Master Of Ceremonies Concert Series

By Jason Gonzalez
In the hip-hop community the term emcee, which stands for master of ceremony, and is abbreviated M.C. was a title once given to anyone that rapped or was a disc jockey [DJ]. In the early 80’s an M.C. would commonly host parties. The responsibilities of the M.C. included introducing the DJ to the audience, as well as listing in sequential order what will be happening throughout the course of the night. Sounds easy right? Not so fast.
Typically, these events were held in public parks or in night clubs. With that being said, good performance skills were a prerequisite. You had to be charming, charismatic, and cool. But as the culture evolved, the art of being an M.C. changed. There was more of an emphasis being placed on rhyming skills, lyrical ability, and subject matter.
The Adam Torres concert series brought back the Masters of Ceremony tour back to the ‘Big Apple’ for the fourth consecutive year. Since the inaugural show in January of 2014 at Radio City Music Hall, there has been a huge demand to hear and see all of the artists responsible for the prominence of the musical genre. The commercial success of the first show warranted a second run at Radio City the following year. The Masters of Ceremony platform has allowed all of the acts involved to reconnect with their loyal fan base, as well as attracting a younger generation of listeners in the process.
The concert took place last Friday night, at the Barclays Center. Making this the concert’s second run in as many years in the borough of Brooklyn. It was a great turnout as was evident by the patrons in the standing room only sections throughout the entire venue.
Hit maker extraordinaire 50 Cent of Jamaica, Queens was the final act to touch the stage. He was joined by his G-Unit artist Uncle Murda. As usual 50’s attire was sensational. However, his performance was marred by him taking shots at Ja Rule, forgetting the lyrics to some of his songs, and ultimately ending the show rather abruptly.  50 simply walked off stage.
Hip Hop’s greatest performer Busta Rhymes of Uniondale, Long Island was joined by his side kick Spliff Star and they did what only they know how to do best. And that’s tearing it down. The chemistry between the two is unparalleled. The pair epitomizes the term of entertainers. It was truly remarkable to witness Busta and Spliff fit in 20 plus years of classic songs into a 15-minute set. And in that time Busta and Spliff brought out M.O.P. and they performed “Ante Up” together.
The auto-tune king, T-Pain, of Tallahassee, Florida was in the house. However, there was no auto tuning on the night of. His performance left a lot to be desired, and although he was joined by Maino, T-Pain’s on stage antics were extremely juvenile. He lost the interest of the crowd, ultimately forcing fans of the art to seriously question if T-Pain should be considered Hip Hop ornot. Truth be told, T-Pain was the odd man out on this particular bill.
Brooklyn’s native son, Fabolous, was also in the building. He was joined on stage by his buddy Casanova. With Fab, what you see is what you get. His jewelry game was on fleek, and as always his presence and delivery was crisp. Fabolous isn’t given enough credit for his ability to control the crowd. He had the support of just about everyone in attendance. They were literally hanging on every word that he was saying.
Hip Hop’s triple threat, known as The Lox, brought their lyrical wizardry from Yonkers to the county of kings. The Lox preceded the opening act, but still managed to have the high point of the entire night. That moment came when Jadakiss and Styles P. recited there verse from “Banned from T.V.” Kiss and Styles turned around with their backs facing each other, and then leaned on each other while taking turns rapping. The keen theatrics brought everyone to their feet.  
There was a State Property reunion. Beanie Sigel and Freeway, both of Philadelphia, opened up the show. The duo performed the club banger “Rock the Mic.” just a few songs into their performance, which put all of the spectators in the right frame of mind, thus setting the tone for the rest of the night.
Lastly, the biggest surprise was witnessing the respect and adulation that Jeezy received from the masses. Brooklyn showed a lot of love for the “Snowman” and the city of Atlanta as well.
Overall, it was a fun night for the culture. The artistry of Hip Hop was showcased in a positive light. The Masters of Ceremony concert gets a rating of 3.5/5 stars from thebronxchronicle.com   
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You can E-mail me all of your questions, thoughts, or comments about this article at jg51593n@pace.edu

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