The God MC will make his presence felt in New York City this summer. According to press release, Rakim will play at the famed Blue Note Jazz Festival on June 8 at Sony Music Hall alongside special guest Ravi Coltrane. Rakim shared the flyer for the performance on Instagram and the full festival will include performances by Robert Glasper, Bilal, Herbie Hancock and George Clinton & Parliament-Funkadelic.
“This year’s Blue Note Jazz Festival in New York presents an exceptional range and depth of artistry,” Alex Kurland, Director of Programming, said in a statement. “We’re excited and proud to present a diverse lineup within different settings and at venues featuring the most established, iconic and influential artists as well as the next generation of cutting edge progressive artists at venues ranging from Washington Square Park, Central Park to the Blue Note Jazz Club in Greenwich Village and more. We are grateful again to bring a tasteful city-wide music festival to the culture of New York City.”
The Blue Note Jazz Festival represents yet another date for Rakim to let fans celebrate his nearly 40-year Hip Hop career. In February, he joined other legendary Hip Hop heroes such as Big Daddy Kane, Yo-Yo, DJ Jazzy Jeff and others for a slew of performances at the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA®) tournament in North Carolina.
Recently, DJ Premier, broke down another classic Rakim moment, explaining how he, Kanye West,KRS-One and Nas came together to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Nike Air Force One for the single “Classic (Better Than I’ve Ever Been)” in 2007.
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“To have Rakim come to your studios is already a blessing,” Premier said. “Mind you, I’ve always wanted to find him because he’s like a UFO. When we did the Gang Starr Full Clip album, Rakim appeared on ‘The Militia II’ with WC and Gang Starr, and I gave all of our plaques out to everybody that was involved with that album when we went gold. Rakim was the only one we couldn’t track down to give him his plaque.
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“It had been sitting in my closet at the studio collecting dust. [What] made it all dope was I was like, ‘Ra, before you leave, I forgot! I have something that’s got a lot of dust on it, but we’re gonna wipe it off.’ He’s like, ‘What?’ I bring him his Full Clip Gang Starr plaque. It had been sitting there since 1999! And finally, at this video shoot of this particular song, he got his plaque. So beautiful.”
Tickets for the Blue Note Jazz Festival are available for purchase here.
