Rock The Bells: Ms. Lauryn Hill
Governors Island
Saturday, September 3

Better than: Lauryn Hill's performance at Rock the Bells last year.

Creating a classic album is a double-edged sword. Fans expect its songs to be performed the same way in perpetuity, regardless of how the artist's musical and personal state have altered since recording. This is just one of the trials that has plagued Lauryn Hill's career since her debut The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill came out in 1998.

To say that Hill has changed over the years is an understatement; only a husk of the girl next door from New Jersey, whose lyrical dexterity breezed effortlessly between sweet harmonies and a venomous flow that could put any male emcee to shame, remains. This can be chalked up in part to the passage of time; Miseducation was released over a decade ago. (The inspiration behind the heartfelt "To Zion" is now a teenager.) Despite the overwhelming evidence—being notoriously late for concerts, garish makeup, tiffs with former Fugees members, that on-again-off-again relationship with Marley scion Rohan—that they should maybe raise the white flag, loyalists remain steadfast that the singer/rapper will one day regain her former glory. The realist in me knows that this is a pipe dream, especially after witnessing firsthand her frenetic and off-key live performance at Rock the Bells 2010, but color me hip-hop optimistic; I (desperately) wanted to give the beleaguered artist another chance at redemption this year.

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Tickets go on sale tomorrow at 10 a.m. for the New York City stop of the Rock The Bells Festival, which will take place on September 3 at Governors Island. The lineup for the all-star hip-hop concert, during which a slew of heavyweights (Nas, Ms. Lauryn Hill, Raekwon & Ghostface) will revisit albums from their respective catalogs, has been fleshed out a bit more, and the news that Erykah Badu will both appear at the NYC stop of the four-date festival tour and perform her 1997 debut Baduizm is very welcome. Full New York lineup (as it stands now) below.

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​The Rock The Bells festival returns to the New York area with a Sept. 3 date at Governor's Island. This year's installment is headed up by a slew of full-album sets that includes run-throughs of The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, Illmatic (which Nas will perform with AZ, Pete Rock and DJ Premier), Only Built For Cuban Linx, and quite a few other storied hip-hop records. There'll also be a battle stage and a "36 Chambers stage," which "will primarily feature members of the Wu-Tang Clan as well as artists selected by stage curator and Wu-Tang Clan mainstay RZA." Tickets go on presale next Friday, June 3, with the general on-sale set for June 4. Full roster of performers after the jump.

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Oh, hey Q-Tip. All photos by Rebecca Smeyne.

​On a sweltering Saturday, the seventh annual hip-hop nerd convention Rock The Bells took over Governor's Island. It's a place where people know to "throw a one in the air" for Guru before DJ Premier even asked, a place where you can overhear a convo about whether Mos Def or Talib Kweli would be cooler to hang out with, a place where VIP ticket buyers actually get brand new backpacks. This year, the fest tapped into All Tomorrow's Parties-style nostalgia market of "Don't Look Back," and asked six legendary rap artists to perform their legendary albums in their entirety. We sweated in a field for nearly 11 ½ hours--with zero breaks for food, water, or Port-O-Potty, no joke--to see how well these albums translated to a live setting.

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Cover of Ali's The Truth is Here EP

Of the many details that differentiate Brother Ali from your average rapper, it is important to note that after delving deep into the painful dissolution of his emotionally abusive marriage on his 2007 album The Undisputed Truth, Ali wraps things up by telling his ex that he hopes she has a better life without him. Braggadocio concerning one's ability to love and forgive is a particularly Ali characteristic, but the man has never lacked for unique insights. Over the course of his decade-long career the Madison-born, Minneapolis-based Ali (who convertered to Islam several years ago) has tackled subjects ranging from depression, racial identity, America's war addiction, the aftermath of sexual abuse, life as a single father, and the need to stay strong through life's hardships. His flow is direct, but crafty, his tone veers from spleen-bursting to achingly empathetic. He's also capable of a sweetness that can turn unapologetically gooey. (When discussing life with his new wife and children, he claims they now have a house "like the Berenstain Bears.")

Ali, born Jason Newman, found a patron in indie-rap kingpins Atmosphere last decade, gaining an early fanbase on tours with them and releasing albums via their label Rhymesayers. And though the albums are strong, it's his stand-up-and-testify live shows that have proved him a force to be reckoned with, which should make him a welcome relief for anyone who begins to suffer a nostalgia overload at the admittedly awesome/absurd Rock The Bells festival this weekend. The festival will feature a variety of hip-hop legends performing classic albums in full, such as A Tribe Called Quest's Midnight Marauders, Wu-Tang Clan's Enter The 36 Chambers, Rakim' Paid In Full and Snoop Dogg's Doggystyle, as well as appearances from Clipse, Yelawolf, Murs and Wiz Khalifa. (According to reviews of previous performances, "special guest" Lauryn Hill has actually shown up to the first two dates on the tour as well, but it might be unwise to get one's hopes too high in this regard.) Sound Of The City caught up with Ali to discuss the art of the hip-hop show, stealing from KRS-One and teaching one's fans proper methods of interaction.

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​Well, this has been somewhat of a confusing rollout. The news: Snoop (doing Doggystyle in its entirety), Tribe (doing Midnight Marauders), and DJ Premier (doing a Gang Starr tribute that'll probably be the highlight of the whole thing) have been added to the bill (already loaded with Wu Tang, Slick Rick, Rakim, KRS-One, and so forth) for hip-hop nostalgia-fest Rock the Bells, which hits a handful of cities later this summer, including a Governors Island date August 28. Also appearing: the ever-volatile Lauryn Hill (as a "very special guest," which is a dangerous phrase) doing "a unique set exclusively for Rock the Bells," which could theoretically mean "a scintillating mix of Fugees and Miseducation of Lauryn Hill tracks," or maybe just "whatever the fuck Lauryn feels like doing at that precise moment."

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So Urb caused a sizable kerfuffle yesterday afternoon by breaking the news that the stupendously volatile Lauryn Hill would headline the annual hip-hop nostalgia tour Rock the Bells by performing 1998's classic The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill in its entirety, triggering equal amounts joy and fear. (Lauryn's shows can be harrowing.) Urb had a sizable scoop here, as the official RTB lineup-unveiling event was set for Monday night in L.A. Well, that happened, and the lineup was officially announced. You'll never guess who wasn't on it.

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