During the 2001 Summer Jam JAY-Z set, the rapper surprised fans with a guest appearance from Michael Jackson and premiered his Nas and Mobb Deep diss “Takeover.”
Wow this is cool. A Social Media archivist named Yepac revealed JAY-Z’s full Summer Jam 2001 set via his YouTube channel Hip Hop VCR. That was the performance where the rapper premiered his Mobb Deep and Nas diss “Takeover.” He also brought out Michael Jackson. The set has been the subject of various stories and is considered the holy grail in hip-hop archives.
As he rapped the first verse to the iconic diss ‘Takeover,” the audience gasped audibly at Hov’s direct attack on Nas and Mobb Deep. He then turned and pointed to the Summer Jam screen and showcased a childhood photo of Prodigy as a child dancer, the crowd erupted with amusement, sending the whole Roc-A-Fella crew on stage. Aside from this now legendary moment, much of what made the set exciting were the guests he included, from label mates Beanie Sigel and Memphis Bleak to Missy Elliott.
Jay topped off the night with a surprise appearance from the King of Pop, Michael Jackson. Briefly coming on stage to take pictures with Jay, Dame Dash, and other members of the Roc-A-Fella team, he blew kisses to the crowd and thanked them before departing.
In the years since this iconic performance, many apart of the hip-hop archival and media community have tried to find footage related to this now legendary night. Though no one is quite sure yet about where the footage has been, who had it, and how it was retrieved, what is important is that now we have documented live clips of a night that changed rap forever.
------ “There is no fate that cannot be surmounted by scorn.” -Albert Camus
1. "The thing that immediately jumps out to me is how much rap made me think..." In response to Reply # 0
The thing that immediately jumps out to me is how much rap made me think concerts sucked … that era of shitty sound systems, bad audio, and crew love gathered on stage was just trash
------ “There is no fate that cannot be surmounted by scorn.” -Albert Camus
5. "I disagree. Ive been to only like three bad rap shows in decades" In response to Reply # 2
From Ice Cube knocking the doors off Warehouse Live in Houston To Kanye Glow in the Dark To any and all Roots shows including their picnics To Kendrick to Pimp a butterfly The production and technology has just been better Ive seen Shad rock a coffee shop Seen Blu rock a dive bar And while they weren’t studio crisp it was a vibe
The worst rap show I saw was Mos Def at House of Blues and it was bad because he just crouched behind the mic, man might’ve moved all of five feet his whole set. This was like 2010.
Now I’ve seen some of these energy shows online. Which is a young enough rapper, in a small enough venue and the sense is that these shows are one of those “its not the sound its being there” but thats what all rap shows used to be
------ “There is no fate that cannot be surmounted by scorn.” -Albert Camus
6. "It's definitely better now." In response to Reply # 1
But still pretty bad overall. There are some excellent live acts in hip hop - The Roots, Outkast, Kanye, etc. but I cringe at most acts. It's actually insane that people STILL rap over vocal tracks.
8. "Yep - there's a huge range. Both from the artist's perspective and " In response to Reply # 6
also from a sound engineering/production perspective. The good live artists have an understanding of the differences in approach needed for running sound, and don't just rely on the engineers/techs at the venues to handle production. The wack live MCs (in terms of stage presence, breath control, etc.) are also the type to book shows at venues that don't have the best setup for live hip-hop and/or rely on the venue techs to run sound instead of hiring the best people for the specific genre.
3. "Whats the time stamp for the tutu" In response to Reply # 0
-The Knicks’ coaching search still includes a lone frontrunner, Kurt Rambis, whose qualifications for the position include a strong relationship with Jackson and a willingness to take the job.
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