Eric B.

This was the worst show I have ever attended. Close to 3 hours of what I DID NOT pay for...Rakim came on at 8:44..performed ONE song..left and then for the next 2 hours, over 20 artists performed ..artists that I wasnt aware would be performing, nor did I come to see. The show was NOT advertised as a Eric B, Rakim and friends show. The srage was filled with close to 100 people..talking, taking selfies, doing whatever they wanted. Starski asked them REPEATEDLY to leave. Then, at 10:44..Rakim reappears...does 3 to 4 songs and then introduces slick rick????? This was a terrible show

Simply awesome show. It was so good to see the boys back together. So many stars were in the house to pay tribute. The stage was packed!!

This was an epic..historic night to say the least!

I thought the Eric B. & Rakim: 30th Anniversary of the Paid In Full Album, was a great event... So many incredible artists came through to show their respect to them and perform... The perfect venue for the event and I was so hyped throughout that I left with no voice...

EPIC...The G.O.AT MC The GOD MC Rakim & G.O.AT. DJ Eric B ...

Right from the off, something didn t feel right. Within minutes the stage was filled with a lot of people no one had heard of; most of whom hadn t realized that this is a theatre and you might have dressed correctly for such a historic night (the date was chosen, as it was exactly 30 years to the day that Paid in Full was released) in such a historic venue. So we had a bunch of people showing up like they were ordering cheeseburgers, many scowling into the crowd, giving it that misgiven played-out machismo that hip-hop is so famed for; Iphones were directed into the crowd, as if we were the ones being surveyed. A larger-than-life Eric B was front and centre in a tux with something of the Suge Knight about him: he seemed to be on edge, eying many with suspicion, but doing little to manage or quell the cheeseburger posse" on the stage. His well-spoken accent belying Rakim s street slang accented poetry. Freddie Foxx turned up, looking like a bouncer in an ill-fitting tux and trying to make sense of the donut-shaped crowd, but he wasn t there to perform. Having him shouted out by Lovebug (the first of several), it gave the impression that the paying audience were getting value for their money. Joeski Love came out to perform Pee Wee Herman - a nice nod to nostalgia, but still an irrelevance, for the specific occasion. VJ Ralph McDaniels popped up, pounded ErIc B, hugged him and left the stage. New Edition s Michael Bivins was shouted and pointed out from one the side private boxes, and we were supposed to swoon\u2026. More shout outs, more perceived value for money! Also-ran soul singer Keith Washington came out to the adoration of women of a certain vintage. He hadn t had an album for 27 years, so played some of his songs that no one had really heard of and which caused a flurry of testosterone to return to their seats, perplexed and-frankly-annoyed. Producer Alvin Toney came on stage to get the hugs, pounds and head-nods of approval from those on the stage; those in the crowd were fairly nonplussed. People were already restless that this was turning into a badly managed circus. Twenty minutes in and still no sign of Rakim, instead Eric B. asked the crowd if The Bronx was in the house? The usual deep voices hollered in the affirmative. Out of nowhere 1998 s one-shot-wonder-that-got-sued-by-Steely-Dan Peter Gunz came out to the Black Cow sampled refrain of Déjà vu (Uptown Baby). One nice moment of 1998 nostalgia and Peter Gunz was done. Kool Herc popped up and we all had to pay homage, even if we didn t want to and resented, as a captive audience having to swallow this mess of something and nothing. Prince of Harlem (more like court jester) Mase came on in a tracksuit did his bit from Mo Money, Mo Problems and did Biggie s verse, just to get the usual special pleading, when Mase s career was more checkered than Kwame s polka dots. Finally, 35 minutes in and Rakim took the stage and we all swooned with approval, believing the hype, for once., or was it contractual obligations? Rakim performed My Melody in rushed fashion, truncating the song to get the adulation from the crowd and negotiate the scores of people still milling around on stage with no specific purpose. Rakim tried to get his spotlight, both literally and figuratively, but he was feted and surrounded by the cheeseburger posse. There was a lack of a run-up to add more anticipation, so when Rakim came out, finally, it felt a bit muted; a bit rushed; a bit like obligation. I Ain t No Joke got repeat value when Flavor Flav recreated the dance from the video of the song of the same name. Flav gave his usual act of self-effacement and danced like the born entertainer he is. He played excellent folly with Rakim, who seemed caught up in the Rakim of his youth, as he grinned with glee. If the crowd were expecting Paid in Full to be played in full in one uninterrupted session, they were to be sorely disappointed. Most people would expect the headliners for an seminal album to at least recreate the entire album, but Rakim exited stage right saultering through those on the stage. Large Professor and Joe Fatal came on stage and did Looking at the Front Door and Fakin the Funk. To their credit, Pro and Fatal were excellent. All the while, most of us were thinking Eric B and Rakim (who never really liked each other, still don t on the evidence of the reluctant chemistry on display here) came on like a tantalizing