Hip-hop legend Rakim coming to Long Beach

The Old School Hip Hop Concert Series is set to hit Long Beach on Saturday, Aug. 8, with a performance by legendary New York hip-hop artist Rakim at the Martin Luther King Center. The benefit concert will help raise funds needed to fully restore programs and to replace equipment at the center damaged during Hurricane Sandy.

 Tickets range from $25 for general admission to V.I.P. packages for $350. The concert will begin at 9 p.m. and also feature performances by Tragedy Khadafi and Dris Smg, according to the MLK Center’s Facebook page. Please visit the center’s Facebook page for updates.

Rakim is one half of golden-age hip-hop duo Eric B. & Rakim, and is widely regarded as one of the most influential MCs of all time. He grew up in Wyandanch, and became involved in the New York hip-hop scene at age 18.

The duo’s classic album, “Paid in Full,” was named the greatest hip hop album of all time by MTV in 2006, while Rakim was ranked No. 4 on MTV’s list of the Greatest M.C.s of All Time, among other accolades.

The MLK Center, at 615 Riverside Blvd., is a grassroots, community-based organization committed to developing innovative programming maintaining and improving the well being of youth, adults and seniors. For more than 40 years, the MLK Center’s programming package has included a mix of community activism, urban culture and traditional cultural experiences of African Americans, Hispanics, Caribbean and Asian immigrants that have become a growing part of the North Park Community.

When Sandy hit the center in the fall of 2012, it suffered extensive structural damage, which resulted in drastically reduced programming. The MLK Center has since reopened and resumed programming, however, there is still a long way to full recovery.

Tickets for the concert can be purchased Here