Wu-Tang Clan, Mary J. Blige, EPMD & More to Perform Hip Hop Forever Concert At MSG

The 50th anniversary of hip-hop will continue well after August 11. Presented by Hot 97 and WBLS-FM, a Hip Hop Forever concert takes place on September 15 at New York City’s historic Madison Square Garden. Curated by legendary Hot 97 DJ Funk Flex, slated to perform at the special engagement are Wu-Tang Clan, Mary J. Blige, EPMD, Tyrese, and Sean Paul with special guests Mariah Carey and Maxwell. A press release for the event also promises “HOT 97 and WBLS-FM talent.”

The show is also marked one night ahead of Wu-Tang Clan’s North American Leg of the N.Y. State of Mind Tour with Nas and De La Soul. The rappers will return to New York for a Barclays Center stop on September 27.

Funk Flex also patched things up with Wu-Tang Clan earlier this year, apologizing for a 25-year rift with the group over an issue revolving around them headlining Summer Jam in 1997. As detailed in the 2019 docuseries, Wu-Tang Clan: Of Mice and Men, Hot 97 forced the group to travel to the East Coast on their own dime and perform Summer Jam for free. In response, Ghostface Killah shouted “F*** Hot 97!” onstage, prompting the crowd to repeat the message.

“They didn’t play our records for like the next 10 years,” recalled Deck in the docuseries. "Us not being involved while they playing the Biggie s***, they playing Nas s***, everybody that was rocking with us at the time. That affected our sales, that affected our touring, that affected everything. That affected our presence.”

Hip Hop Forever follows Hot 97’s annual Summer Jam, its latest iteration headlined by Cardi B in addition to performers Ice Spice, Scarlip, Lil Tjay, Lola Brooke, GloRilla, The LOX, Coi Leray, Fivio Foreign and more.

A presale for Hip Hop Forever is scheduled for Thursday, June 15, while general admission tickets are available on Friday, June 16 via Ticketmaster.