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Hip-hop has taken a drubbing in recent years, with commercial rap regularly glorifying casual sex, drug use and violence and rappers typically requiring only a third-grade vocabulary and past drug dealing activity to get signed. For many whose exposure to rap is limited to what's played on the radio and broadcast on TV, this seems to be all there is to the genre.

Enter Rock the Bells, an annual festival that reminds fans what rap music is really based on. The artists who populate the Rock the Bells lineup don't necessarily have the number one hits, the requisite collaborations with hot R&B artists or the cliches with catchy hooks that get mind-boggling amounts of radio play.

They're simply the pioneers, the legends, the artists who took the genre from a fledgling art form to a force to be reckoned with and rose to the top during a time when skills mattered and weak rhymes would get you laughed off the mike. They're the artists who didn't need to don a chain and let their pants sag to gain credibility.

More than just a concert, Rock the Bells is a reminder of hip-hop's essence and possibly the last bastion of rap skills in an environment where skills increasingly don't matter and the chief concern is how easily your rhymes lend themselves to repetition. It's a show not to be missed, and here are the Top 10 reasons why (in no particular order):

Value Ticket prices for Rock the Bells top out at $75, which is extremely reasonable considering that the show is an all-day affair, starting at noon and ending somewhere around 11 p.m. That's 11 hours of immersing yourself in hip-hop, mingling with like-minded fans and witnessing true rap legends take the stage for far less than you'd pay for a much shorter show.

Artists:

A Tribe Called Quest

For longtime hip-hop fans, this N.Y. collective needs no introduction. Q-Tip, Phife Dawg, Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Jarobi (who appears to have rejoined the group after a hiatus) were largely responsible for ushering in a new style of hip-hop that relied heavily on jazz elements and a more lighthearted, but no less clever, approach to lyricism. Tribe's music was thought-provoking, amusing without being silly, and entertaining. One of the best aspects of their live set is that they simply have so many hits that the crowd energy stays high.

Method Man and Redman

This dynamic duo should keep the energy level high. Individually, each one is a walking sparkplug, so together the pair is a virtual rap inferno. Although Method Man is a member of Wu-Tang Clan and both have had successful solo careers, they've also done a fair share of music together. And if this writer's memory serves correctly, the last time they appeared together in this area was during the late '90s on a tour with DMX and Jay-Z, when they swung down from the ceiling and proceeded to blow the roof off the Garden.

Fans can expect similar antics this time. Redman is known for being completely uninhibited and Method Man is known for, among other things, crowd-walking (yes, actually walking on the outstretched hands of fans in the crowd). And while that may not be physically possibly with the Comcast setup, there should at least be some spastic rap antics mixed in with clever rhymes.

Mos Def

Mos Def is hard to categorize, which is a good thing. The rapper-actor is part conscious, part artsy, part comical, and his live sets tend to have a cosmic, spaced-out feel to them as Mos wades in between rapping and singing. His career includes several solo albums and an album with Talib Kweli as the group Black Star, so expect hits from the late '90s on.

De La Soul They performed at last year's peace festival in Boston and left the crowd wanting more. Now the threesome known for their quirky lyrics and jazz-infused beats are back again. Rising to fame and taking a hold on hip-hop in the late '80s and early '90s, the group has continued to release albums, with their last effort being 2004's "The Grind Date," staying true to their alternative, slightly hippie-ish roots. Their live show should be a mixture of fun and undeniable mastery on the mike.

Rakim

Rakim is simply a legend in hip-hop and one of its greatest - if not the greatest - rapper of all time. He rose to fame in the late '80s with producer/DJ Eric B. and moved hip-hop in new directions with his emphasis on lyrics and unique style of lyrical delivery. While typical commercial artists have a bevy of towel-waving hype men onstage and slack off while backing tracks do most of the work, Rakim proved last year at Lupo's why he is among hip-hop's elite. Backed only by legendary DJ Kid Capri, Rakim stood alone onstage, sans jewelry or ill-fitting attire, and gave probably the best lyrical performance in recent memory. Fans at Rock the Bells should expect more of the same.

Nas

Nas was another performer at last year's Rock the Bells who simply took the show to another level. With his combination of lyricism, star power and sheer number of hits, he is prepped to do it again. The Queens MC is known as one of hip-hop's premier poets and one of the few who continues to steer hip-hop toward better horizons while radio, TV and commercial artists are content to sink the ship. With the recent release of his album, which was originally slated to be titled the N-word but is now untitled, fans should be exposed to a number of new tracks as well as a re-energized Nas.

Raekwon & Ghostface

The entire Wu-Tang Clan couldn't make it out this time, but with Method Man performing with Redman and Ghostface Killah and Raekwon performing together, the Staten Island collective is represented well. Although the Clan usually performs as a unit, Rae and Ghost have some serious chemistry by themselves. The pair each have a number of hits from their solo careers, and it's a no-brainer that they'll run through a medley of Wu-Tang Clan hits, so their performance should be one of the highlights of the show.

Immortal Technique

A rapper who will likely never see the light of radio play, Immortal Technique is still highly respected by underground fans who value skills over shoddy hooks. His politically-charged rhymes are a breath of fresh air among a field of artists who don't seem to care about much besides how many cars they have in their garage. At last year's Rock the Bells, the fiery Harlem native did a two-minute a cappella interlude that was more meaningful than an entire six-hour radio rap concert.

Santogold

You've probably never heard of her, but this experimental newcomer from Philly is one to watch. Try to categorize her music and you end up with about 10 different categories; suffice to say there are elements of rock, punk, electro-pop and New Wave among other things words don't yet exist to describe. The greatest thing about Santogold (born Santi White) and the reason she'll add to the Rock the Bells experience, is that unlike so many artists desperate for fame, she's not trying to be a carbon copy of what's hot - she's simply embracing the values that any good music is based on: innovation, creativity and a sense of self.

LAUREN CARTER can be reached at lauren-carter@hotmail.com.