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On June 17th in the shabby confines of the Kentish Town Forum we were met by not one, but two hip hop legends; KRS-One and Marley Marl. The one-time adversaries have just released a collaborative album Hip Hop Lives; Marl serves up the beats for the album and, despite suffering a heart attack just days before, was on hand to do the same on the night.

MK did a good job of warming up the crowd with his turntable skills and a string of hip hop classics but it was Maseo (of De La Soul) that really set the tone for the night. His Tribe Called Quest heavy set was punctuated with a call to arms for all hip hop headz in the house and a blistering attack on Tim Westwood.

KRS ripped through joints from Hip Hop Lives and interspersed them with classic cuts. ‘Sounda The Police’, ‘MC’s Act’ and ‘Black Cop’ all got an airing and the crowd was more than happy to help when the mic was thrust in their direction. The night seemed to lack any game plan as KRS jumped from one track to another, stopped to sign records and launched in to meandering freestyles. At one point Maseo was called back on to the stage for some impromptu rapping and a rather confusing lecture on staying true to ourselves followed.

For those lucky enough to be at the front with their phones in the air KRS repeatedly snatched mobiles, rapped straight to camera and tossed them back to their owners. A personal message from a hip hop great.

This was not a carefully choreographed show of the type we have come to expect from the likes of 50, and even Snoop, it was raw, real hip hop.

As you would expect from ‘The Teacher’ the night was not just about music either - all hip hop’s four elements were on show. KRS and Marl were representing the MCs and DJs but they were also joined on stage by a string of b-boys and some live graffin. KRS even tagged a few boards himself and launched them into the crowed. He may be hip hop’s self styled elder statesman but he’s lost none of his stage presence.

For years the combination of Marls’ production and turntable prowess, with KRS’ vigorous, aggressive rap was a mere pipe dream, never to be achieved. If the crowd at the Forum are to be trusted it seems that the reality matches the hype.

KRS is no phoney rapper, no US hot shot that appears on stage for 15 minutes covered in bling and grabbing his cock (his words not mine).As his t-shirt said KRS-ONE is hip hop, and as we soon came to realise hip hop lives.