By: Giva Kid Foundation

Kid Capri and Fat Joe have joined forces for an amazing benefit titled Fall Back, Give Back Backpack Tour & Benefit Concert Series. Through this initiative, these music moguls have organized several school tours in impoverished cities, such as New York, New Jersey, Baltimore, and Maryland.

These students will each receive a backpack full of apparel, school supplies, electronics, and other items to empower them to succeed.

In support of rebuilding Puerto Rico, the Benefit Concert Series will be held in New York and Florida with plans to bring it back home to Puerto Rico. Kid Capri and Joe are both veterans in the music industry and use their platforms to give back in a major way.

This tour also brings special celebrity appearances and friends.

Capri and Joe have enlisted many special guests to be a part this amazing musical excursion including E!’s Samantha Goldberg and Samantha Diane .

As it is so important to give back, Capri and Joe have found the perfect way to bridge together their talents and passion for helping others.

All proceeds will go back to rebuilding and helping the families and children of Puerto Rico.

Click the links below to Shop Now: 40% of all proceeds go back to the G.I.V.A. Kid Foundation, committed to rebuilding Puerto Rico.
www.hypocompany.com/PuertoRico
rallywin.com/3dme4puertorico.html

Follow-up on our site to stay up-to-date with this unique initiative and see what Kid Capri and Fat Joe are conquering next.

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Hip-hop was born in the Bronx, but it was raised in Brooklyn. That probably isn’t how the story goes, but that’s how it felt at Celebrate Brooklyn’s latest show. Filling Prospect Park’s Bandshell to capacity, New Yorkers came out en masse to celebrate both Brooklyn and hip-hop in the form of Ghostface Killah. Though Ghostface hails from Staten Island, Brooklyn treated him like one of their own, happily chanting lyrics, enjoying jokes and swaying without prompt.

Of course, Tony Starks wasn’t the only emcee to get some Brooklyn love. Before the appearance of the Shaolin’s finest, the stage was occupied by a host of hip-hop legends and legends-to-be.

The show started with a brief set from Farrah Burns, a young and laidback emcee from Brooklyn. She performed merely two songs, but the crowd was receptive and energized. That energy was a bit diffused when Astro, a prodigious kid from Brooklyn and former X-Factor contestant, rocked the stage. Lean and fifteen, the crowd was immediately skeptical of his ability to perform. Diving right into a lyrical landslide that left the crowd stunned, Astro immediately confronted that skepticism and ended all speculation. There was no doubt about it: this kid could spit.

Rah Digga followed with a set that resuscitated the slightly weary crowd. Spitting classics as well as songs from her album Classic, Digga showed her experience. Swaying, sweating and even jumping, Brooklyn showed her immense love and respect. Old school hip-hop definitely still has an audience.

This audience was enthralled when Kid Capri hit the stage during an intermission and asked, “Do y’all want me to play that new shit? Or do y’all want that old shit?” The crowd unequivocally demanded the latter. Kid Capri obliged, packing 15 years of legendary hip-hop into a 15 minute jam session that had the crowd damn near ready to swag surf.

Prodigy followed Kid Capri, but his performance was mired by a lack of energy and a crowd that wanted nothing less than Ghostface. After about 45 minutes, Prodigy and his stage cronies exited rather uneventfully.

Ten minutes later, the crowd got what it came for: Tony Starks in the flesh. Accompanied by fellow Wu affiliate Cappadonna, Ghostface waltzed onto the stage with his typical, avuncular facial expression: a strange mixture of confusion, swagger, mockery and distrust. The set began with “Ice Cream,” Raekwon’s classic song featuring Ghost and Cappadonna. Though the song choice was slightly mocking considering the heat of the night, the crowd didn’t care. Wu-Tang ice cream beats real ice cream any day. The crowd’s enthusiasm reached unprecedented levels as Ghost started to run through his extensive catalog. From his own joints “We Made It” and “Assassination Day” to Wu classics like “C.R.E.A.M.” and “Protect Ya Neck,” Pretty Tone rocked the mic and thrilled the crowd. Thirty minutes into the set, Sheek Louch made a brief cameo and performed his verse from “We Are the Streets.” He also endorsed the much-anticipated Wu Block album, due out sometime before the end of the year.

