Carnival of Soul

It’s time to rap like a ninja, be as nasty as you wanna be, and get down with that funky cold medina: LiUNA Bluesfest Windsor 2019 begins this weekend.

Now split into two weekends, the popular riverfront music festival will kick off on Friday with “90s Throwback” night, featuring a lineup of old school rap acts, and continue on Saturday with “Hot Rock Night,” featuring X Ambassadors, Billy Raffoul, and Autumn Kings.

Last year’s event drew record attendance numbers (and criticism from blues purists) because of the addition of rap music to the schedule, for the first time.

But festival president Rob Petroni makes no apologies for growing Bluesfest’s audience.

“I can’t tell you the number of people that came up to me (last year) to say, ‘This is awesome. This brings back so many memories,’” Petroni told the Rose City Politics podcast on Wednesday.

“People don’t want to just come down to hang out and sit in a chair … They want to come and party.”

Truth be told, the rappers on the 90s Throwback tour had their greatest successes 30 years ago — although their instantly recognizable hits remain guaranteed crowd-pleasers for a certain generation of listeners.

But what have these former stars been doing in the decades since they topped the charts?

Vanilla Ice

The man who brought you Ice Ice Baby and Ninja Rap has been the show-stopping headliner of the I Love the 90s tour for the past three years. But it’s been almost 30 years since Vanilla Ice released his multi-platinum album To the Extreme. Now 51 years old, Rob Van Winkle is still in great shape and making music — including a feature verse with Rick Ross on the track Vanilla Sprite Remix in 2017.

2 Live Crew

The original Miami booty rappers courted major controversy with their 1989 album As Nasty As They Wanna Be — the song titles of which are still too vulgar to be published by this newspaper. In the decades since then, leader Luke Campbell parted ways with the group and Fresh Kid Ice died from liver failure. But Brother Marquis and Mr. Mixx are still at it, even putting out a Christmas single in 2016.

Freedom Williams of C+C Music Factory

Frederick Brandon “Freedom” Williams was catapulted to fame in the early 1990s as the voice of C+C Music Factory’s smash hits Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now) and Here We Go (Let’s Rock & Roll). He’s never matched that level of stardom. These days, he dabbles in acting, and there’s been drama over who owns the rights to the C+C Music Factory name.

Tone Loc

Raspy-voiced Tone Loc made West Coast rap big with his inescapable hits Wild Thing and Funky Cold Medina from his 1988 debut album. He only released one other album, which wasn’t near as popular. But he parlayed his unique vocals and cool demeanour into several noteworthy movie, TV, and voice-acting roles. In recent years, health issues have limited the 53-year-old rapper’s activity.

Rob Base

With the help of his partner DJ E-Z Rock, New York-born Rob Base became the world’s favourite party MC in 1988 with the massive good-time track It Takes Two, and its follow-up Joy and Pain. The album It Takes Two went platinum seven times over. Base hasn’t made new music since the mid-1990s. DJ E-Z Rock died of a diabetic seizure in 2014.

Young MC

Now 52, Young MC isn’t so young anymore. Although he’s released eight albums, he’s still mainly known for his 1989 debut, Stone Cold Rhymin’, and its huge runaway hit, Bust a Move. Since then, Young MC has ventured into movie and television appearances, but he still feels it’d be nice to get some recognition in hip-hop history: He titled his fourth album Return of the 1 Hit Wonder.

Is rap nostalgia not your thing? Perhaps Saturday’s rock-oriented lineup will be more to your taste. Windsor rock band Autumn Kings and Leamington-born singer-songwriter Billy Raffoul continue to be recognized as rising talents, while headliners X Ambassadors — makers of such hits as Renegades and Unsteady — have been described by Rolling Stone magazine as the next hot thing in “bombastic rock,” along the lines of Imagine Dragons.

“I think it’s gonna be incredible,” Petroni said Wednesday. “To be quite honest, they are the most expensive band we have ever brought in.”

And for those wondering where all the blues musicians are at: Stay tuned for next weekend, when the Bluesfest stage will be graced by festival favourite Sugaray Rayford, Memphis-born guitar sensation Eric Gales, and the living legend of Chicago blues — Buddy Guy.

“For the blues purists that say ‘Why did you do the 90s (lineup) last year?’ We could never afford Buddy Guy before,” Petroni explained on Wednesday. “If not for the 90s last year, there’s no Buddy Guy this year.”

LiUNA Bluesfest Windsor 2019 happens July 5-6 and July 12-13 on the Riverfront Festival Plaza (370 Riverside Dr. East).

Featuring 90s Throwback rappers on Friday night (Gates open 6 p.m., show starts 9 p.m.), and rock n’ roll on Saturday night (Gates open 6 p.m., show starts 7 p.m.) with X Ambassadors, Billy Raffoul, and Autumn Kings.

Visit www.bluesfestwindsor.com for the complete schedule and to order tickets online.

Single night tickets cost $40 plus $14.40 fees and taxes. 19 and older only.

dchen@postmedia.com