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It’s time to celebrate the most vital and important musical art form of the last half century.
We are, of course, talking about hip-hop — the genre that has given the world such iconic acts as Wu-Tang Clan, Missy Elliott, Big Daddy Kane, Jay-Z, Public Enemy, Lauryn Hill, Salt-N-Pepa, Eminem, Nicki Minaj, MC Lyte, Dr. Dre and Tupac Shakur.
Fans across the globe will be celebrating those giants of the genre — and so many others — as hip-hop marks its 50th anniversary in 2023.
Not surprisingly, Bay Area concertgoers will have plenty of opportunities to join in on the good times over the next few months, as a number of cool hip-hop shows roll through town. The options range from all-time greats to newer chart-toppers — and pretty much everything in between.
Here are 10 upcoming hip-hop shows that are definitely worth checking out, arranged chronologically.
1. Hot Summer Nights
It’s one of the best package tours of 2023, featuring not just one but two of the greatest R&B groups of the last 35 years.
The headliner is TLC, the Atlanta act whose classic lineup consisted of Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins, Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes and Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas.
Lopes — one of our all-time favorite rappers — died at the age of 30 in 2002, but Thomas and Watkins are still delighting fans with such sensational singles as “Creep,” “No Scrubs” and, best of all, “Waterfalls.”
The bill also includes Oakland’s fantastic En Vogue as well as Shaggy and Sean Kingston.
Details: 7 p.m. July 9; Concord Pavilion; $29-$125 (subject to change); livenation.com
2. Larry June
The Bay Area hip-hop hero showed his merit at the 2022 Outside Lands, delivering a winning set at the festival grounds in Golden Gate Park that left thousands of fans saying, “Good Job, Larry.”
It felt like a true breakout moment for the San Francisco native, who continues to grow in popularity with each passing year. Now his draw is such that he’s playing three sold out nights at the Fox Theater in Oakland, as well as two shows at the Catalyst in Santa Cruzz.
Besides being talented, June is also a hard worker and incredibly productive — something he underscored, in a big way, by releasing five full-length albums in 2009 alone.
Details: July 19-20 at The Catalyst, Santa Cruz; $118-$276 (subject to change); July 23, 24 and 26, Fox Theater, Oakland; concerts listed as sold out; ticketmaster.com
3. Blue Note Jazz Festival Napa
Now in its second year, this Robert Glasper-curated festival is celebrating the influence of jazz on hip-hop over the last half-century.
The lineup for the three-day event is nothing short of sensational, featuring headliners Mary J. Blige, Nas and Chance the Rapper as well as Smino, Rakim & DJ Jazz Jeff, Digable Planets, Big Freedia, De La Soul, Ari Lennox, Talib Kweli & Madlib, BJ the Chicago Kid, PJ Morton and many other talents.
Glasper, who is the artist-in-residence, is set to appear all three days. Comedian Dave Chappelle serves as host.
Sounds like an amazing way to spend a long weekend up in Wine Country.
Details: July 28-30, Silverado Resort, Napa; $225 single day, $375 two-day pass, $575 three-day pass; bluenotejazz.com/jazz-festival-napa
4. NF
He’s one of the most powerful MCs in the hip-hop game today, who continues to impress with each new release.
NF — who just uses his initials (for Nathan Feuerstein) as a stage name — now has five solid-plus full-lengths to his credit.
The most recent is “Hope,” which also happens to be one of the best albums of 2023. In particular, the title track is an absolute triumph, as NF showcases his mighty lyrical prowess and flow while tackling topics of faith and family.
Details: 8 p.m. Aug. 6, Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, San Francisco; $139; ticketmaster.com
5. High School Reunion Tour
Snoop Dogg certainly knows how to throw an enticing party.
The roll call for the Snoop-led outing includes Wiz Khalifa, Too $hort, Warren G, Berner and DJ Drama.
Fans are certainly looking forward to the possibility of grooving along to Warren G’s “Regulate” and hearing Oakland’s own Too $hort rock the microphone.
