‘The Legendary Tunnel Party’

Good thing that Cristal came wrapped in cellophane. There is no better metaphor for the nostalgia that has been cultivated around the now-legendary Tunnel: gold-tinted memories of a rebellious, adolescent hip-hop growing up from jumping turnstiles, eating ramen, rocking Fubu, drinking E&J and André to sitting in black Towncars, eating sushi, wearing shiny suits, and sipping on Hennessy and Cristal. The Tunnel represented a journey, and it took NY hip-hop out of the Golden Age and into the Bling Era as rappers, hustlers, and round-the-way girls all followed the Cristal-colored light towards the Millennium with its promise of Benjamins for all. Vivid memories, like cellophane, never disintegrate, and it’s easy to envision Funk Flex and Cipha Sounds unwrapping a 1996 vintage of Cris as they decided to uncork the Tunnel just so they could make their memories real again — and make a few Benjamins in the process.

Sun., March 9, midnight, 2014