Dr. Dre, Nas, Eminem, Diddy & Ma$e & Pharcyde Etc. Come Together To Perform At Beats’ Grammy Party

Earlier this month, Beats Music launched. From the creators of the Beats By Dre headphone and electronics lines, this streaming subscription service is the latest competitor in a space that includes Spotify, Pandora and others.

With plenty to celebrate, Beats hosted a Grammy Awards weekend party at Los Angeles, California’s Belasco Theatre. The concept was a “Live Playlist.” What was on it? Some highly-surprising collaborations, and some artists who rarely perform, all on the same stage, playing a hit-list clearly curated by Heads.

Beats co-founder Dr. Dre made a rare appearance, performing his 2Pac-assisted 1996 hit “California Love.” Dre’s former N.W.A. partner Ice Cube performed “It Was A Good Day,” which was notably in the news earlier this week. Gangsta Rap pioneers The Geto Boys did a rare spot performance of their signature hit, “Mind Playin’ Tricks On Me,” while Bone Thugs-N-Harmony also reunited for one of their own best-known hits, “Thuggish Ruggish Bone.” Diddy reunited with former protege Ma$e, after some years adrift, for “Can’t Nobody Hold Me Down” and “Mo’ Money, Mo’ Problems.” Teddy Riley’s Blackstreet also reunited for their Dre-assisted hit, “Mo’ Diggety,” just as collaborator Dre left the stage. Nas performed I Am… hit “Nas Is Like,” as well as his ’96 mainstream smash “If I Ruled The World.”

The night ended with Aftermath family Busta Rhymes, as well as a headlining three-song set from Eminem, performing old classics, alongside his mentor, Dre.

While ’90s/’00s mainstays such as Cypress Hill and Redman & Method Man hit the stage as a treat to concert goers including Drake, Paul McCartney, Queen Latifah, and Beats COO Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails) perhaps most surprising is the inclusion of two “underground” Hip-Hop pioneering groups: The Pharcyde as well as Souls Of Mischief, who organically came up through South Central’s Good Life Cafe, opposite the mainstream success of Dre, Cube, and Diddy.

Ambrosia For Heads was in the building, and grabbed the set-list to share (the final segment included rarely-performed collaboration “Forgot About Dre” by the iconic Doctor and Em:

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With Live Playlists like this, could you imagine a better introduction to Beats Music? Which of these performances/songs would you most have liked to see live?

Related: Here’s an Extended Version of the Dr. Dre and Kendrick Lamar Beats Commercial with Their MONSTER New Track (Video)

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