'Hip Hop 50 Live' coming to Yankee Stadium
Run-D.M.C. will headline "Hip Hop 50 Live" at Yankee Stadium on Aug. 11. Credit: Getty Images for The Recording Academy / Emma McIntyre
Long Island rap icons EPMD will perform as part of a star-studded concert this summer titled “Hip Hop 50 Live.”
The show will be held at Yankee Stadium on Aug. 11 — in the same borough and on the same day as hip-hop’s birth 50 years ago, when DJ Kool Herc mixed two records together to create a rhythmic loop at a party in the Bronx.
More than two dozen artists and DJs are scheduled to appear in a jam-packed lineup broken into multiple segments. Headliners Run-D.M.C. will play what’s being billed as “Bottom of the 9th …” set that includes Eve, Lil’ Kim, Remy Ma and Trina; the “Pillars of Hip Hop” will feature Grandmaster Caz, Kurtis Blow, Melle Mel, Roxanne Shanté, Scorpio, the Sugar Hill Gang and Kool Herc & Cindy Campbell. Clark Kent, Marley Marl, Mannie Fresh and Battlecat are listed as “Legendary DJs.”
Other performers include T.I., Fat Joe, Common, A$AP Ferg, Ghostface Killah, Lupe Fiasco, Slick Rick and EPMD, the Brentwood duo formed by Erick Sermon and Parrish Smith. Their 1988 album, “Strictly Business,” set new standards for sampling and established EPMD as one of Long Island’s trailblazing rap acts alongside Public Enemy, De La Soul, Eric B. & Rakim and others.
“Aug 11th is Hip Hop’s 50th birthday! So … 'Up in the Bronx' where it all started we will be celebrating this historic moment in history!” D.M.C. said in a statement. “I am honored to pay tribute to the culture that allowed this little shy kid from Queens to grow up and become The Mighty King of Rock! Thank you Hip Hop!!!”
Ticket presale begins Thursday; general-public sale begins Friday at 10 a.m. Prices begin at $50. Doors open at 4:30 p.m. on day of show. For tickets and more information, go to ticketmaster.com.
