15.01.23 ADULT SKATE – THE MLK EDITION
January 28th, 2023
Prologue
“How long does it take to get a damn bottled water?” The bartenders dressed in shoulder less black halters are wearing black masks. By 2 pm, people are tripping over, slightly inebriated, or buzzed from Moscow Mules or whatever trendy libations are du jour. You’ve waited so long at the bar that you start a conversation with a lady wearing micro braids.
“What’s the wait about?” She asks over Akabu featuring Ovasoul7’s “Raw Love” (Joey Negro Club Mix). Pockets of prime real estate appear. As the crowd thins. That allows you to spin around and two-step adjacent the libation station as you wait and wait and wait. Eyeing the servers inching away, further south the rectangle bar. All you want is a bottled water.
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DAVID MORALES 25.11.22
December 2nd, 2022
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. Read the rest of this entry »
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DENNIS FERRER and KAI ALCÉ
November 7th, 2022
Gimmick Music
2345
Walking into the club when the Kerri Chandler Dark Mix of Lea Lisa’s “Something for the Dancers” is playing means this is money well spent. In the era of inflation, when the DJ drops your favorite from KemiticJust featuring Terrance Down’s “I’m Here For It” you totally agree, you came here just for this moment. To dance. To smile. To laugh with friends. Life only gets better. When the percussions of Afro beats that drives young feet to stomp and the sneakers of the middle-age to shuffle around steel columns to Detroit Swindle, oops Dam Swindle featuring Jungle by Night’s “Call of the Wild,” is the most excitement of the party thus far. Read the rest of this entry »
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BLACK COFFEE and STAN ZEFF 21.10.22
October 23rd, 2022
Black Coffee
The Entertainer
“That shit was as brutal as watching “Black Adam.” You tweet walking to your vehicle from the club. Feeling the chill in the air. Disappointed. Thinking.
Whereas, having recently witnessed Derrick Carter and Osunlade play heart and soul music, with conviction. Black Coffee plays music that entertains. He is an entertainer. Who now plays Hollywood house. Music with no authenticity.
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OSUNLADE and OVEOUS 16.10.22
October 21st, 2022
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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DERRICK CARTER 09.10.22
October 16th, 2022
2435
What is Chicago’s obsession with Mary J. Blige? Chi-town’s Emmaculate, Terry Hunter, and now Derrick Carter have remixed her latest chart-topper. Carter’s version jumpstarts the party with kick drums, hi-hats and the Queen of Hip Hop cooing “Good Morning Gorgeous.”
And gorgeous, they are. The femmes and doms are out! For Atlanta’s 51st Pride Celebration. The must-attend Queen Butch’s “The Last Ball” closes the weekender. Queen Butch dressed in all black leather. His furry chest exposed, unzipped biker jacket, fitted pants, and tipped beret brings the boys to his backyard. Their painted nails, protruding eyelashes and ass less chaps.
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BALTIMORE BEAT DOWN Pt. I: COLLECTIVE MINDS 26.08.22
September 26th, 2022
“We don’t care about y’all.
If you over dance, we don’t have insurance to cover you.”
Perhaps, Baltimore’s DJ Oji should use a more suitable palette of words. After all, the festival’s attendees feel a certain way. After their saga began hours earlier.
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BALTIMORE BEAT DOWN Pt II: KARIZMA
September 10th, 2022
The Karizma Effect
When darkness is fully realized and the moon is only left to guide you. The humidity registering at 65% sticks to your shirt. Ewww. A truck is parked the wrong way on a one-way alley street. The driver, a woman is passed out at the steering wheel. Across the street is a lanky man perched on the sidewalk. Sleeping. His face covered with a black hoodie skull. This is just another Friday night in these streets of Atlanta.
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BALTIMORE BEAT DOWN Pt. III: COLLECTIVE MINDS
September 9th, 2022
Twelve hours and a near two hour flight later, you stare in the face of adversity. The soles of your Balenciaga sneakers treading on gravel makes that crunching sound. While walking? Yes, walking. And walking a fair distance too. That’s sad. Today’s soulful house music’s target audience is age fifty plus. People would be upset seeing their mother or grandmother footing several kilometers to a music festival. Shuttle vans should transport the elders to and fro in AC. Instead their hands pull coolers. Their arms cradle shopping bags. And their backs tote luggage for close to a mile.
