Music moguls and hard-core rockers weren’t expecting to inhale rugged rap in the typically indie and blue grass filled air at Bonnarroo. The annual music festival that took place on June 9-12 in Manchester, Tennessee added some rap to its folk rock and some Weezy to its Neil Young as urban MCs stepped up to blow the mic.
A most talked about performance, the legendary “Slim Shady” (or Eminem) spit his hateful hip hop hits to a crowd 80,000 deep, leaving fans wanting more. For a good five minutes after the bitter blond bombsehll closed his angry act and dipped , fans remained chanting, “Shady! Shady! Shady!” Eager to please, the raging artist returned to the stage to do his “Loose Yourself” and get fans lost in his lyrical fire that blazed the stage.
The ryhmes at Roo continued to flow as more of hip hop’s favorites changed the game, turning a progressive rock festival into an arena for the rhythmic release of bars. Hip hop’s hottest, “The Carter” king Lil Wayne performed a skillful morning set, laying down some tracks from is newest album while Outkast’s Big Boi banged out some singles in the group’s avantgarde, Gangsta-funk fashion. New sensation Wiz Khalifa soared extremely high as usual, performing songs from his debut album, “Rolling Papers” as bikini-clad bodies surfed the roaring, euphoric crowd.
Before we know it, oldies and jam bands may be accompanied by some slang, an urban bass and a dope lyrical pulse to keep Bonnaroo’s heart beating.