Source: Richard Bord / Getty
As hip-hop is celebrated globally this year for its 50th anniversary, one thing that no one can deny is that rap would never have been able to take it this far if it weren’t for pioneers of the Golden Age.
Although the genre was first introduced during the mid ’70s, it took until 1979 before the music was even televised due to its association with inner-city issues and, well, general racism in America. However, things grew tenfold by the time hip-hop had reached the mid ’80s with emcees like Slick Rick, The Jungle Brothers, Public Enemy, KRS-One, the dynamic duo of Eric B. & Rakim and Roxanne Chanté as just some of the handful who helped elevate what it meant to be a lyricist. Guys like LL Cool J and Run-D.M.C. brought the commercial appeal to rap that we now see newer acts like Drake and Travis Scott benefitting astronomically from. For the ladies, Queen Latifah and Salt-N-Pepa were two shining examples that proved women have voices behind the mic as well; now, female rap is all that anyone can talk about.
That’s why we had to give major props to seasoned mixmaster DJ Cassidy for using the latest stop on his Pass The Mic LIVE! Tour to unite 50 rap legends on one stage for an unforgettable blast from the past where it all started: New York City!
Source: Richard Bord / Getty
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Setting up shop at the legendary Radio City Music Hall last Friday (July 21), DJ Cassidy gathered nearly every core rapper from hip-hop’s Golden Age and simply let them rip the stage with their biggest hits. Not a seat was left unfilled, and some even had to stand in the aisle in order to really get down they way they wanted to. Each act flowed after one another with such precision that it all felt like one big nonstop performance. Crowd cheers for The Sugar Hill Gang and Kurtis Blow, the first rapper signed to a major label, were equal in volume to the likes of Onyx, Brand Nubian and EPMD amongst others. Kid N’ Play did their classic House Party dance routine, Monie Love was rocking the stage “in the middle” as per usual and Naughty By Nature’s Treach had the entire venue’s undivided attention while spitting his group’s classic banger, “Hip-Hop Hooray.”
The headliners — whew! — they made it absolutely clear why each deserves a place on any proverbial Hip-Hop Mount Rushmore, with Big Daddy Kane, KRS-One, the God MC himself Rakim and a double play by Slick Rick alongside Doug E. Fresh capping off a night where hip-hop shined gold for all to see.
Source: Jerritt Clark / Getty
See the full photo recap of DJ Cassidy’s Pass The Mic LIVE! Tour at Radio City Music Hall in NYC below, including a few pics from the exclusive afterparty hosted by Martell:
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1. Treach of Naughty By Nature
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DJ Cassidy’s Pass The Mic Live!
Radio City Music Hall, New York, NY
July 21, 2023
2. Dres, KRS-ONE and Chi-Ali
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DJ Cassidy’s Pass The Mic Live!
Radio City Music Hall, New York, NY
July 21, 2023
3. O’Neal McKnight and Don Pooh
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DJ Cassidy’s Pass The Mic Live!
Radio City Music Hall, New York, NY
July 21, 2023
4. Kurtis Blow and Wonder Mike
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DJ Cassidy’s Pass The Mic Live!
Radio City Music Hall, New York, NY
July 21, 2023
5. Monie Love
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DJ Cassidy’s Pass The Mic Live!
Radio City Music Hall, New York, NY
July 21, 2023
6. Full Force
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DJ Cassidy’s Pass The Mic Live!
Radio City Music Hall, New York, NY
July 21, 2023
7. Lord Jamar
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DJ Cassidy’s Pass The Mic Live!
Radio City Music Hall, New York, NY
July 21, 2023
8. Erick Sermon and MC Serch
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DJ Cassidy’s Pass The Mic Live!
Radio City Music Hall, New York, NY
July 21, 2023
9. B-Boys Crazy Legs and Miguel “Bboy Gravity” Rosario
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DJ Cassidy’s Pass The Mic Live!
Radio City Music Hall, New York, NY
July 21, 2023
10. Big Daddy Kane and Parrish Smith
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DJ Cassidy’s Pass The Mic Live!
Radio City Music Hall, New York, NY
July 21, 2023
11. Fredro Starr, Sadat X, Lord Jamar, Dana Dane
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DJ Cassidy’s Pass The Mic Live!
Radio City Music Hall, New York, NY
July 21, 2023
12. Kool Moe Dee
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DJ Cassidy’s Pass The Mic Live!
Radio City Music Hall, New York, NY
July 21, 2023
13. Doug E. Fresh
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DJ Cassidy’s Pass The Mic Live!
Radio City Music Hall, New York, NY
July 21, 2023
14. DJ Cassidy
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DJ Cassidy’s Pass The Mic Live!
Radio City Music Hall, New York, NY
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15. Radio City Music Hall Packed For DJ Cassidy’s ‘Pass The Mic LIVE!’
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DJ Cassidy’s Pass The Mic Live!
Radio City Music Hall, New York, NY
July 21, 2023
16. Doug E. Fresh and DJ Cassidy
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DJ Cassidy’s Pass The Mic Live!
Radio City Music Hall, New York, NY
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17. Slick Rick
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18. Lil Vicious
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DJ Cassidy’s Pass The Mic Live!
Radio City Music Hall, New York, NY
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19. Rakim
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DJ Cassidy’s Pass The Mic Live!
Radio City Music Hall, New York, NY
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20. KRS One and DJ Cassidy
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DJ Cassidy’s Pass The Mic Live!
