The Anthology of Rap is a New Book Highlighting the Past 30 Years of Rap

Writers Adam Bradley and Andrew DuBois'  presented their book The Anthology of Rap to a packed house in Washington, DC at the historic Lincoln Theater this past Tuesday, and appearances by Common and Kurtis Blow brought the house down as the audience was treated to impromptu performances at the free event. Bradley and DuBois have edited an anthology that brings together more than three hundred lyrics written over 30 years, from the "old school" to the "golden age" to the present day and rappers Kurtis Blow, Kurtis Blow, Jr. and Common were on hand to talk about their own rap careers and how hip hop has transformed their lives.

Unfortunately, I had to leave this wonderful event, presented by the Smithsonian's African-American History Museum and Words, Beats & Life early, so I missed the later impromptu performance by the legendary Kurtis Blow and his son who performs internationally now. But from what I caught on Twitter, the performance of "The Breaks" was like that. If you are in the DC area and in the mood for more events centered around hip-hop, be sure to check out Words, Beats & Life's Remixing the Art of Social Change International Teach-In that is happening the rest of this week with workshops and events featuring the father of hip hop, DJ Kool Herc, and other notables.

This Past Weekend in Review-- The Great and Not So Great

Common Sits Down w/ Substantial for UAUTV (Up And Up Television) from Up And Up Television -Truth Hall on Vimeo.

This past weekend, I was caught in a dilemma-- two favorite performers of mine, Common and Eric Roberson-- were both coming to the DC metro area and were performing at the same time. Which one to see? I chose Eric Roberson's concert. For one, his was closer, and also, I have more of his music and have never had the pleasure to see him in concert.

Roberson is the independent performer that has become the model of many aspiring performers trying to get more gigs and sell CDs. Roberson's story is legend-- gets a deal, disses the deal and sets out on his own, taking the promotion of his music in his own hands. Not only is he highly successful as a recording and perfomance artist today, he is also very down-to-earth and as likely to perform in a large concert hall and a small local club within the same week.

Roberson's performance this weekend in DC was in a fairly new venue called The Scene. Located in the northeast area of Washington DC, it is a lounge and restaurant trying to build an audience as it competes for the attention of club-goers more familiar Love nightclub which is fairly close.

As a fan, I purchased my tickets to Roberson's concert almost a month in advance and made sure to get the VIP tickets which were twenty bucks more than the regular admission price but guaranteed seating and included dinner.

When I arrived, the seats had been taken and there was no more available seating in the venue. However, they were still selling tickets to folks. There was a line of furious folks (myself included) who were clueless as to what was going on. Within minutes, I identified the issue-- no one was at the door monitoring who had paid for what and was allowing anyone to seat anywhere. We demanded a refund and many of us got it. However, no one from management came out to apologize or offer some alternative to simply walking away angry.

This disappointing night led me to wish that we had chosen Common's concert from the get-go. At least Up and Up Productions shared with us the video above so we could at least quell our Common fix. Enjoy!