Raw Returns

So on a cool, sunny day in March, Raw left Sumter Correctional Institution, near Orlando, and began planning a new Hoodstock. "Since being out, it's just been nonstop. You get a different outlook being in jail for that long, man. You can't waste no time. Hoodstock is coming back because Miami needs it."

The bass is booming. It's vibrating through the floor. The neatly hung mirrors at Area 61 recording studios in Miami Gardens are in danger of crashing down. It's 9:30 on a July Thursday night, and horns blare loudly as if to announce a king's arrival. "Bring the track back; bring it back!" Orion, a local MC, yells as he prepares to freestyle over the newly minted beats.

As 20 MCs crowd around in a circle, all freestyling over the beat, Raw stands back and watches in amazement. "When did these kids get so good?" he wonders. Everyone in the room is there to help create the official Hoodstock 2007 theme song. One by one, each lays down a couple of verses to honor DJ Raw.

The vibe is a mix of triumph and warfare, as the MCs make rhymes foretelling a change ahead for hip-hop and Miami.

Hoodstock 2007 is scheduled to take place the last week of December at — where else — Roberto Clemente Park. Kayela Flemming, part organizer, puts it this way: "Raw was sent here with a mission, and that's to resurrect Hoodstock. Raw is a man of his word, and he didn't do 10 years to see Hoodstock die."

Clocking barely four hours of sleep a night these days, Raw has a lot of catching up to do. "So much has changed since I've been gone — to Miami, to hip-hop. Man, sometimes I think, What would've happened if I didn't get caught? I mean, seeing dudes like Khaled blowing up, and this was the same cat that begged to play on our radio station back then...." He begins to drift despite the loud chants of MCs yelling "Hoodstock 2007!"

Then he smiles. "Hoodstock 2007 — it's for you, Miami. It was always for you. So get ready because I'm back, and I'm not going anywhere."