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YouTube To Livestream ‘Hip Hop 50 Live’ Concert Headlined By Run-DMC, Snoop Dogg, Ice Cube
The 50th anniversary of hip-hop will continue well into the fall thanks to YouTube’s FIFTY DEEP, a cultural campaign that officially launches Friday, Aug. 11, by exclusively livestreaming one of the biggest concerts of the summer in “Hip Hop 50 Live” headlined by legends Run-DMC, Snoop Dogg, Nas, Ice Cube, Lil Wayne and Wiz Khalifa.
The star-studded event co-produced by Live Nation and Mass Appeal will be celebrated at none other than Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, the New York City borough where hip-hop was born. The massive concert features multiple sets that highlight the diversity of the cultural movement. There is a Queens of Hip Hop Set that features Eve, Lil Kim, Remy Ma and Trina, and a Pillars of Hip Hop Set includes DJ Kool Herc, who is known to have founded hip-hop at a birthday party in 1973, Cindy Campbell, Grandmaster Caz, Kurtis Blow, Melle Mel, The Sugarhill Gang and more. A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie, Fat Joe and Kad Capri will perform a Bronx Bombers Set, and other artists to join the festivities include T.I., Cam’ron, Common, EPMD, Ghostface Killah, Lupe Fiasco and Slick Rick. Battlecat, Chuck Chillout Clark Kent, Mannie Fresh and Marley Marl will also be part of a Legendary DJ Set.
Hip-hop fans can enjoy the celebration from the comfort of their own home by watching it on the Mass Appeal’s official YouTube channel, and the media streaming giant will continue to acknowledge the hip-hop’s milestone for months to come with FIFTY DEEP, an initiative launched by Tuma Basa, the company’s director of Black music and culture.
Basa’s mission is “for every generation to dig into the gems of YouTube’s archival treasury of hip-hop” by spotlighting 2,000 game-changing hip-hop videos through various playlists on the site.
“If you’re like me, you watched your favorite music videos on Yo! MTV Raps or BET’s Rap City over and over again,” Basa, who previously worked at MTV, BET and Spotify, wrote in a YouTube blog post announcing the cultural campaign. “Fast forward to today and YouTube allows us to watch almost any video at any time in almost any place. This year marks a whole half a century of hip-hop’s existence. YouTube’s only been around about a third of that time but no matter what era of Hip Hop you’re looking for, one thing’s for sure — it lives on YouTube.”
The YouTube homepage will honor the birthday of hip-hop on Aug. 11 with a custom logo paying homage to Type Beats, where producers find inspiration for their music. FIFTY DEEP will also look to educate viewers about hip-hop through programs and music and art collections,
“I’m proud that YouTube continues to be the institutional memory of hip-hop,” Basa wrote. “For me, YouTube is a place I can find nearly every version of every song, plus interviews, plus podcasts, plus commentary, plus live performances, et cetera, et cetera. Basically, if it happened and it was recorded, YouTube is where people come to find it. We’re so thankful for that support and stay tuned for more to come.”