Asian American hip-hop hasn't received quite the props that it deserves. Far East Movement has come along to change all of that.

Few local venues are tougher to pack for an up-and-coming artist than the Art Deco digs of the 4,000-capacity Palladium. But on the third stop of the Party Rock Tour, the dance floor of the recently refurbished theater resembled a multiracial wailing wall of teenage girls, largely there for the Koreatown-based Asian American rap quartet Far East Movement and urban radio royalty LMFAO.

Two hours before showtime, the mention of Far East's name by a braying master of ceremonies elicited cheers audible all the way backstage, where Kev Nish, Prohgress, J-Spliff and DJ Virman had congregated in advance of the only hometown date of their first nationwide tour. Organized chaos reigned: Representatives from Interscope Records stood point; a sasquatch-sized security guard barged in to explain show logistics; a camera crew barraged the group with questions about whether they feed off the crowd's energy during their performances.

Had they waited a bit, the answer to that  query would have been obvious. During a frenzied 30-minute set from Far East Movement, in which the musicians sported Kanye West-style Shutter Shades, futuristic chrome-colored hoodies, astronaut helmets and the occasional gorilla costume, it was clear they were drawing inspiration from the  audience. Cheering reached its zenith when FM played its hit single "Girls on the Dance Floor," which rose to No. 1 on the Power 106(105.9 FM) playlist this summer.

“I’ve been to a lot of charity events, but I’ve never seen anything like this.”

Old-school rapper Heavy D surveyed the sold-out Hollywood Palladium crowd gathered for the second annual “Common & Friends,” a star-studded affair that featured appearances from a seemingly endless cavalcade of A-list hip-hop stars to benefit Common's Common Ground charity.

The audience had already seen a series of highlights. De La Soul opened the show with a quick, high-energy set, punctuated by a surprise appearance from masked rapper MF Doom, who ferociously ripped through his verse from “Rock Co.Kane Flow.”

Black Thought and Amir “Questlove” Thompson represented for the Roots, and Ludacris ignited concertgoers with a crowd-pleasing set that culminated with “I Do It for Hip-Hop.” The latter allowed him to introduce Nas, who appears on the recorded version (video here).

After a simmering take on “One Mic,” Nas looked on in appreciation as the night’s host, Common, proceeded to spit most of Nas’ “N.Y. State of Mind” verbatim.

The crowd was also treated to an impromptu Black Star reunion, with Mos Def and Talib Kweli hitting the stage together. The two galvanized the audience with solo hits “Umi Says” and “Get By,”  respectively.

But it was Heavy D who offered up one of the most surprising highlights of the show. Among the many unbilled performers of the evening, even those too young to remember Heavy D's late '80s/early '90s hits such as “We Got Our Own Thang” and “Now That We Found Love,” responded to his showmanship and the enduring qualities of the songs.

Word had been circulating throughout the day that one Kanye West would also be among the surprise performers, a fact that Common teased the audience with briefly.

“He’s still going through some things, trying to deal with everything that’s happened because of a choice he made, so he couldn't make it tonight” Common said, obviously referencing West’s meme-generating mike grab from Taylor Swift at the 2009 MTV VMAs. “But he still wanted me to send his love to everyone.”

It’s no secret that the depressed economy has finally caught up with that last bastion of revenue for musical artists: touring.

Even marquee artists are finding themselves playing to far less than full houses, with promoters offering a host of premiums and discounts in order to get as many butts in seats as possible.

But for Minneapolis independent hip-hop stalwarts Atmosphere, it might as well still be 1999. Spending the better part of the last decade working the road harder and more intensely than most touring bands has resulted in a massive, dedicated and exponentially growing audience of fans that continue to fill larger and larger venues.

The act recently filled the legendary Red Rock amphitheater outside of Denver, reportedly selling upward of a staggering 8,300 tickets. And on a Wednesday night in L.A., Atmosphere sold out the 4,000-capacity Hollywood Palladium, an especially impressive feat for an independent act of blue-collar dudes from the Midwest.