I was going to attend Hot97 Summer Jam this year, as I've went the past 3 years & haven't really been disappointed. I ALMOST had tickets last minute, but unfortuneately, I got stuck home live streaming the concert. I sure am glad I didn't waste my hard earned money on this concert....
Sevyn Streeter opened up the main show following the "festival stage" pre show. I really like her, & maybe it's because she's never really performed in front of that many people in the NYC area, but I found her performance to be slightly boring.
Things got even worse as Rosenberg got on stage & hyped up Action Bronson, who was a complete mess. Not sure what kinda drugs he was on, or how much he had to drink, but his ego appeared to be bigger then his gut. He was all over the place, between slurring, looking & sounding like shit, rocking a pair of sandles to later on, take them off and hop off stage to perform in the crowd. This guy literally wouldn't stop his performance, until he was told to stop. It seems as if he was trying to take over the show, and it appears as if he thought he was some kind of "big star." Absolutely horrific.
I'm really not sure who exactly was next, either Troy Ave or Wiz Khalifa. Not really much of a fan of either 2, but Troy started out with what appeared to be, taking shots at Trinidad James, via a video of the jumbotron before he performed. Troy Ave did bring out T.I. as a surprise guest. Wiz Khalifa topped off his set with a surprise appearance from none other then the legendary SNOOP DOGG! Snoop surprised the crowd & performed "The Next Episode," followed by "Young, Wild and Free" with Wiz.
The Roots followed up after Khalifa's set, if I'm not mistaken. First, they brought out none other then one of my personal favorite hip hop groups EVER, The Lox! The show in my opinion was majority pretty bad, until they came out & performed some of their classic joints. M.O.P. and Black Sheep were amongst The Roots other surprise guests. The crowd, however, didn't really seem to be interested much. But I'll get back to THAT part later.....
Trey Songs was up next, & as usual, drove the girls crazy. He ended his set with his surprise guest, Ty Dolla Sign & performed "Paranoid" together, following Trey shouting out his incarcerated friend, Chris Brown, & performed Brown's new hit song, "Loyal."
HIP HOP IS DEAD!
Nas came out next, and again, the crowd wasn't in it at all. He performed mostly songs from Illmatic. No energy what so ever. To make matters even worse, Nas brought out Meek Mill, followed by French Montana to completely take over his set. The crowd LOVED every minute of it & seemed to have livened up quite a bit. Very, very sad day for hip hop. Complete smack in the face & a HUGE amount of disrespect to Nas. I'm not sure who's idea this was, but Nas seemed to have no problems with it, as he was really into Meeks "lyrics," by singing along. Maybe it was all the Hennessey Nasir drank throughout the night, but never could I see this man,(who is the TRUE DEFINITION of REAL HIP HOP) actually respect and allow these guys ON STAGE WITH HIM. This literally hurt me. It was very sad to watch, however it made me very happy once again, that I didn't spend money to be there & actually witness this in person.
After Meek & French finished their set, Nas brought out 50 Cent. 50 performed a couple classics as well as some new joints from his new album that dropped yesterday, Animal Ambition. He reunited G-Unit ON STAGE, bringing out Tony Yayo, Lloyd Banks and even Young Buck. He later on brought out Fabolous & performed their new remix to Fabs hit song, Cuffin Season. As this was happening, a little rowdiness appeared to be going on. It turns out there was some sort of a fight, which later was reported that Slowbucks, of SBOE, was robbed of his chain. A member of 50's security reportedly snuffed Slow, ripped off his chain, and 50 WORE IT the rest of the night! It seems as if 50 was trying to prolong his set, as he mentioned on the mic that Ebro (Hot97's executive producer) was "yelling at" him, only for 50 to reply saying that HE'S the boss when he's here! Whole lotta drama.
Nicki Minaj was next, and I thought the LAST part of the concert. She put on a great performance, as she promised the crowd. She brought out Soulja Boy to perform their new single "Yass Bitch," then later brought out another surprise guest, as I would've bet my life that he was going to show up, none other then Drake. She got on the mic & said, "Drake, I don't fuck wit you no more!" He then came out to perform "Worst Behavior," as the crowd livened up a lot more! Nicki & Drake went on to perform their song featuring Lil Wayne,"Believe Me." Weezy came out for his verse, wearing a stupid face cover up, which he took off after a couple of seconds. Drake & Weezy also performed "Trophies." Their set ended with Nicki, Lil Wayne and Drake ALL sweating each other. Nicki Minaj even stated that "Lil Wayne is the best rapper alive!" LOL!!
This is where the show should've ended....
DJ Mustard followed Young Money's set & brought out a few guests. YG, Ty Dolla Sign & surprise guest, none other then YOUNG JEEZY performed their hit, "My Ni**a."
At this point, I began to lose a little bit of interest, as I feel the show ran way too long, & was a bit all over the place. The show could've been put together a little bit better. Also, the sound system seemed to be an issue throughout the night, which pissed off a couple of the performers.
Summer Jam has always been one of my favorite concerts to attend. You don't really seem to get much from other concerts put on by other radio stations. I think Hot97 has the MOST respect from a lot of artists, & others involved in the hip hop industry, and this is why Summer Jam is always a SPECIAL SHOW to me! It's always hard to top each year. This year was GOOD but it didn't beat last years SJ, that's for sure.
By:: Dana P. (Blog Owner/Editor in Chief
