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Sugarhill Gang, Rakim, Big Daddy Kane and Roxanne Shante are among the announced performers on the new, live, traveling and in-person version of the music series.
DJ Cassidy is bringing a version of “Pass The Mic” to the Big Apple this summer.
The new concert series, “Pass The Mic Live!,” plans a celebration of the 50th anniversary of hip-hop with a show at Radio City Music Hall. It’s a live, traveling and in-person version of DJ Cassidy’s online series, featuring singers and rappers performing a musical round-robin of their famous songs.
The event will feature more than 25 artists of hip-hop and rap’s golden age. The Sugarhill Gang, Kurtis Blow, Grandmaster Melle Mel and Scorpio and Kool Moe Dee are among the pioneers who are scheduled to perform.
MCs and groups from the 1980s are also on the bill, including Big Daddy Kane, Rakim, Slick Rick, Roxanne Shante, Special Ed, MC Shan, Kid ‘n Play and Milk Dee (of Audio Two). Among the ’90s acts scheduled to perform are Nice & Smooth, Monie Love, Brand Nubian, Black Sheep, EPMD, DoItAll (of Lords of the Underground) and CL Smooth.
“Pass The Mic Live!,” which DJ Cassidy brings to Radio City Music Hall in partnership with the Black Promoter’s Collective and Martell Cognac, will also welcome surprise guest performances.
“Uniting twenty-five native New York icons of Hip Hop’s Golden Age on one stage on one night, in the birthplace of Hip Hop, also my hometown, in the most esteemed concert venue in the country, will be the greatest honor of my life,” said DJ Cassidy in a statement. “I am truly honored to be celebrating these definitive artists and their profound impact on the culture, days from the 50th birthday of Hip Hop, minutes away from where Kool Herc deejayed the first Hip Hop party in 1973.”
The hip-hop rendition of “Pass The Mic Live!” will come after the inaugural version, which is scheduled to debut on May 12 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. Ashanti, Robin Thicke, Ja Rule, 112, Ma$e, Lil’ Kim and Ne-Yo are among the announced performers. It will also feature special surprise guests.
DJ Cassidy previously announced that October’s “Pass The Mic” would be his final online and on-air installment after launching it in 2020 during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. It aired following the “2022 BET Hip-Hop Awards” and featured Swizz Beatz, Method Man, Ice Cube and Busta Rhymes.
Others in this one-night stand series are planned for throughout the year featuring a different roster of guests at different venues.
DJ Cassidy’s “Pass The Mic Live!” hip-hop tribute is planned for July 21at Radio City Music Hall. Presale tickets for American Express card members are scheduled to go on sale at 10 a.m. ET on Tuesday. General tickets are scheduled to go on sale at 10 a.m. ET on Friday. Ticket can be purchased at Ticketmaster.
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