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Hip Hop 50 Live concert announced

A celebratory concert marking hip-hop’s 50th birthday has been announced for New York’s Yankee Stadium in The Bronx.

Scheduled for Friday 11 August, Hip Hop 50 Live at Yankee Stadium will feature Run DMC’s Bottom of the Ninth…The Walk-Off performance, plus legends including Lil Wayne, Snoop Dogg and Ice Cube, while a Queens of Hip Hop set will feature the likes of Eve, Lil Kim, Remy Ma and Trina.

“I am honoured to hit the stage in the Bronx, the birthplace of Hip Hop and celebrate all of my heroes,” says Run.

“Aug 11th is Hip Hop’s 50th birthday! So…’Up in the Bronx’ where it all started we will be celebrating this historic moment in history! I am honoured to pay tribute to the culture that allowed this little shy kid from Queens to grow up and become The Mighty King of Rock,” adds DMC.

The anniversary event is being co-produced by Nas’ entertainment company Mass Appeal, Live Nation and the New York Yankees

Other performers on the night will include: T.I., Fat Joe, Common, A$AP Ferg, EPMD, Ghostface Killah, Lupe Fiasco and Slick Rick. Additionally, a Pillars of Hip-Hop set will star Kool Herc & Cindy Campbell, Grandmaster Caz, Kurtis Blow, Melle Mel, Roxanne Shante, Scorpio and the Sugarhill Gang. A Legendary DJ set, meanwhile, will showcase Clark Kent, Marley Marl, Mannie Fresh and Battlecat.

Tickets start at US$50, with early bird access to the sale granted to Renaissance Youth Center, New Settlement, SCAN-Harbor, Madison Square Boys & Girls Club, Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club, North East Bronx YMCA, Castle Hill YMCA, New York Urban League, Hispanic Federation, Bronx Chamber of Commerce, Bronx Community Foundation, and CORO New York Leadership Center.

The anniversary event is being co-produced by Nas’ entertainment company Mass Appeal, Live Nation and the New York Yankees. Additional acts will be announced in the coming weeks. Emmy Award-winning BASSic Black Entertainment CEO Adam Blackstone is serving as managing creative music director along with partner Omar Edwards, musical director for Jay-Z.

Hip Hop 50 Live at Yankee Stadium is the latest announcement surrounding Mass Appeal’s cross-platform Hip Hop 50 initiative.

 


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LN Urban and Mass Appeal team for Hip-Hop 50 Live

Live Nation Urban is joining forces with Nas’ entertainment company Mass Appeal to celebrate 50 years of hip-hop.

Mass Appeal is led by the American rapper along with creative director Sacha Jenkins and CEO Peter Bittenbender. Its “multi-year” partnership with Live Nation will see the companies collaborate on a series of hip-hop-centric live programming.

Events will range from park jams to festivals, reports Billboard.

“We are thrilled to partner with the world’s leading live entertainment company to bring fans one-of-a-kind experiences in celebration of hip-hop’s 50th birthday,” says Bittenbender. “We are planning to celebrate all facets of the culture and globe via this dynamic partnership.”

“Live Nation Urban was founded to redefine culture”

Kicking off this summer at US parks nationwide, other activities will include live DJ sessions, interactive experiences, pop-up merchandise and educational activations. Park Jams in November will be followed by programmes honouring Hip-Hop History Month.

“Live Nation Urban was founded to redefine culture,” adds Brandon Pankey, VP of business development and operations at Live Nation Urban. “To celebrate 50 years of hip-hop with Nas, Peter and the Mass Appeal team is absolutely the type of partnership that our company is excited to form to continue to tell the stories about our culture globally.”

Mass Appeal and Live Nation Urban will also bring fans original content, product collaborations and Web3 launches to mark hip-hop’s semi-centennial. A portion of all proceeds will be donated to various charities including the Universal Hip Hop Museum, which is set to open in 2024.

 


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Nas teams up with LiveXLive to create urban content

Live entertainment company LiveXLive has signed a deal with rapper Nas and music company Mass Appeal, home to Nas’ record label, for a “360 degree partnership” to create, produce and distribute original urban-focused content.

Mass Appeal and Nas will curate a station on Slacker Radio, the internet radio service acquired by LiveXLive in 2017, and work to develop brand partnerships to establish new opportunities across urban and hip hop music.

Under the agreement, LiveXLive, Nas and Mass Appeal will work in conjunction to produce a slate of original programming for the LiveXLive platform, and co-produce original content to sell to third parties.

“I’m excited for Mass Appeal to continue expanding into different areas of media and music consumption in 2019,” says Nas. “Our partnership with LivexLive is the next step in that evolution.”

“We want to show the power live performances can have in connecting with fans, and this collaboration will bring them experiences in real time,” adds Nas.

“We want to show the power live performances can have in connecting with fans”

Chairman and chief executive of LiveXLive, Rob Ellin, comments on the “impressive” accomplishments of both Nas and Mass Appeal.

“Our partnership with Nas and Mass Appeal symbolises our status as a leader in hip hop and urban-focused content. The synergy of our partnership will be powerful as we together develop authentic, innovative concepts and programming,” says Ellin.

Launched in 2015, LiveXLive initially dubbed itself the “ESPN of premium live music experiences”, aiming the create a 24-hour network of live music broadcasting. The company livestreamed eight major music festivals last year, including Sziget, Paléo and Montreux Jazz Festival.

Expanding into other areas, LiveXLive acquired Wantickets in 2016 and created its own management division, LXL Influencers, in 2017. The Nasdaq Capital Market-listed company now produces much of its own, original music-related content.

LiveXLive continues to grow financially, reporting a record revenue of US$8 million in Q2 2019, driven by subscriber growth and advertising revenue.

 


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