Rock Steady Crew 36th Anniversary Concert with Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth, Special Ed and more at Rumsey Playfield

Post Author: Edwina Hay

The Rock Steady Crew celebrated their 36th anniversary with another edition of their annual concert (moving to Central Park for the first time) on a rainy Sunday, July 28th. Hosted by End of the Weak, the free show featured performances by hip hop artists both old and new including, Rasheed Chappell, Torae (with his extremely supportive and enthusiastic mother rapping along in the audience), Homeboy Sandman, Q-Unique (with fellow member of The Arsonists, Jise One), Craig G (with special guest Cappadonna), Special Ed (who brought out two dance crews, one of them all the way from Japan), 3/4ths of Brand Nubian (MC Grand Puba was unable to perform), The Rock Steady Crew dance routine (member Crazy Legs sadly retired from performing on Wednesday, July 31st), D-Stroy & Tony Touch (with DJ Premier), Large Professor, Psycho Les (of The Beatnuts) and the headliners, Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth. The duo managed to squeeze in a song from their 1991 EP, “The Creator,” and brought out surprise guest Darryl McDaniels (known as DMC) to perform his verse from Run DMC's 1993 single, “Down with the King,” which was produced by Pete Rock and featured guest verses from both Rock and C.L. Smooth.

Classic & new hip hop in Central Park but we all know the real star of the show was Torae's mom.