Greater Than The Sum Of Its Parts: A 2011 Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival Recap and Reflection [Words, Photos, Video]

If you attended the Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival’s Main Day underneath the Brooklyn Bridge in July of this year, you would have witnessed the outstanding, multi-genre musicianship of Q-Tip, not only known as frontman of A Tribe Called Quest, one of music’s more renowned groups, but an accomplished solo artist in his own right.

You would have been impressed, even if you were not a hardcore hip hop fan, of the abilities displayed by his “friends,” particularly the rapid-fire, nostalgia-inspiring delivery of Monie Love, the confident style and intelligent lyrics of The Roots’ Black Thought and the breakneck verbal prowess of Busta Rhymes.

And you would have beheld a spirited performance by hip hop heavyweight Kanye West, arguably the largest music star in the world.

All this under the massive cable and steel canopy in nearly perfect summer weather, among like-minded, peaceful yet elated fans and followers of this great genre of music.

But despite the enormity of this grand finale, if this was the extent of your involvement with the week-long, multifaceted Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival, you missed a lot.

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