Rock the Bells 2010 has landed, bringing a slew of hip hop greats to four cities across the nation. Headlined by Wu-Tang Clan, Rakim, KRS-One and Slick Rick, the line-up also includes Street Sweeper Social Club (led by Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello), Clipse, Jedi Mind Tricks and more. Lauryn Hill is also slated to appear.
Though the line-up is stacked with hip hop veterans, we initially disappointed with the scarcity of current and up-and-coming artists. However, Rock the Bells is shaking things up this year with a new twist: the four headliners will perform their debut albums from start to finish – Slick Rick’s The Great Adventures Of (1989), KRS-One’s Criminal Minded (1987), Rakim’s Paid in Full (1987) and the Wu-Tang Clan’s groundbreaking Enter the 36 Chambers (1993) – a move that may have been inspired by Public Enemy’s outstanding performance of It Takes A Nation of Millions at last year’s Root’s Picnic in Philadelphia.
Rock the Bells hits New York City’s Governor’s Island on August 28. For updates on the line-up, set times and tickets, visit the official Rock the Bells website.
Over the weekend, Jay-Z made headlines with the release of his single D.O.A – Death of Auto-Tune
Auto-Tune, the audio processor used to correct pitch in vocals and instruments, is typically used to disguise precisely tuned recordings. As of recent, rappers have come to embrace this sound in attempts to sing by changing the levels of their voice to a point where they sound robotic. From Kid Rock’s Only God Knows Why to Kanye West’s album 808s and Heartbreak, the processor has come to a wide acceptance among artists who utilize the tool as an annoyance more so than a contribution to their creativity. Surprisingly, Jay-Z’s upcoming album, the Blueprint III – slated for release on September 11th, is produced by Kanye West, who also had a hand in D.O.A’s production along with producer No I.D. Its questionable that the rapper who created an entire album with Auto-Tune also produces the track that knocks on industry’s door to stop. With Jay-Z’s access to a wide audience, D.O.A has spread across the web within a couple of days like fire, but he isn’t the only artist making some noise about rappers utilizing the Auto-Tune. KRS-ONE and Buckshot are also highlighting the Auto-Tune trend on their upcoming album Survival Skills with their lead single Robot (produced by Havoc of Mobb Deep). The album is set to release on August 25th.
Perhaps Auto-Tune may return to its days of subtlety in the studio for singers. Kanye West and T-Pain may be two of the few rappers who can utilize the processor’s ability to skew pitches and make it sound good, but with Kanye producing D.O.A, one has to question if he plans on walking away from using the tool in the future. More important than the timing of Death of Auto-Tune is Jay-Z’s ability to call attention to the matter by creating some anticipation and buzz for the Blueprint III, all while making a statement to the industry.
