NY FUSICOLOGY’s

This year’s 4^th Annual Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival hailed around 4,000 enthusiastic hip-hop heads. Wes Jackson, president of Brooklyn Bodega, envisioned an event where families can bring their young kids to participate in a movement that promotes positivity in music. No doubt it is our responsibility to pass our knowledge and experiences to the future generation. The venue was perfect where everyone from young to old can enjoy themselves laying low under the sun, participate in children’s activities and health education provided by a diabetes truck. It was a great day to be out in the park.

The Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival prides themselves as being ahead of the game. Upon speaking to a few folks before the event, they were doubtful about the line-up which consisted from a number of talented local artists such as Fresh Daily, Mickey Factz to LA-based Blu and Exile. These names probably would not ring a bell if you are not in the indie, real hip-hop game. As Craig Hackey, a jack-of-all-trades for Brooklyn Bodega, brought up in a conversation recently, “If you can recall, three years ago, hardly anyone has heard of Lupe Fiasco or at least, his following was non-existent at the festival.” Today he is recognized as one of the better artists of our generation and crowds would chant his name during shows as I witnessed at a sold out S.O.B.’s show a couple of months ago. What is my point? Keep an eye out for these artists who have graced the stage this year. They just might be saved on your top playlist on your iPod before you know it.

The political movement is also hot this year with Obama being in the race. He has created an awareness that has brought about more active youths and more people willing to make themselves heard. The festival’s headliner, KRS-One aka The Teacher, known to use his influence to encourage the audience to speak their voice stated, “If you don’t vote, you are still saying something”. Kevin Powell, running for Congress, was also there campaigning for himself. He has definitely came a long way from the MTV Real World days. Bottom line, be proactive and vote when the time comes. Make what you believe in count.

The after-party held at Southpaw in Brooklyn was a great event in itself. Detroit was representing to the fullest with Invincible and Platinum Pied Pipers on stage. There was a surprise performance by Keith Murray and DJ Parler rocking the decks in the basement level. Hosted by House Shoes, the Platinum Pied Pipers had the opportunity to do a few of their new joints for the audience. If you did not know, their new album titled Abundance drops in a few months. The performances were great and the crowd captivated… the after-party was funky fresh.

The day of the festival ended on a good note with full of tired but smiling people. I already can’t wait until next year to see who they would bring out to rock Brooklyn again. Until next time, as Brooklyn Bodega would say, “Support, Celebrate, Represent.”  

Peep the pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/fusicology/sets/72157606187063690/

When it comes to showcasing where hip-hop’s creativity comes from, and where it’s true positive nature is going, hands down the Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival has it on lock. The festival, run by Wes Jackson, President of Brooklyn Bodega, and supported by names such as Decon Media, is an annual celebration of music, culture, and history, all bundled up in one of hip-hop’s cradles, Brooklyn.

Print, one of last year’s performers, is a self-written, self-producing, jazz, rock influenced hip-hop MC, who can testify to the positive artistic spirit that the festival encompasses amongst its goers. This year, his tour is being sponsored by Brooklyn Bodega, which encourages real people, and real MC artistry. A group who epitomizes this statement, and is also to hit the stage this year, is five membered Sputnik Brown. From Brooklyn to Washington D.C., Sputnik Brown debunks the once trendy logo ‘Hip-Hop is Dead’. They example the young boys and girls who grew up to become men and women, professionals and school teachers, fathers and mothers who still remain loyal to an art that exceeds just a genre. This can be best understood with the answer to one question, “Do you prefer MC or rapper?,” and without hesitation the best of Sputnik Brown responds, “MC, the lyrical poet, or master of the ceremony.”

This sentiment is echoed by Waajeed and Saadiq of the Platinum Pied Piers, also to perform at this year’s event. Saadiq, who hails from Detroit says, “The creative energy in Brooklyn these days reminds me of Detroit in the 80’s and 90’s.” It is for this reason, along with fellow group member Waajeed, also a native of Detroit , the two have made the borough their home and place of creative pulling. The Abundance album, which is soon to drop, can be non-categorically appreciated as funk, rock, soul, and even bossa nova inspired hip-hop.

