Russell Simmons
Hip Hop’s 50th anniversary was celebrated to the core last night in Los Angeles at the annual City of Hope gala … DJ Cassidy’s Pass The Mic Live! steered performances from the likes of LL Cool J, T.I., and Ja Rule!!!
The glitzy gala is known for going the extra mile in raising money for cancer research and went down inside the Pacific Design Center … allowing for plenty of rap royalty from all generations to collide in the deepest veins of the culture.
Flavor Flav dapped up Jay-Z before hitting the stage with Public Enemy, and N.O.R.E. was also spotted entertaining the crowd with drunk uncle jokes!!!
Redman, Warren G, Onyx and many more all took the stage at one point and DJ Kid Capri burned up the turntables turning the event into an authentic hip hop block party!!!
Late De La Soul rapper Trugoy the Dove aka Dave was also there in spirit via a mural on the wall … hip hop is 1/5’s graffiti, ya know!!!
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Pioneering hip hop exec Lyor Cohen spearheaded Spirit of Life’s healthcare fundraising this year and was honored for his contributions to the cause … captured by his good buddy, Def Jam co-founder Russell Simmons.
Russell Simmons
Cohen’s currently the global head of music at YouTube and Google, but stands as an Israeli-American first and used part of his speech to rip the Hamas terrorist attacks.
Countless rappers … Jermaine Dupri, Juicy J, Xzibit, Bow Wow have steadily been complaining about today’s quality of music and the COH’s Pass the Mic event makes it clear why.