Radio City Music Hall, New York, NY
July 21, 2023
21. Treach of Naughty by Nature
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DJ Cassidy’s Pass The Mic Live!
Radio City Music Hall, New York, NY
July 21, 2023
22. Kid ‘n Play
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DJ Cassidy’s Pass The Mic Live!
Radio City Music Hall, New York, NY
July 21, 2023
23. Greg Nice of Nice & Smooth and DJ Cassidy
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DJ Cassidy’s Pass The Mic Live!
Radio City Music Hall, New York, NY
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24. Smooth B and Greg Nice of Nice & Smooth
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DJ Cassidy’s Pass The Mic Live!
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25. Sticky Fingaz and Fredro Starr of Onyx
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DJ Cassidy’s Pass The Mic Live!
Radio City Music Hall, New York, NY
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26. CL Smooth
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DJ Cassidy’s Pass The Mic Live!
Radio City Music Hall, New York, NY
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27. CL Smooth
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DJ Cassidy’s Pass The Mic Live!
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28. Poc Fu of Fu-Schnickens
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DJ Cassidy’s Pass The Mic Live!
Radio City Music Hall, New York, NY
July 21, 2023
29. Chip Fu and Poc Fu of Fu-Schnickens
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DJ Cassidy’s Pass The Mic Live!
Radio City Music Hall, New York, NY
July 21, 2023
30. Grand Puba of Brand Nubian
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DJ Cassidy’s Pass The Mic Live!
Radio City Music Hall, New York, NY
July 21, 2023
31. Sadat X and Lord Jamar of Brand Nubian
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DJ Cassidy’s Pass The Mic Live!
Radio City Music Hall, New York, NY
July 21, 2023
32. Sadat X of Brand Nubian
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DJ Cassidy’s Pass The Mic Live!
Radio City Music Hall, New York, NY
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33. Monie Love
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DJ Cassidy’s Pass The Mic Live!
Radio City Music Hall, New York, NY
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34. Mc Serch
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DJ Cassidy’s Pass The Mic Live!
Radio City Music Hall, New York, NY
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35. Special Ed
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DJ Cassidy’s Pass The Mic Live!
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36. Special Ed
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37. Mc Shan
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DJ Cassidy’s Pass The Mic Live!
Radio City Music Hall, New York, NY
July 21, 2023
38. Roxanne Shante
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DJ Cassidy’s Pass The Mic Live!
Radio City Music Hall, New York, NY
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39. Roxanne Shante
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DJ Cassidy’s Pass The Mic Live!
Radio City Music Hall, New York, NY
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40. Dana Dane
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DJ Cassidy’s Pass The Mic Live!
Radio City Music Hall, New York, NY
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41. Kool Moe Dee
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DJ Cassidy’s Pass The Mic Live!
Radio City Music Hall, New York, NY
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42. Busy Bee
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DJ Cassidy’s Pass The Mic Live!
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43. Kurtis Blow
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DJ Cassidy’s Pass The Mic Live!
Radio City Music Hall, New York, NY
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44. Scorpio and GrandMaster Melle Mel
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DJ Cassidy’s Pass The Mic Live!
Radio City Music Hall, New York, NY
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45. Barshon
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DJ Cassidy’s Pass The Mic Live!
Radio City Music Hall, New York, NY
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46. Chi-Ali
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DJ Cassidy’s Pass The Mic Live!
Radio City Music Hall, New York, NY
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47. Master Gee of Sugar Hill Gang
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DJ Cassidy’s Pass The Mic Live!
Radio City Music Hall, New York, NY
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48. Wonder Mike and Diamond of Sugar Hill Gang
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DJ Cassidy’s Pass The Mic Live!
Radio City Music Hall, New York, NY
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49. Kid ‘n Play
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DJ Cassidy’s Pass The Mic Live!
Radio City Music Hall, New York, NY
July 21, 2023
50. Famed Stylist June Ambrose
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DJ Cassidy’s Pass The Mic Live!
Radio City Music Hall, New York, NY
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51. Big Daddy Kane and DJ Cassidy
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DJ Cassidy’s Pass The Mic Live!
Radio City Music Hall, New York, NY
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52. KRS-One and MC Shan
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DJ Cassidy’s Pass The Mic Live!
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53. DJ Cassidy’s Pass The Mic Live!
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54. DJ Cassidy and Grandmaster Melle Mel
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Radio City Music Hall, New York, NY
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55. Kurtis Blow
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DJ Cassidy’s Pass The Mic Live!
Radio City Music Hall, New York, NY
July 21, 2023
56. Greg Nice
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DJ Cassidy’s Pass The Mic Live!
Radio City Music Hall, New York, NY
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57. DJ SNS and DJ Cassidy
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Radio City Music Hall, New York, NY
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58. Grandmaster Melle Mel
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Radio City Music Hall, New York, NY
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59. B-Boy Crazy Legs
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DJ Cassidy’s Pass The Mic Live!
Radio City Music Hall, New York, NY
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60. Celebrity Stylist June Ambrose
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DJ Cassidy’s Pass The Mic Live!
Radio City Music Hall, New York, NY
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61. Full Force and DJ Cassidy
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Radio City Music Hall, New York, NY
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62. Grandmaster Flash
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Radio City Music Hall, New York, NY
July 21, 2023
63. Rakim, DJ Cassidy and Kurtis Blow
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DJ Cassidy’s Pass The Mic Live!
Radio City Music Hall, New York, NY
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