Having formed a partnership over the years, the two describe the creative process to reaching pass the commercial as, “Selfless. Letting the music flow and just being a witness to it.” Waajeed says, “You have to separate yourself from the world,” “Yeah,” comments Saadiq, “I’m just a tool from a higher power.” When asked what is missing from the new generation of what is recognized as hip hop, Waajeed interjects quickly with, “Originality. Producers today lack originality. They are too cookie cutter and do not take enough risks.” Saadiq nods with, “All of it is soul, techno, bossa nova, people need to connect. This new generation doesn’t reach back enough. Instead, sometimes I feel like they see music as a way to get out of a situation. Music as a hustle.”

I agree, however, at the Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival, the cookie cutter molds are broken, and truth reigns supreme on the stage, and in the voice of the MC’s to take the stage. What makes this possible? The true leaders and pioneers of hip hop have organized to claim the game back. A generation of hip-hop connoisseurs who grew up in pre-commercialized, and pre-appropriated hip hop culture. The on-the-scene players and movers of what has become a global phenomenon, which all started in the NYC. So when asked, what do you prefer, Rapper or MC? What’s your response? If it’s MC, see you at the Brooklyn Hip Hop 2008 Festival. Peace!

BY ARNALDO BERNABE, JR.

Fusicology Contributor

Party at the MILK 10th Anniversary BBQ where there was free flowing alcohol, bbq, skaters, art, photographers, alcoholics, rock bands and more.

The night ended at Sutra where my favorite artists were in the house. Thanks to the TASTE CREW.

Dwele and I

Dwele’s long awaited album, “Sketches of a Man”, finally drops in stores today. Containing 20 tracks with the single “I’m Cheatin”, reviews from friends who got early copies have been positive. I’m excited. =)

Last night’s show was SOLD OUT at SOBs. I arrived at 7pm to set up and there was already a line of people waiting to get in. I heard word from Kozza of SOBs that one of the first ladies standing in line hoping to get tickets had driven from Virginia, picked up her friend in Philly and headed to NY just to see Dwele. True fans indeed.

Human graciously offered to help me take a picture with Dwele. I was beside myself. I don’t think I have ever thought of meeting an artist whom I absolutely love and I had planned on the way to the show to prepare a list of questions to ask but when the moment came, the conversation sounded so forced and unnatural from me that I squashed that idea.

I remember  walking in the back area and introducing myself, also mentioning that I work for Asya, shook his hand and he was the nicest guy. As I stood next to him to take the picture…. the right side of my face could not stop twitching. I probably look like i had face spasms. It wasn’t a good look. But without a doubt, that was the highlight of my night.

Ayo opened up the stage for the night. She reminds me a bit of Amel Larrieux with her child-like quality. Ayo’s music was great. She sang with her heart, blew me away during “Down on my knees” and even got in the audience to dance with everyone.

Dwele maintained a smooth and sexy steez throughout his show. He charmed the ladies and sang to them including the new hit “I’m Cheatin’”. Dwele broke it down for the audience what the song is about which is NOT about cheating on his girl with a different girl. Figure it out. The venue was packed adoring fans which created an excellent dynamic for the show. Now that I’ve got to meet him and see him perform, all I have to do is listen to the album.

Last Saturday night, I attended the highly anticipated Stevie Wonder Tribute party thrown by Keistar Productions. I’ve been hearing about the party a lot from various friends for its great music (duh!) and a mix bag of people who show up which makes it even more interesting.

The evening started out with a major thunderstorm so Just and I almost canceled thinking we’d had to stand in line in the rain which normally is what happens at a Keistar party. The lines wrap around the block so regular party goers know to arrive early to avoid the wait. Fortunately that wasn’t the case. The party was held on the 7th floor of the Grand Ballroom of Manhattan Center (aka Hammerstein). It was a bit slow when we arrived but quickly filled up in the next couple of hours. There were a lot of folks wearing some great Stevie Wonder shirts and then a few Obama ones sprinkled in the crowd.

By my third beer, the party was jumping… literally. If you stood still, you can feel the floor bouncing up and down from hundreds of people dancing. Everyone was havin’ a real good time. Then it came to the point where there was a surprise guest announced a little after 1am…and it was no other than Stevie Wonder himself! Everyone went bananas as he sang snippets of his songs and addressed the crowd. It was a great moment to see a legend at a tribute party. You can see below how many people were there…

Video:: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFuzsnO4tzE&feature=email

Check out also:: myspace.com/keistarproductions

I went to LRG & Courvesoir party with Ko at Reed Space. We tried going early but it was already packed by the time we got there. Thanks to Parler, we got to skip the line via Sheri (sp?) of Complex mag. It was an instant heatwave when you walked in. If you know Reed Space, you know it’s a small and everyone was sweating from the lack of ac. Ick. But everyone stuck it out and mingled. Free alcohol helped too. Just Blaze held it down on the deck most of the night. A lot of folks from various clothing brands, magazine, party promoters, etc were there and it turned out to be more of a networking event than anything else. At the end of the night, we got to take home some LRG+Courvesoir glasses. Not bad at all.

