EAST RUTHERFORD – Attending Summer Jam, the annual hip hop music festival, was Kelly Espino’s dream.
The 20-year-old from Moonachie is an avid listener to New York radio station Hot 97, which has sponsored the concert for the past eight years. She has listened to the station’s DJs hype the show for all those years, but she could never afford it.
“So, I got a job – I’m a waitress, whatever — and I bought floor seats in the ninth row,” Espino said outside of New Meadowlands Stadium Sunday. “I didn’t even know the line-up when I bought them, I didn’t care.”
The floor seats were about $175 each.
Among the entertainers were Lil Wayne, Drake, Birdman, Young Money, Chris Brown, Rick Ross, Fabolous, Lloyd Banks, Dipset, Wiz Khalifa, and Waka Flocka.
“When I was getting ready to go, I started crying,” Espino said. “I know it’s just a concert, but I have wanted to go for so long.”
The show was sold out with about 50,000 expected to attend.
A police presence permeated the crowd.
A state police helicopter made low circles around the stadium. State police in plain clothes walked through the parking lots of people cooking, drinking alcohol and smoking. The parties started hours before the stadium doors opened at 5:30 p.m.
But the police presence wasn’t higher than usual for an event of Summer Jam’s size, said Sgt. Stephen Jones, a state police spokesman. As of 9 p.m. there were no major police emergencies, Jones said.
For Brad M. Korn, 22, of Woodcliff Lake, Summer Jam represents a different kind of dream. The Jewish man is an aspiring hip hop artist, who raps about life in affluent New Jersey suburbs. He’s unsigned.
“I love hip hop and the whole culture of hip hop,” Korn said. “It really motivates me and influences me to take the right directions in life.”
Korn admires the hip hop artists and their work ethic. Korn called those on stage at Summer Jam the best of the best.
Kelly Prentham, 19, of Glen Rock, professed her own dreams, however unreal.
“Lil Wayne is going to propose to me tonight on stage,” Prentham said. “That’s why I’m here.”
Actually, she was at the concert with a group of high school friends.
“We just finished our first year of college,” said Ilana Gazda, 19, of Glen Rock. “We only get to see each other during winter break and summer, so it’s great that we could come together for this.”
source : http://www.northjersey.com/arts_entertainment/Hip_hop_festival_draws_a_sold-out_crowd_to_the_Meadowlands.html
The 20-year-old from Moonachie is an avid listener to New York radio station Hot 97, which has sponsored the concert for the past eight years. She has listened to the station’s DJs hype the show for all those years, but she could never afford it.
“So, I got a job – I’m a waitress, whatever — and I bought floor seats in the ninth row,” Espino said outside of New Meadowlands Stadium Sunday. “I didn’t even know the line-up when I bought them, I didn’t care.”
The floor seats were about $175 each.
Among the entertainers were Lil Wayne, Drake, Birdman, Young Money, Chris Brown, Rick Ross, Fabolous, Lloyd Banks, Dipset, Wiz Khalifa, and Waka Flocka.
“When I was getting ready to go, I started crying,” Espino said. “I know it’s just a concert, but I have wanted to go for so long.”
The show was sold out with about 50,000 expected to attend.
A police presence permeated the crowd.
A state police helicopter made low circles around the stadium. State police in plain clothes walked through the parking lots of people cooking, drinking alcohol and smoking. The parties started hours before the stadium doors opened at 5:30 p.m.
But the police presence wasn’t higher than usual for an event of Summer Jam’s size, said Sgt. Stephen Jones, a state police spokesman. As of 9 p.m. there were no major police emergencies, Jones said.
For Brad M. Korn, 22, of Woodcliff Lake, Summer Jam represents a different kind of dream. The Jewish man is an aspiring hip hop artist, who raps about life in affluent New Jersey suburbs. He’s unsigned.
“I love hip hop and the whole culture of hip hop,” Korn said. “It really motivates me and influences me to take the right directions in life.”
Korn admires the hip hop artists and their work ethic. Korn called those on stage at Summer Jam the best of the best.
Kelly Prentham, 19, of Glen Rock, professed her own dreams, however unreal.
“Lil Wayne is going to propose to me tonight on stage,” Prentham said. “That’s why I’m here.”
Actually, she was at the concert with a group of high school friends.
“We just finished our first year of college,” said Ilana Gazda, 19, of Glen Rock. “We only get to see each other during winter break and summer, so it’s great that we could come together for this.”
source : http://www.northjersey.com/arts_entertainment/Hip_hop_festival_draws_a_sold-out_crowd_to_the_Meadowlands.html
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