cameo, similarly to De Niro and Pacino in Heat. T La Rock came on soon after for It s Yours. Again, a fine performance, but which had nothing to do with what the night was about. It wasn t a celebration of hip-hop through the ages; or from different parts of New York City. This is not what people paid good money to see. Harlem s B-Fats came out to do a few songs. Not bad, but there was no organisation to the whole evening- just throw mud at the wall and hope it sticks. It was also a cynical way of suggesting to the audience that they were getting value for their Buck. More murmurs and rumblings on stage ensued. Until Eric B came back on stage in a polo shirt and subtle gold chain asking the crowd if anyone from Mount Vernon was in the crowd. A few whoops and hollers was the response and we all expected Pete Rock and CL Smooth to come out. Imagine the disappointment when also-ran R \u2018n B singer Al B Sure showed up. He did some of songs (no names, no pact drill) in a American football shirt with Mount Vernon 4 Life, on the back, even though he lives in Goshen, upstate New York. Again, appealing to the ladies in the house, meant all the blokes in the audience sitting down. Sure surely played himself by doing a tribute to Rakim (bear in mind what was this night was about!) by partially rapping Eric B. Is President. Note to Al B not so sure of himself: If this was a celebration of a seminal album, with the actual artist in the building, don t ever take away his shine with a poorly thought-out tribute. This-amongst so many other incidents- summed up much of the night. Al. B Sure, who may have been been produced by Eric B. in the past, was an utter irrelevance tonight- and the audience just had to sit there, captive, if not exactly captivated. In fact, pretty underwhelmed. EPMD made up for the previous shambolic fifteen minutes, doing Music , You Gots to Chill and So Watcha Sayin ? amongst others. Eric Sermon was pretty puffed out after his and Parish Smith s fifteen minutes, but, at least, it was a solid fifteen minutes. A much slimmer Fat Joe did Lean Back and All The Way Up with Rosie Perez playing wing lady to Fat Joe from the side of the stage. Not two of Joe s classic songs, but they were entertaining enough. DJ Chuck Chillout came out for little purpose, but to join the celebrations, which the audience had paid good money to see something other than Cheeseburger Posse. As Eric B mentioned bringing out a West Coast artist, or may be two or three, the crowd tried to guess who it might be. Of course, this being all done on the cheap, with little stage management, rehearsal or production values, it was Ice T who represented. It helped that he had only been doing his Art of Rap tour a few days previously in New Jersey, so was imminently available. A workmanlike rendition of O.G , New Jack City and Colors was welcome, but, yet again, this is not what was this night was about. Sweet T and Roxanne Shante represented Queens and did It s My Beat and Have a Nice Day. Lost Boyz extended that borough s reppin with Rene and Rich Boy from Brooklyn did a superfluous set. Special Ed kept the time filler agenda going with I Got it Made. Eric B softly reminded Cheeseburger Posse and the exacerbated and bemused paying audience that they still had a day job to do (don t do us any favours, Eric, please don t!!) and finally Rakim came on again in safari fatigues for \u2018Eric B. Is President and I Know You Got Soul (both rushed, both truncated). Rakim basked in the glory and took selfies with the crowd while the Bobby Byrd beat played out from Eric B s laptop. Slick Rick turned up. Did nothing, But it gave even more perceived value for the audience. Rakim was either too lazy or bored or just didn t want to be there, as he asked the audience to sing the words to Paid in Full, while Rakim mimed the song s narrative. DJ Kid Capri rounded out a soggy evening that barely, legally fulfilled obligations. A night that could have been so different with so much potential, but it was classic amateur vaudeville that set back hip-hop as an artform by about 10 years. Not all the tracks from Paid in Full were played, especially the instrumentals, or in full. Rakim didn t seem to want to be there. The stage management was a joke. I couldn t tell you who 90% of the people on that stage were. Rakim s elder brother and the bloke who sold Rakim his gold and a Latino dude who was on the cover of Paid in Full aren t remotely interesting, as there was little backstory. Strangely, too, the recently deceased Prodigy was ignored the whole night, but for one of the Cheeseburger Posse wearing a hat with "Prodigy" written on it. The whole night felt like a self-indulgent circus farce, which exemplified the worst of live hio-hop. Instead of a celebration of a seminal album, it was a night to forget.

I'm a fan of Eric B and Rakim since I was a child.

The show was completely disorganized. There were 100 people on stage (I'm not exaggerating for effect - literally 100 people). I was there to see Eric B. & Rakim perform, but the entire show was made up of one washed-up act after another

This was a historical event for hip-hop so I was glad to be there, a whole lot of stars came out to honor the God and show their appreciation for his jubilee moment. My only criticism is that he may have had too many "friends" and they all wanted to be on stage so it didn't feel like a concert in that respect but more like a roast without the bad jokes. I think everyone would have preferred to see Rakim preform more and see the tributes less