The magnitude of the occasion was not lost on the crowd.
They were witnessing nothing less than four of the greatest rappers of all time — Ice Cube, Snoop Dogg, Too $hort and E-40 — perform onstage at the same time during Day 2 (Saturday, May 28) at the BottleRock Napa Valley festival .
“This is Mount Westmore,” Oakland rapper Too $hort said to the massive crowd assembled before the festival’s Verizon Stage. “This is the foundation of West Coast hip-hop.”
They would then go about underscoring that claim, running through some 90 minutes of hip-hop classics — a number of which rank among the most beloved songs the genre has ever produced.
Ice Cube, as he is wont to do, stole the show whenever he touched the microphone. The NWA legend sounded as strong and fresh as ever as he rolled mightily through such songs as “Check Yo Self.”
Yet, every member of the quartet had ample room to shine during the set, with Snoop Dogg impressing with “Gin and “Juice,” Vallejo’s E-40 rocking the crowd with “Tell Me When to Go” and Too $hort cruising through “ Gettin’ It.”
The set also included pole dancers and 49ers tight end George Kittle, who big Niner fan E-40 brought out to the stage near the end of the set. Not surprisingly, that brought an NFL rebuttal of sorts from Silver-and-Black loyal Too $hort, who then led the crowd in a Raiders chant.
