AJ Dance Legacy

Time to Holy Ghost Stomp!

2315 

“DO YOUR PARENTS KNOW YOU SMOKE?”

Everyone standing in line can’t help but to overhear. 

“I’M INDIAN. He continues, “YES.”

Why must their voices yell directly into your ear?  From behind you a queue stands twenty deep. 

“AT LEAST, THE LINE MOVES QUICKLY,” Agrees the guy who must be heard above all else.  His accent hurls across the frigid air on a balmy Friday.  Underneath dancing stars, in the warehouse district of Langdon, Washington, your ID is checked and your body patted from bottom to top.  Twice! (more…)

Rock The Park DC 

Rich Medina

Day 2 

Exit the McPherson Square Metro Station, at the corner of I and 14th Streets.  Watch out!  Carefully, look both ways before crossing the bustling intersection. Turn right onto the walkway.  That leads to the fountain, the epicenter of the greenspace named after a Founding Father.  Forward north is the performance stage.  A steel beam structure with canopy top protects the music equipment from torrential elements.  Rain?  Not today.  The sky appears as a glass ocean. Cloudless. Without celestial disturbance. However, the wind gusts at 30 miles per hour. Today, the temperature is chillier than twenty-four hours earlier at this exact location. The sun’s rays are challenged to warm the family of five picnicking on the grassy knoll.  Their jackets and hoods blow in the air as screaming children run to the play area.   (more…)

Rock The Park DC

Miguel Migs

Day 2

2000

“Oh, I did aight.” Kenny Dixon Jr jokes with you the following afternoon. He walks arm and arm showing off his lady around Franklin Park.  You marvel, he appears refreshed, his skin polished in the glowing sun.  

Later that evening, Hostess Reesa Renee reminds the people.  “Give it up for Moodymann last night,” with microphone in hand as if she is ready to spit bars. The Maryland born singer/songwriter proceeds to read the bio of the upcoming headliner who the people came to see.  (more…)

The Five Essentials to Throw a Successful Event

2330

“One water and one vodka cranberry,” you tell the bartender who closes the tab.  Grab the libations early.  Hydrate. Hydrate. Hydrate. Cause when Louie Vega featuring Unlimited Touch’s “Music Is My Life” welcomes you into the expansion, you already know, it is going to be one of those nights. 

Where perspiration drips down the fore and onto the chin.  Already? 

To the front of the space your red-bottoms trek.  To the right, near the elevated DJ stage, feel the kiss of cool falling from unseen vents. There you make camp. Your real estate secured.  (more…)

David Morales

Helluva Surprises and WTFs!

At 4:05 am, stepping onto Florida Avenue, seen are flashing lights and heard are sirens slashing the chilly air. Police cars, first responders, and emergency vehicles barricade the road. Bystanders stare from street corners.  Finger-pointers stand down 7th Avenue.  Whatever happened doesn’t look good at all. (more…)

OVEOUS

So what does an OVEOUS playlist sound like?  The music that Osunlade plays.  Percolating percussions.  Meditative melodies.  Ancestreal chants.  A major difference being OVEOUS spits verses, live.  Holding in hand a microphone he raps, “Find your friends on the dance floor. Or make new friends on the dance floor.”  Osunlade and OVEOUS are arguably interchangeable.  The latter having been mentored by the Yoruba priest, is a member of the Yoruba Recordings family.  Debuted as OVEOUS MAXIMUS, he first released, “I Apologize” (The Remixes) over a decade earlier.  The Ezel Remix brings back fond memories when the music selector sings, “I’m so sorry. (3X) I apologize.”  That has you mouthing along in harmony.

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PARTY I

THE TOURISTS

0100

“LOUIE VEGA COME ON!” Yells an overzealous Vega fan holding a vinyl record.
“LOUIE. I WANNA HEAR SOME OF THAT HAL-LE-LUJIAH!” He sings.
“LOUIE PLAY THAT BLACK MUSIC.” He continues. “Then watch all these kids leave the room.” (more…)

Party II

THE PURISTS
0235

“COMING THROUGH. DJ COMING THROUGH.” Security courteously yelled. There is no shock that LV has an entourage of eight that trekked through the thick mass of privilege minutes earlier. After all, Louie is the host with the most. His charm oozing through the soundtrack he curates. His ability to make any cast of characters feel inclusive. The music he plays is diverse. Journey through disco, house, gospel, classic house, deep, dark, Afro/Latin, to ancestral. All the while, his playlists embody warmth. Never cold or distant. Calculated on the fly. Ethereal in essence. Spiritual to the core. (more…)