i just got back from lowlands festival, Holland, and caught up with some live shows (anybody been there, btw?).
here are my impressions:

1) there is hiphop in Holland. probably a very vivid scene. I've seen two groups, one is called Raytzmester or something like that, and the other, less popular by the crowd's reaction, of Dj Tommy Experience (funny name hehehe) and a tall, eccentric and brilliant MC - Paradox (if I got it correctly).

2) british 2-step garage (the streets, audio bullys - both were on the festival) is very much like rap. the only difference is that rap is much better.

3) blackalicious, the second reason why I went to the festival, failed to show up, which left me with the main reason I spent three days in an ocean of trash...

4) Michael Franti. this guy raps, he rocks, he pinches and strokes. he's music. he's real voodoo. In my next reincarnation I would like to be a flea in his dreadlocks. the best show i have ever seen.

what about you guys/gals? what did you see this summer/year? which were the hiphop shows you liked best?
D

personally i have never seen a rap show but from the taped shows ive seen it seems like they all sound like crap so i never really had a wanting to go to one and i felt there wasn't much to see either. My friend went to summer jam here in the states though and chilled with g-unit if your into that, i called him a fag.

thats cause you probably never go to the right places!
we saw the streets at Homelands but they were pretty poor, de la sol were wicked though! saw Blackalicious where i live and at Reading Festival and few english groups at a local festival like scratch perverts, task force who are always pretty good.

I saw The Roots and N.E.R.D. this past weekend, and I got to meet ?uestlove (he gave me his personal e-mail address) and Pharrell....both guys were cool, and I got a chance to get info to both of them about my soon-to-be t-shirt company. I gave a shirt to Pharrell, and he liked it. ?uestlove liked em' too...but he needs a 2XL, so I gotta order one for him.

The Roots kicked so much ass.....N.E.R.D. was good, but the Roots just went ballistic. They have some new guitarist, and he did one of the craziest one-handed guitar solos over a blues song I've ever heard.

Good to hear about your shirts Homeless...how good would it be if he wore it around everywhere?!?

As for me I'm a bit of a live hip-hop virgin if you'd like to call it that. I would LOVE to see the Beastie Boys if they ever came back to Australia...

This summer I've been to a hip hop jam featuring Blackmoon some locals, and to Pharcyde and Rhazel.

Rhazel's really good i saw him last year. what r Pharcyde like live?