Yet, the No. 1 reason for attending this show is the chance to hear Tha Doggfather draw from his deep bag of classic tracks, which includes “Who Am I? (What’s My Name),” “Gin and Juice” and so many others.
Details: 6 p.m. Aug. 25, Golden 1 Center, Sacramento; $55-$245 (subject to change); ticketmaster.com. 6 p.m. Aug. 26, Concord Pavilion; $59-$249 (subject to change); livenation.com
6. Lil Durk
The Chicago rapper comes to town in support of his eighth studio album, “Almost Healed,” which features guest appearances from Alicia Keys, J. Cole, Chief Wuk, Future, 21 Savage, Kodak Black, Rob49, the late Juice Wrld and Morgan Wallen.
The album hit shelves in May and quickly became Durk’s sixth album to chart in the top 10 of the Billboard 200.
Durk’s accompanied on this trek by Kodak Black, NLE Choppa and DD Osama
Details: 7 p.m. Sept. 1, Oakland Arena, ticketmaster.com
7, The F.O.R.C.E. Live
This would be our top choice among all the hip-hop package tours taking place this year.
Not only is it LL Cool J’s first headlining arena tour in 30 years, but F.O.R.C.E. (which stands for Frequencies of Real Creative Energy) just features so many icons on the bill.
We’re talking about the Roots, DJ Jazzy Jeff, DJ Z-Trip, Salt-N-Pepa, Big Boi, Doug E. Fresh & Slick Rick, Ice-T and Rakim.
Amazing, right?
The Roots will serve as the house band for the evening, with the other acts taking turns appearing onstage.
Details: 7 p.m. Sept. 1, Chase Center, San Francisco; $39-$349 (subject to change); ticketmaster.com
8. 50 Cent
50 Cent has never been better than he was on the 2003 “Get Rich or Die Tryin’” debut. (Although, 2005’s “The Massacre” ranks as a fairly close second.)
The hip-hop star, also known as Curtis Jackson, is celebrating the lasting greatness (as well as the 20th anniversary) of “Get Rich or Die Tryin’” with a massive concert tour.
It’s called the Final Lap Tour, yet we haven’t seen any official statement that this will indeed be 50 Cent’s last road show. But why take the chance? If you want to see 50 Cent then it might be prudent to get tickets for this trek.
Details: 7 p.m. Sept. 2, Shoreline Amphitheater at Mountain View; $42-$329 (subject to change); livenation.com. 8 p.m. Sept. 4, Golden 1 Center, Sacramento; $45-$249; ticketmaster.com
9. Doja Cat
Oh, yeah, this is going to be good.
How can it not be?
We are, after all, taking about Doja Cat — who is set to kick off her first North American headlining arena tour in San Francisco.
And did we mention it’s happening on Halloween night?
That’s important, since very few places (if any) celebrate the occasion with more gusto than the City by the Bay.
We’re expecting a sold-out house full of some of the wildest costumes imaginable. Toss in a setlist stocked with the likes of “Juicy,” “Woman” and “Kiss Me More” and the end result should be a very memorable Oct. 31.
Details: 7:30 p.m. Oct. 31, Chase Center, San Francisco; $129-$199; ticketmaster.com
10. Hip Hop Made the Bay
We’ll bring our recommendations to a close with yet another cool hip-hop package tour that features one of the genre’s all-time greats.
This time around it’s Ice Cube, who will surely use the headliner slot to remind folks that his back catalog includes such signature jams as “Check Yo Self,” “Natural Born Killaz” and, of course, “It Was a Good Day.” (We’d buy tickets just to hear the latter and scream along with the “Two in the mornin,’ got the Fatburger” line.)
Cube, however, is just one of the many selling points on the bill. Other acts include the Bay Area’s own E-40, Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, Warren G, the Luniz (another Bay Area act), MC Magic and Amanda Perez.
Details: 7:30 p.m. Nov. 3; SAP Center, San Jose; ticketmaster.com
Originally published at Jim Harrington