PLANET CHOCKO – art/music/movies/beyond

(Judy Torres)

Bronx’s own – born & bred – Judy Torres came out next! For those not in the know, Torres had more than a handful of dance hits in the late eighties into the nineties. Her genre of dance music was known as freestyle dance which was a blend of synthesizers,high tempo looped percussions mixed with an early form of electro/hip hop beat like Afrika Bambaataa’s Planet Rock which was a big influence to freestyle. Throw in some sampling and that rounded off the instrumentals which married with lyrics of love and heartbreak. For those that remember, Freestyle dance/Top 40/House music reigned supreme on HOT 97 back in the late 80s and early 90s until R&B and Hip Hop eventually took the cake away which then prompted 103.5 WKTU to be the new home of Top 40. Enough of the boring history lesson and back to Judy Torre’s performance! Judy belted out her hits including “No Reason to Cry”, “Come into My Arms”,“Sad Morning”, “Love You, Will You love me”, & more! She was still a powerhouse performer on the stage combining singing, dancing, and just overall mic skills to rile up the crowd! Her story about her niece who knows nothing about freestyle dance and often questions its validity was quickly put into perspective with Judy Torres’ analogy – “you have Rihanna – we had Cynthia. you have Justin Bieber – we have George Lamond. You have One Direction – we had TKA – You have Lady Gaga – we have La India.” The crowd went buck wild! It was an overall fun, throwback performance by Judy Torres!

(Judy Torres performing No Reason To Cry – video by Loopyvids/Chocko)

After freestyle dominated the stage, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. stepped out in the limelight with his charming and relatable self to take control of the mic to stall for time! It’s no secret Ruben is a late 80s/90s hip hop aficionado and freestyle dance music freak as well! Both genres of music that originated in da BRONX! It came to no surprise Bronx Prez Ruben Diaz turnt this muther out with his performances of Doug E Fresh’s “The Show”, Eric B & Rakim’s “Paid in Full”, & Slick Rick/Doug E Fresh’s “La di da di”. Ruben may have just found another career as a rapper after his reign as boro Prez of the bronx is ova !

(Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. smooth operator on the mic!)

(SexxyLexxy & Miss Moe Money – BBOD (Photo courtesy of Chocko))

(Naughty By Nature performing a classic hip hop medley + Everything is Going to be alright – video by Loopyvids/Chocko)

Of course, Naughty By Nature would not be outdone by the performances earlier in the day as Uncle Vinnie, Treach, & DJ Kay Gee rocked the stage! It’s no coincidence that Naughty is celebrating 25 years of longevity in the game! Vin & Treach would show that they still have that crazy mad lyrical juggling and onstage presence that really amps you up with energy! Naughty would not leave the stage without performing their iconic hip hop anthems including OPP, Everything’s Gonna Be Alright, Uptown Anthem, & Hip Hop Hooray! Vin & Treach then introduced BBOD (Bad Beauties On Deck) to the stage and the young’ins in the crowd seemed to eat up the catchy rap flow of SexxyLexxy and Miss Moe Money! I was not familiar with them but apparently BBOD are on VH1s Docu-series – Love and Hip Hop. Checkout BBOD’s performance below!

(BBOD performing Hell of a night – video by Loopyvids/Chocko)

(SexxyLexxy & Miss Moe Money – BBOD)

And if that wasn’t enough, Naughty by Nature brought up special guests – Smif N Wessun to perform another iconic hip hop anthem from the 90s – Bucktown! The Smif n Wessun performance most definitely blew up the crowd to smithereens! I’m glad no-one carried around Smith and Wessons for fear of firing up up to the sky with glee!

(Smif N Wessun performing Bucktown – video by Loopyvids/Chocko)