Hip Hopping in Harlem

July 6th, 2010

My officed closed at 2 pm but I did not recover from my crazy work week until about 7 pm when I shot upright in my bed, revived but disorientented. I scrambled to my laptop at the foot of my bed. Friday night in NYC is too precious to waste. I had to do something.

So I start googling at hyperspeed until I find the perfrect event. Wait. The concert starts at 7 pm and its already 6:27. Thank heavens for Harlem Standard Time.

I dash uptown on a 103, the slowest bus known to mankind, and for once, did not get lost in search of the venue. It had to be a God thing.

The place is silent as I approach. A couple of hip-hop hippies adorn the entrance. Slipping by, I head in, and in an instant, I am surrounded by strange modern art and cinder block walls. I must be lost. I prepared to leave, certain NYC had once more defeated me–until one of the idling hippies starts giving me the schpiel.

“Blah blah blah…who are you here to see?”

Good question. “Everyone?”

Another hippie now joins him and makes standing in the entrance of this once empty space all the more awkward. ”Are you here for the art?”

I wanted to say, you couldn’t drag me to an artsy gallery down the street from a junkyard if it was made of bananas. Instead, though, I say, “I came for the music…”

We share an awkward pause then he starts talking at the speed of light like an overjoyed puppy. “Oh yeah! We’re having a show soon!” etc. He wraps up his speech, takes 5 bucks from me for the artists, and sends me on my merry way. Great. Now I’m stuck in a strange gallery. Surrounded by hip-hop hippies. Waiting on a suspect show to start.

Now understand I am not an art snub, nor a venue snob, but when it looks like a building in need of some serious love (See the first 2 picks of the gallery), even the best adventurer starts to have some doubts. As soon as the show starts, though, those Hip-Hop hippies and I are jamming with the Emcees–and the cinder blocks fade away–and the ugly knit work in the back of the crowd could matter less because the music engulfs your senses.

Here are the stars of the show: