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February 28, 2012 Music » Music Features

        
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CIAA 2012 celebrates 30 years of hip-hop

By Mark Kemp @mkempNC

click to flip through (8)

Page 2 of 3

New East Coast: P. Diddy, Nas, Fabolous. It's most likely (if our Higher Power has any mercy at all on us) that P. Diddy will not perform any role in Charlotte other than just hanging out and being P. Diddy. It would be a crying shame, however, if Nas didn't at least rap a little bit with us about how he once ruled the world — you know, back before hip-hop was dead.

Southern: Trick Daddy, T.I., Rick Ross, Wacka Flocka Flame, Young Jeezy. Since Jay-Z didn't come down to represent for the New East Coast, Southern-rapper-with-the-Jay-Z-flow T.I. will have to do. If you want to hear the real greasy stuff, though, you'll head over to Bojangles for Rick Ross and Wacka Flocka Flame. Oh, and Trick Daddy'll be getting his thug on at Amos' Southend. As for the other guy: That's Jeezy, not Weezy.

Underground: Common, 9th Wonder. Those who may be here for the parties but not necessarily the sports, listen up: Here's where you'll find your poets, your painters, your angst-ridden and your multi-colored hair. No one makes art flow quite like Common does, and few put together textured tapestries more subtly or groovtastically than Mr. Wonder.

alt-rap/mixtape/social-media era: Wale, J. Cole, Nicki Minaj. Each one is different, although J. Cole and Wale (call him Wah-LEE; he gets mad if you pronounce his name as though he were some kind of Moby Dick) are kindred spirits. Nicki Minaj? Well, she's from another universe. What they all have in common is that each could only have come from the 2010s, when downloadable mixtapes and social-networking sites like Myspace have produced more stars than old, cigar-chomping record execs.

The DJs: Jazzy Jeff, Kid Capri. In the old days of rock, you could tell the guys who weren't at shows to get laid. They were the ones up at the fronts of the stage, intently watching every move Jimi Hendrix's fingers would make over his fretboard. Those same dudes will be watching intently as DJ Jazzy Jeff tears up the turntables like Hendrix smoked his Strat.

The Producer: Jermaine Dupri. Eh. He's a so-so rapper, but you gotta hand it to him for discovering one-hit children Kris Kross and giving hip-hop-cred makeovers to non-hip-hop stars ranging from Mariah Carey to Lionel Richie to, uh... Weezer?

The R&B sympathizers: En Vogue, R. Kelly, Mya, Ginuwine, Anthony David. You can't adequately present a decent history of hip-hop without bringing along the R&B sympathizers who helped sing the rappers into infamy. En Vogue was an early one. R. Kelly got his hip-hop bona fides starring in his own freaky sex tape. Mya sang on "Ghetto Superstar." Ginuwine came in a long line of hip-hop lovermen. And Anthony David, along with India.Arie, helped bring hip-hop its acoustic soul.

The Loser: Chris Brown. Enough's been said of Rihanna's ex-abuser the past few weeks. We'll just leave him alone here.

Partial List of Appearances

Thursday, March 1

Doug E Fresh: $10 and up. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. 5th Element

Biz Markie: $35 and up. 8 p.m. The Extravaganza

Trick Daddy: $25 advance. 8 p.m. Amos' Southend

Gucci Mane: $15 and up. 8 p.m. Cameo

Friday, March 2

Young Jeezy: $20 and up, 9 p.m. Club 935

Doug E. Fresh: $20 and up. 9 p.m. The Omni Hotel

Rick Ross, Waka Flocka Flame: $55.75 and up. 7p.m. Bojangles Coliseum

9th Wonder: $20 and up. 10 p.m.-2 a.m. Howl at the Moon