Festivals, Festivals, and more Festivals... Is it worth it?

I go to a ton of festivals which I love and hate. My whole life revolves around music, now whether or not I'm a HUGE fan of some of the artist that I see is a completely different story. I do have a huge soft spot for indie hip hop, so going to some of these festivals are not really appealing to my so-called preference. But as I love to say I don't discriminate and I'm always down to check out new music, especially live music. So in the past few weeks I've been really lucky to go to 3 major festivals (2 for free!!!). These 3 festivals have nothing to do with each other, so it's pretty funny to think about the crowds that go to them. Every single festival I've been to has douche bags and slutty girls but I guess that's inevitable. These youngin's that go to festivals are not about the music. It's a status thing, they want to dress up and look like they're being part of something "cool" so they can post it up on their social media sites to let everyone know that they're doing something interesting and popular. 

At EDC most kids dress up like crazy, cracked out blow up dolls that are so out of their mind that they don't know if they're on the same planet as everyone else. I get it, I was a "party kid" back in the day, but seriously? I loved the music and I didn't have to be on crazy amounts of drugs to enjoy myself. I wanted to dance and be part of the culture. I hung out with the crazy street party kids in NYC and went to underground shows that no one heard about. I loved listening to beats and feeling it through my body, that's why I went to these "parties".  Plus I love hard beats that are closest to the hip hop sound that I can bounce around and dance to, so I'm all about drum and bass. For EDC, I was really excited to see Bassnectar, who fucken KILLED IT but after a little while it started sounding the same, as it usually does. Anyways, now you go to a rave it's not the same the culture, it's not about the music, it's about what you wear or what you seem not to wear. 

Keeping in line with women wearing scantly clad outfits, Summer Jam wasn't any better. I know mainstream hip hop has this "ghetto fabulous" mentality AND shit it was showing at Summer Jam. I love that women have self esteem and think they're the hottest shit around but GOD DAMN some of these women looked ridiculous. Their heels were so tall they couldn't walk, their pants were SO tight that their muffin tops were out in all their glory, and there were boob to stomach ratios that favored the stomach rather than the boobs. It seems that this also wasn't about the music it was about saying you were there. While I was there I got a chance to talk to this very young girl who I believe might of been drunk or just really stupid. I couldn't tell but she told me she wasn't even interested in the music she just wanted to be there because she thought it would be cool. That in itself made me sad. I know I said I don't listen to the music but I was excited to check out Action Bronson, The Roots and of course see what Nicki had to bring to the table. The sound system was SO WHACK that I couldn't even hear anything. The mic's were fucked up and since it's at a football stadium there was a lot of echoing. It was horrible, and during The Root's set the mic cut off and they didn't fix it in time so I could hear the rest of the set. I was really disappointed especially since they got the money and they've been doing this at this venue for years now. SMH! Not what someone who's there for the music wanted to hear or better yet not hear. 

I've been to a lot of festivals in and out of the tri-state area but never in a different country. So going to NXNE in Toronto was pretty exciting for me. I didn't go to a lot of the shows at the festival but I like the fact the festival was to promote more independent artists. Unfortunately, the showcase that I did end up going to (El Da Sensei, Soul Khan, Audible Doctor, and Mecca Godzilla), the crowd did not know how to act. The artists that were on the showcase handled the crazy and rude crowd with ease and some hilarity. The sound system was also shit and even with all the mess that the artists had to deal with they all killed it. This is the first time I've been to Toronto since I was a child and I obviously never went out during that time. So I have no idea what the deal is with the people there. I'm not sure if this is the regular thing or it was just that night. Everything that night blew my fucken mind. There were people that thought in America you can sleep in your car and then get rich the next day... and gave an example of Tyler Perry... umm... NO COMMENT. There was also a chick that was so drunk and going up to people and asking them crazy questions (are you Italian to a Jewish guy) or trying to give girls money and hugging them (she was asking to get abducted). There were people dressed in leather shorts with a leather jacket in 70 degree weather. It was just crazy. People were definitely nice but it was seriously the weirdest place I've visited and I've traveled the world so it confused me. Then it hit me... Toronto's mayor is a crackhead... So yes the people in the city would be CRAZY. The only thing I had a problem with was that there was one showcase that got shut down and the poor artists that were there for that one show were shit out of luck. And it wasn't like they were from Toronto, they had to fly out and stay in a hotel. It was fucked up. I don't know what happened with them but I hope that NXNE did something for them. At least at this festival the people were way more into music and not trying to be sexy and cool. I appreciated and respect that. So I would definitely go back, it was pretty awesome for music lovers.

