesterday accross Central Park after leaving work late to attend Marc Ecko's Second Annual Save Them Rhinos concert yesterday. Aparently these dudes never heard of "CP Time" because it seems as if the concert started @ 6PM sharp. By The time I got to the Soundstage area of the park [6:40PM], Rhymefest had apparently finished his openning set & Lupe was already in full Righteous Kung-Fu mode...[[rats]]. Although this Fiaso dude was rocking some crazy-looking sequenced pattern on the backside jeans...i dunno...none the less, he put on a good show. Even though the only people that was giving him a lot of love were a few white dudes when he performed "Kick/Push".Kid Capri hosted the concert and was also the dj.His DJ set would've been much better if the right turntable that the concert organizer provided him was not in his words "F#%kin' Radio Shack" turntables that kept skipping every 15 seconds into a song. He also tried to promote some of his artist on his label[[[YAAWWN]]] by playing there generic mediocre-a$$ songs from his iBook.Nedt up was DJ Z-Trip. Doing the white-man's dj mixing...the so-called mash ups of different genre's of music. I actually enjoy listening to a mash up here and there but to me the flow of his mixes didnt work for me. Although I will give him credit for pushing a politcal agenta through his mixes [f#%k Pres. Bush & No War] instead of just the regular mash up 2 get stoned mashes.Oh yeah! the moment that I had been waiting for many many years. The man, the myth, the undisputed living rap legend, Rakim Allah graced the stage...still sounding fresh & rejuvinated...like it was bill-bill still. Of sourse he ran through his classics which were still dope enough to be superior to most of the stuff that's currently out today. And surprize, surprize...Styles P was his special guest which was much appreciated by the crowd [performed "locked Up" & "I Get High"]. That dude was just so giddy to be onstage with Rakim that it was hilarious. He kept saying "Yo, I feel like a kid in a candy store right now" [LOL].During the following interlude, Ras Kass [permed cesar & all...] decided to bum rush the stage and do a freestyle. I dont think he got as much love as he probably expected so he was smart and got his behind off the stage.I used to believe that the most energetic dude in rap music was bussa bus-down [Busta Rhymes]... Ah...I think that The Artist Formerly Known As Sense [Common] is gunning for the dungeon dragon. Yo...this fool did not stop running accros the stage for the almost 1 hr. and 15 mins. that he performed. And I must say that he is one of the very few hip hop artists that I can almost guarantee that his show is going the be good and he usually even surpasses my jaded, New York expectations....Com's THAT DUDE...for real.His 3 piece band [strings, drums [!], keyboard] was dope but DAMN!!...DJ Dummy is ba-nay-nays!! This dude manipulated that "It Takes 2" track in ways I NEVER thought possible...props to that guy.Common brought back to the stage the legendary Rakim for an impromptu freestyle session. Com is known for being a pretty good freestyle artist but I was surpized at Rakims' freestyle skill....that dude is still nice for real hope fully his new album [Fall '06] will reflect that.
All-In-All I had a good time [& there was no rain as predicted]. Cant wait for next year's save the wino's ...I mean Rhinos concert.