The Hoodies are an Upstate New York hip-hop duo E-Class and Young Poppa. The brothers went viral for their In The Whip social media freestyles in 2017. They first gained attention for rapping over Jadakiss and Styles P’s “One More Step” in 2016 and the notoriety led to an appearance on Ellen. Hidden Gems follows two albums and their What Pressure Makes EP, which attracted an unusual amount of respect for newcomers. The Gen Z rappers don’t sound like most of their peers because of their open admiration for the boom-bap rapping style. Both of them released press release statements explaining Hidden Gems‘ ethos. 

“It’s the 50th anniversary of hip-hop so why wouldn’t we bring back that nostalgic boom-bap feel? ‘Hidden Gems’ will be the album to restore that classic hip-hop feel back to culture. Real concepts, real lyrics, real life.” – E-Class

“‘Hidden Gems’ is a combination of the old school and new school. The creative process is always easy when we’re working with Capri.” – Young Poppa

Hidden Gems goes hard with energy and wordplay rooted in the ’90s and early 2000s. The Hoodies are a rare example of Gen Z bridging the gap in hip-hop. They are headlining SOB’s in New York City on November 16th and tickets are on sale now. 

Sunday night Big Daddy Kane and KRS-One gave a clinic on hip-hop for their Verzuz session. Their friendly competition was interspersed with appearances from Buckshot, Nice & Smooth, Roxanne Shante, Hakim Green of Channel Live, Masta Ace, Craig G,  DJ Scratch, DJ Red Alert, Mad Lion, Das Efx, Popmaster Fabel, Crazy Legs and Bboy Cha Cha. Kane schooled the crowd on how he became the father of so many rap styles and proved to still have the speed and precision of his Golden Era days. KRS-One reminded fans of his many classic songs and exposed his lengthy catalog to those who didn’t know. The rap legends made sure to let the audience know the history of their friendship even sharing the story of how KRS-One and his late ex-wife Ms. Melodie helped Kane move out of his parents’ house. They were focused on bringing all the elements to the stage; DJing, MCing and Bboying. But the graffiti foundation was the only one missing from the show that took place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.   

Fat Joe was the host for the event and was later seen in the crowd with Busta Rhymes and 9th Wonder. The audience was taken down memory lane to the time before the explosion of gangsta rap. However KRS did perform “Poetry” from his BDP masterpiece Criminal Minded, the one album where he did advocate for violence. Fans saw his evolution from this era to the emergence of “Self Destruction” which he performed in a medley with “Ah Yeah” and “9MM Goes Bang.” Both emcees freestyled and had fun teasing each other between their nonstop lyrical bombs. Kane’s swift flow was an education on the origins of fast rapping and he gave a special demonstration for the younger generations over the ever popular triplet trap beat. He also introduced Shante as the queen of the Juice Crew and let everyone know that the men in the group were introduced to the world by her.  The b-boy dancers were led by pioneers Crazy Legs of the Rock Steady Crew and Popmaster Fabel. Bboy Cha Cha captivated the audience and put the viewers in a zone with his kinetic movements. When the night was over the audience saw master lyricism, breath control, freestyling, b-boying and DJing.