QUEENS, N.Y. (PIX11) — Some of the biggest names in hip-hop celebrated 50 years at the Rock The Bells festival on Saturday, including LL Cool J, Run DMC, Queen Latifah, Ludacris, Slick Rick, and many more.
It was a celebration of music from all five boroughs at Forest Hills Stadium in Queens.
“I’m all hip-hop. I’m right behind at 49,” Desiree Rahmans told PIX11 News. “I’m rocking with all of them,”
“It’s a celebration of music that changed the world,” Mike Luba, the president of Forest Hills Stadium, told PIX11 News. “A true celebration of something that is unique and special to New York.”
Roughly 13,000 people packed a nine-hour sold-out concert in the 100-year-old stadium in a residential neighborhood.
A group called Concerned Citizens of Forest Hills wants to limit these festivals.
“It’s a wonderful thing,” Amy Hu, a member of Concerned Citizens of Forest Hills, told PIX11 News. “But nine hours is too long for residents here to hear nine hours of background bass. There’s too much thumping. I have friends who live closer to the stadium and their homes shake.”
Back inside the stadium, with all the food, merch stalls, and installations, people were posing for pictures and waiting for their favorite hip-hop artists to perform.
“We are excited to see Ludacris,” Dylan Penza, 28, from Long Island City, told PIX11 News. “It’s cool because you see like the historical.”
“LL Cool J’s grandmother used to live down the street from my mother in Hollis,” Carolyn Devoe told PIX11 News. “My girlfriend was his English teacher in the world record for the class used to be if everyone finishes their work early, LL could rhyme.”
