Hip-hop fans are a touchy bunch, often clutching their culture with paranoid protectiveness. There is a plethora of reasons for hip-hop kids to loathe the Sunset Strip's ravenous, horny excess. Similarly, a small coastal town may loathe the smell of a rotting sea-serpent carcass which washes up on its shores. But, on Tuesday, April 7, the Sunset Strip's Key Club couldn't have been a more beneficial locale for the beloved genre.

Freestyle legend Supernatural listed off the tour's lineup through an amazingly smooth, spontaneous rhyme. Supernat's thorough announcement was delivered so speedily that one almost had to figure out RTB's lineup by identifying the many artists who were present: KRS-One, Murs, Raekwon (Wu-Tang Clan), Crooked-I, Evidence, Psycho Realm, Chali2Na (Jurassic 5), Damien Marley, Alchemist, as well as a rapper whose tireless trek across the country is the third most lucrative hip hop tour behind Jay-Z and Kanye West. Even with ten guesses, you won't get it right...St. Louis' Tech N9ne. "It's all crazy man" N9ne says calmly . "I remember doing shows for seven people, then 100, then 700 and now...it's just a great feeling. It's validation." Others on Rock The Bells' bill who were not present include: RZA, Big Boi (from Outkast), Talib Kweli, and a reunion of Irish-and-proud rappers known as House Of Pain.

Rappers and producers roamed around mingling casually. Murs, perhaps the most esoteric of the bunch, enthusiastically posed for photos, proudly carrying a case of Girl Scout cookies. A stern Raekwon was bombarded with questions about his long-awaited--or, to abandon a euphemism-- his legendarily delayed follow-up to the canonized Only Built 4 Cuban Linx. Despite being asked what he's undoubtedly already been asked a time or two (billion) already, he remained cool. "Yeah, I been working real hard" said ice-frosty Raekwon. "It's gonna be fire, hot shit, no doubt." Nursing a beer by the bar, Long Beach rapper Crooked-I discussed potential stage-show scenarios for his group, Slaughterhouse. He and bandmates, Joell Ortiz, Royce Da' 5'9 and Joe Budden, dressed as butchers while performing. "We're thinking of dressing Ortiz up as a pig to be slaughtered," Crooked-I mused. "But it's just an idea. What do you think?" Meanwhile, living legend KRS-One handed out didactic pamphlets, hoping to gain disciples for his Church of Hip-Hop.

Later in the evening, most of the artists in attendance graced the stage for brief yet prodigious performances. Highlights include Murs' hometown-championing "L.A.," as well as a joint-effort between Damien Marley and the up-until-now completely unexpected... (this is where the potentially vilified Sunset Strip becomes agreeable) Nas.

"With CDs selling as badly as they are, this concert needs to be more than just a rap concert," said Chang Weisberg, the mastermind behind Rock the Bells. When speaking to him, it appears that enthusiasm for the festival has embedded a lump in his throat. But he relies on one fact: "The one thing which has remained the same is the good old fashioned hip-hop show and that's what we want to bring each year."