Wednesday night has got to be the hottest day of the week. From weekly parties to random one-offs, there’s no shortage of places to be at!

I finally checked out The Upstairs hosted by the lovely Fiona Bloom. The venue was sophisticated and it was the perfect setting for an after-work crowd.  I invited my high school friend, Gina, to come along. We haven’t seen each other basically since we graduated in 1999. My god, I’m old. It was good to catch up and reminiesce the old times when we were silly and irresponsible. Now we’re just silly. We met a few new folks including a brand ambassador of Sagatiba, re-connected with Lauren of NextAid,  Maya Azucena and hung out a bit with the regular party people… DJ Parler, Derreck and Human. If you haven’t checked out the spot, you’re missing out! For regular party updates, peep more on http://www.thebloomeffect.com/blog/.

We left around 9:30pm and I headed over to SOBs for the Lupe Fiasco show. Man, he totally killed it. Matthew Santos opened the show and got back on later for their collabo song. Lupe rocked with a live band and the crowd went nuts over him. They chanted his name and gave him the rockstar treatment. The show was sold out a month and a half before the event so thank you Alex D. of SOBs for hooking it up! P.Diddy was also in the house promoting his new artist, Janelle Monae. I’m not sure if she got on stage last night but you can check her out tonight at her free concert at Highline Ballroom.  RSVP to badboyrsvp@wmg.com. Concert starts at 8pm.

After the show, I hopped over to Blue Owl where everyone was there to check out the weekly party, The Hump, and/or celebrate DJ Tahleim’s bday. Of course Big Jeff was there… this guy knows EVERYBODY in New York. It was packed when I arrived and I ended up hanging out only for a little bit for I was beat from running around all day and drinking without having had dinner or lunch. I called it quits after that. It was good times.

Tonight, will be heading over to the LRG party and so it continues.

The weather has been quite icky lately but the idea that it is suppose to be getting hotter soon gets people out the doors every night. After work parties are the best things about summer as it’s usually free and most people make it since it’s early enough so if you are tired, you still can make it home at a decent time.

A new after-work spot that started a couple of weeks ago is The Upstairs with DJ Dhundee and DJ Moni at Renaissance Hotel in Times Square, every Wednesday from 6pm-10pm. With Fiona Bloom as the party hostess, there’s no shortage of smiles and good energy going around. I have yet to check it but have heard great reviews and Pharoahe Monch even showed up for the first party. Will definitely be making it this Wednesday. For reviews of the last party, peep the excerpt below:

Going to The Upstairs and then to Atlanta

May 7th, 2008

It’s a gorgeous Springtime day indeed!

Friday, May 9th

Just, Ko and I got to Radio City Hall around 8:30pm. Unfortunately we missed most of The Roots from being there late but apparently they didn’t do any of their new stuff off the Rising Down album. I was quite bummed for I had been listening to the album all day hoping to see them do it live.

It was my first time watching Erykah perform eventhough she has been one of my favorite artists of all times. I was extremely excited when she did most of her new titles along with quite a few old classics. She brought on a number of props including two medicine balls for one of her songs and it was cute to see her get creative in expressing herself. At one point during the show, she jumped into the audience and had some of the members sing a part of “On and On”… it defined why she is the artist and we’re not. Towards the end, a gentleman from Connecticut proposed to his girlfriend on stage. She happily accepted of course but I thought it was a bit cheesy. It depends on how you look at it I suppose. The only drawback was the venue for the concert. Most hip-hop shows I have been to are held in a smaller venue so the experience was a bit different at Radio City. The place holds about 7,000 people so you can imagine how big the space is. I thought the stage was a bit detached from the audience but perhaps it was just me.

After the show, we hit up Sutra Lounge for the after-party. It was packed but not to the point where you simply cannot enjoy yourself. Upstairs was ?uestlove and downstairs had DJ Spinna. Both of them played some really great music and a few members of the Roots were there along with Mos Def chilling with his gf in the crowd. Only in New York… gotta love it.