“30 YEARS,” BUSTA Rhymes growled to thunderous applause near the end of his set at last night’s New York State of Mind Tour at Newark’s Prudential Center. “Leaders of the New School’s first album came out in 1991. I’ve been brothers with Nas and Wu-Tang for 30 years. Camaraderie for 30 years, brotherhood for 30 years, same code of ethics for 30 years … reppin’ this hip-hop shit for real, for 30 years.”

The hip-hop legends performed for a mixed-age crowd that spanned from young millennials to boomers who likely remember buying Leaders of the New School’s first album back in 1991. While standing on the show’s elevated stage, looking over the crowd, RZA, the abbot of the Wu-Tang Clan, introduced the show after an incredible record-scratching exhibition by DJ Scratch. He told the crowd that the New York State of Mind Tour was a reference to New York, and specifically to the Bronx, the birthplace of hip-hop.

The building was so packed that they could have easily filled New York’s Madison Square Garden or Barclays Center. The choice to stop in Newark follows the tour’s trend of going to towns bordering major cities. Clarkston, Michigan, instead of Detroit; Camden, New Jersey, instead of Philly. One could see the choice as a cost-cutting move, but it also spoke to all three artist’s enduring legacies. They could pull fans to the suburbs to see them rock.

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