On Monday one of rock nyc's favorite rites of Springs will occur, the City Park Foundation will announce their summer season and we will go through it, thrilled as always at the awesome selection of free shows!
But this year we are doubly exciting because upon reading the announcement of Sumemrstages Hip Hop version of King Kong, these words caught our eyes: ""King Kong is part of the “This Is __ Hip-Hop” series, an overarching theme of the 2013 SummerStage festival that celebrates 40 years since the legendary Hip-Hop DJ Kool Herc first began to spin records in the recreation room of his Bronx building; isolating and mixing together breaks from different songs and forming the basis of what the world has come to know as Hip-Hop"
Translation: there is gonna be a lot of hip hop in 2013 and while hip hop is usually well represented, I bet this will be giving Artistic Director who, among many achievements in her career, was the first person to hire Kanye west when she ran hip nights for SOB. And that's not all but read about her here.
My expectations are sky high for 2013 and with days to go, who they will get is anybody's guess. RZA, I bet he is a real possibility, Pharrel has been busy, Black Hippies? But they just played here so maybe not. Freddie Gibbs? Public Enemy played the other day so not so fast this year.
Also, I wonder if the Bronx or Brooklyn will beat out Central Park as the center of Summerstage? certainly, the Bronx is Ground Zero for rap and Biggie came from Bed Stuy, isn't that enough? Perhaps a Biggie tribute. It has been fascinating watch Summerstage grow and change, evolve, into the multi media, multi genre, multi-cultural thing it is now.
We will know for certain in two days!