Ghostface ended the set with “Cherchez LaGhost,” one of his more recent tracks. He seemed reluctant to end the set, but apparently his performance was capped at 45 minutes. The crowd was a bit surprised, but there were no riots or boos. It was a free concert, after all. Before bidding the crowd adieu, Ghost asked everyone to throw up a peace sign and shout “Peace!” in unison. It was a strange request, but Brooklyn obliged, ending the event and exiting the park without incident.  The celebration was over, for now.

Photos by Stephen Kearse

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Photos By: UrbanPartyLife.com

Many times in hip-hop, if an artist takes a four-year hiatus they usually struggle to get the following that made them a hot commodity. This is not a problem for D-block, the large roster out of Yonkers that boasts the L.O.X. – Styles P, Jadakiss and Sheek Louch. While it may appear hip-hop doesn’t have an official offering from one-third of its members, Styles, thanks to mixtapes including the DJ Green Lantern collaboration The Green Ghost Project  and a feature on Rick Ross’ “B.M.F. (Blowin’ Money Fast)” shows The Ghost is ready to come back alive.

One thing Styles has going for him is the grimy sound that resonates with every rhyme. His latest album, Master of Ceremonies, is a testament of him bringing that raw hip-hop sound that is sometimes forgotten. Its the type of  raps with a hard-knock life aesthetic where tales of coming up from tough times have been flooded by a more whimsical and gentler style. For Styles, a straight-edge street king has been his way of life since childhood. The mastery of having a real attitude definitely showed in his celebration Wednesday night at B.B. King Blues Club & Grill in New York City.  Styles, the whole D-Block, and its affiliates had “we are taking back hip-hop” written all over them.

Read the rest of the review after the jump.

B.B. Kings Blues Club feels more like a lounge than a concert venue. With a wide open wooden floor space in its center, patrons can either enjoy a meal with lively entertainment in the surrounding table and booths or get right into the heart of everything. Pushed from fans all around as they wanted to inch closer to the stage, a surprise appearance by DJ Kid Capri only made Styles’ arrival grow with anticipation. When D-Block’s DJ Technician got behind the ones and twos, the countdown for Styles from Tech’s shouts over the microphone –“ten minutes!” and then “two minutes!” – finally ended when SP the Ghost emerged from backstage.

In characteristic fashion, Styles comes out the gate hard with the lead single “Harsh” off Master of Ceremonies. At this point, security guards wading the crowd still didn’t stop the young men from burning up cannabis. After all, Styles’ next song, the Swizz Beatz-produced “Blow Your Mind” gave the proper piffed-out lyrics for a relaxing vibe. “Super Gangsta” is another reminder that he isn’t removed from the streets, gripping the mic while telling the crowd to put their middle fingers and callously spitting  hard-hitting lyrics.

One by one, the L.O.X. came through to celebrate Styles’ album release.  First Jada entered the stage with his remix to Nas’ “Made You Look,” while Sheek came to perform “Wild Out.” With the whole D-Block taking up the stage, Styles made sure his release party didn’t disappoint by often freestyling acapella with some of the hardest bars out there today.

When “How I Fly” dropped by Tech, Avery Storm came to sing his part. His catchy R&B chorus ended up sounding refreshing live amidst the gangster ambiance. Next, the NY cut “We Don’t Play” wasn’t complete without a big welcome by Queens native Lloyd Banks. This song was straight gully: “All money’s good money we niggas stealin.’/Small money, tall money, nigga we want it all/left hand on the wheel, right hand on the draw,” he raps. Banks stopped to say this night was dedicated to Styles, then served up some tracks off Hunger for More 2 and Cold Corner 2 for the star of the show.

To try and cap off the over 90 minutes set (he was having too much fun), Styles kept hinting another surprise backstage: “Busta Rhymes do you really want to party with me?” Once “Harsh” re-played, Busta indeed wanted to party, but he also wanted to speak on the current state of hip-hop. While he believes many of the newer artists can create any type of viral beat on ProTools, it is keeping one’s morals and focusing on the streets that’ll give you a name. “To put out an album with real hip-hop, real bars, real boom-bap beats, real rhymes. I’m so honored to speak on [Styles P].” He proceeded to show how real hip-hop doesn’t have any “special effects,” performing his verse off Chris Brown’s “Look At Me Now.”

In continuing the camaraderie seen on stage, D-Block’s final track, “Mighty D-Block,” had the whole crowd acknowledging the anthem by throwing up “DB” signs. This exhibition of fan loyalty, and a slew of like minded lyricists who believe in the art of emceeing, left the B.B. King Club knowing that the collective still can live up to their classic hip-hop standards.

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