DJs everywhere better start practicing their telemarketer scripts, because they’re going to be out of a job soon.

The legendary Rakim raps: history has spoken. Photo by doughertybret on Flickr.com, licensed under Creative Commons.

The Hip Hop Live! Tour, which rolled into the House of Blues on Nov. 12, featured three talented emcees — Brother Ali, Ghostface Killah and Rakim — and one peerless live band. For each of the three rappers, LA-based Rhythm Roots Allstars provided blazing backing music on actual instruments, taking full advantage of the live sound and giving the emcees on hand an ideal forum to flex their lyrical prowess.

Underground emcee Brother Ali rhymed first on the night. Shifting from left-wing militancy in “Uncle Sam Goddamn” to shameless self-deprecation in “Forest Whitiker,” Ali whet the palate of the anxious crowd. However, no matter how good his rhymes were, Brother Ali was just an opener.

After a 30-minute break, Ironman, aka Ghostface Killah, graced the stage with a Staten Island swagger heightened by the three gold chains around his neck as well as the four street vets who backed him up on stage. While his crew poured the Hennessey, Ghost tore through classics like “Apollo Kids,” “Daytona 500″ and the unforgettable Wu anthem C.R.E.A.M. (Cash Rules Everything Around Me) in his trademark yelled delivery.

The night marked a sad milestone as well. Three years ago this week, Wu-Tang co-founder Ol’ Dirty Bastard died of an accidental overdose. Instead of weeping for the dead, Ghost performed ODB’s breakthrough hit, “Shimmy Shimmy Ya,” in front of the crowd’s sea of Wu-Tang hand signs.

Even though Rakim, the last performer of the night, is also a son of New York, there couldn’t have been more of a difference between him and Ghostface that night. At times Rakim whispered his lyrics, just to hear the crowd on point down to every last syllable. The ’80s hiphop veteran wrote many of his songs without choruses, allowing for introspective, verse-heavy raps. He also performed his and Eric B.’s classic, “Paid in Full,” a one-verse track that took hiphop from a DJ-driven world to the realm of the emcee.

At the end, Rakim slammed the mic down triumphantly on the stage to let all know that history had spoken.