MC Lyte, Rakim to headline St. Paul's 2024 Rondo Days celebration
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Minnesota's largest Black-sponsored festival will ring in its 42nd year this weekend with performances from two of hip hop's most legendary artists.
Since 1982, Rondo Days has been held on the third Saturday in July to celebrate the historic Rondo neighborhood.
The free event — featuring a parade, live music, food, vendors and more — will be held from noon to 7 p.m. near the Martin Luther King Recreation Center at 271 Mackubin St. The parade starts at 10 a.m. near St. Claver Church.
About a dozen musicians are scheduled to perform, with MC Lyte and Rakim as the headliners. Other acts include:
- Ashley DuBose
- Lady Midnight
- Kaleem The Dream
- Jamela Pettiford
- Danny Givens
- Blvck Madonna
- Boot Croc
- Juice Lord
- St. Paul Slim
MC Lyte is one of hip hop's pioneering female rappers, with her 1988 debut album, "Lyte as a Rock," considered one of the genre's best. She's perhaps most famous for her 1994 collaborations with Janet Jackson ("You Want This") and Brandy ("I Wanna Be Down"). She scored her biggest hit two years later with "Keep On, Keepin' On."
Rakim, half of the revolutionary duo Eric B. & Rakim, is widely acknowledged as one of hip hop's greatest MCs and lyricists. With Eric B., he recorded such classics as "Don't Sweat the Technique" and "Eric B. for President."
Rondo's past, present and future
The Rondo neighborhood was slowly destroyed during the construction of Interstate 94 between the late 50s and late 60s.
About 700 homes were torn down, displacing at least 600 Black families and more than 60% of the neighborhood's residents. Nearly 300 Black-owned businesses were also shuttered.
In May, Mayor Melvin Carter helped rededicate a nearly two-mile stretch of Concordia Avenue by returning its original name of "Rondo Avenue." Carter is the city's first Black mayor.
St. Paul has undertaken several initiatives in the past few years to help restore Rondo, including establishing the St. Paul Inheritance Fund to help fund down payments on homes for direct descendants of Rondo residents.
The ReConnect Rondo movement also aims to build a land bridge over I-94 in the neighborhood featuring green space, cultural retail and food businesses, and health resources.
The Rethinking I-94 project, led by the Minnesota Department of Transportation, also aims to address the devastation caused to Rondo and other communities of color by the department's past actions.
One of the project's goals is to build a boulevard atop a 7.5-mile stretch of I-94 between Minneapolis' Hiawatha Avenue and St. Paul's Marion Street.
