Vice President Kamala Harris, Lil Wayne, Common and more Honor Hip-Hop’s 50th Anniversary at Washington D.C. Celebration: Concert Review
Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music Lil Wayne spoke for a lot of people attending Saturday’s “50 Years of Hip-Hop” celebration at the official residence of the vice president of the United States in Washington, D.C.: At the conclusion of his set, he thanked the audience and said, “I cannot believe I am here.” Vice President Kamala Harris also spoke for many of the approximately 400 assembled artists, executives, politicians, journalists and others when she said as part of her opening remarks, “Hip-hop now shapes nearly every aspect of American popular culture, and it reflects the incredible diversity and ingenuity of the American people. I truly believe hip-hop is one of America’s greatest exports.” Although hip-hop has certainly received at least some of the respect it is due in recent years — nowhere near enough, considering it is indisputably the most important and influential cultural movement of the last half century — it was still surreal to be watching artists like Wayne, Common, Jeezy, Fat Joe, Remy Ma, Doug E.