Hip-Hop in the Park is one of favorite annual events. Ever since my first People's Park hip-hop experience in 2010, Berkeley's Student for Hip-Hop never disappoints. They have everything I love at one place all for free. Whether you want to groove your b-boy skills in the cypher, crossover on the courts, show off your fat cap skills on canvas or rock to some good ol' live hip-hop, they have it all. This year I spent more time on the courts so I did not see the earlier acts. But Gift of Gab and Dumbfounded met my expectations (you honestly cannot complain since it was FREE).
Dumbfounded or for short, DFD, brought a lot of energy being the main act. He performed a few freestyles and many selections off his DFD record like "Cellphone", "Town" and Are We There Yet."
Breezy Lovejoy was Dumbfounded's hypeman, but also performed a few material himself. Definitely check him out, mad unexpected vocals!
Gift of Gab's lyricism is crazy! He spazes on the mic like no other at the same time making sense.
Raashan Ahmad was DJing for Gift of Gab and also the lead vocalist for Crown City Rockers. He is a big part of the reason why I love hip-hop. Crown City Rockers's Earthtones was the first hip-hop CD I bought along the side with Murs. Ever since then I fell in love with the culture (as corny as it sounds). I wanted to speak with him afterwards, but after Gift's set he grabbed his backpack and dipped.
Dumb was kind enough to sign autographs after his set for all the fans. I decided to give him a snapback as an appreciation for coming out to the Bay. He was shocked and was expecting another thing for him to sign. He was polite to even say he will try to rock it as much as he could. A great humble gentlemen. DFD is now a proud supporter of effulgence.