Photos by EDWARD LIN/Daily Bruin Senior Staff Fans sang along with Jagged Edge as they performed their current hit single "Where the Party At."
By Sophia Whang
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
The hip-hop culture was alive and bumping Saturday night with some of the most classic and modern rappers.
Los Angeles’ Power 106 FM had its 2001 Back-to-School Powerhouse concert at the Anaheim Arrowhead Pond Arena with performances by Jurassic 5, Xzibit, Jagged Edge, Ja Rule, Kurupt, Shaggy, DJ Quik, Afroman, Nelly, Outkast and others.
Hip-hop is said to be the culture from which rap emerged, a way of life with its own language, style of dress, music and mentality.
There were questionable acts reflecting this culture during the performances, like one of Xzibit’s performers smoking a joint on stage, DJ Quik drinking alcohol from the bottle and artists calling all audience members, young and old, “motherfuckers.”
However, these rap stars were all about the music. They were not preoccupied with the glitz and glamour or highly choreographed dance moves common to pop shows.
Artists concentrated on their lyrics, which characterize real-life hardships, and came clad in their casual hip-hop attire, with a laid back mentality.
Even though rap comes from African roots, Power 106’s core audience is primarily made up of Latino listeners, according to the radio station.
Photos by EDWARD LIN/Daily Bruin Senior Staff Powerhouse performer DJ Quik works the crowd on Saturday.
Powerhouse’s audience also showed the crossing over of hip-hop culture as people of Latino descent were more prevalent than African-American audience members.
The Latino community is further involved as ticket proceeds from the concert will go to the radio station’s nonprofit organization, the Knowledge is Power Foundation, designed to help underprivileged Latino youths from East and South Central Los Angeles with educational programs and job training opportunities.
Judging by the packed arena the fundraising concert was a success.
Although Jurassic 5 opened the show to a half-empty house, the audience was on their feet and the seats were quickly filled as Xzibit entered the arena.
“Mr. X to the Z” and his boys got their walk on and sang “X” while getting audience members to form Xs with their arms.
They even dedicated a song to the ladies in the house and mentioned that being able to perform at the concert was worth their 12-hour flight.
Clad in matching Dodger jerseys and flashy chains was the R&B quartet Jagged Edge, who performed their hit singles “Let’s Get Married” and “Where The Party At.”
Ludacris and other performers got fans excited by throwing shirts into the crowd. Some were there to promote their new albums, and many shouted the popular endearing phrase, “I love y’all motherfuckers” to the audience, who screamed back in mutual affection.
DJ Quik worked the crowd ingeniously when he brought up old school music, drank champagne on stage, threw money into the audience, jumped off-stage to get closer to the fans, and wowed them as he did impressive twists and turns of his version of the “thug” or c-walk with his three nephews.
Nelly and The St. Lunatics brought two women from the audience onstage, and Outkast left fans satisfied as they closed the concert and long night of hip-hop.
The concert made it evident that hip-hop is a prominent culture that can help bring about understanding through music, all the while improving the community by bringing its diverse members together.