All in all I love going to festivals and I'm going to keep going regardless of all the young people I have to deal with. I love the music, dancing, and experiencing all the craziness. It makes me feel some sort of way and I don't think I can describe it, but I'll try. It's like being on a drug, there's a high I get listening to really dope music and seeing others enjoy it as much as I do. All I know is that the feeling is the reason why I'm in the music industry. So shout out to all the artists and all the people that put these festivals together because that shit is not easy.  To wrap this post up, go to a festival with your survival kit out and get ready to spend a whole day sweating, sitting on grass or concrete and hanging out with douche bags. BUT  remember that you're there to see your favorite artist KILL IT on stage, which makes it all worth it.

Hip Hop is dead??? Not at the A3C Festival!!

Now I can tell you details about my trip to Atlanta, like my 14 hour drive with 5 of the members of BBAS, how I got on stage to see Ghostface and Sheek Louch, or how I saw a ton of artists that I respect in the hip hop world in the same hotel that I was in, NO I'm not going to talk about that. What really got me inspired to write this is because of one specific performer. I won't put him on blast but let's just say I was disgusted by his performance. Now for me to say something like that is a BIG thing because nothing really disgust me not even farting in a car with the windows up... hahaha... ok maybe that is disgusting but besides the point.

A3C Festival to me is a place for indie artists to really shine, everyone there appreciating the art and culture of real hip hop. This isn't a festival where you'll see some whack ass mainstream artists, this is a place where you'll see indie artists putting their heart and soul on the stage and creating music that doesn't jeopardize their art. With that in mind, you think going to these shows the artists you came to see would be happy that you as a fan have chosen to see them perform. This was my first year at A3C and I heard that it was better the years before because the shows were all in one space and this year they all were in completely different venues. So you would have to take a taxi or suck it up and walk and I think because of that a lot of the smaller acts didn't get as much traffic as they wanted or should have, but at the same time those fans really wanted to be out there to see them.

I went to my first show the day that I got in after driving 14 hours (extremely tired and not in the best mood) and went to one of the smaller venues to show support and rock the fuck out. Almost all the artists that I saw were dope and gave the crowd everything that they got, even if the crowd started dwindling away. They did their best and made the most out of the situation and joked around with the crowd.  As I was walking outside,  I heard the last artist come on... Let's just say a lot of the crowd disappeared and there might of been a handful of people left (literally like 5-6). When the artist came out he had the audacity to say, "This is the worst show I've ever done." As a fan that's extremely insulting. If I was there to see him, drove 14 hours, and payed money to see the show I would have punched that dude in the face. It's the most ungrateful thing to say to fans that are waiting there to see you perform. These people are the ones that support your art and for you to shit on them is fucked up. As an artist you should thank the fans that stayed to see you and give them the best fucken show that they ever saw. Don't be a fucken bitch and make your fans feel like they aren't important. It doesn't matter what level artist you are you should not feel entitled to have a certain amount of people in your crowd, you should appreciate that people are paying and waiting to see you perform.

To have an artist who is that unappreciative and inconsiderate is a shame. This festival showcases REAL hip hop and artists should be grateful to be chosen to be put on the bill because not everyone gets asked to perform. To have someone that is a bitch really fucks up the experience. Every show that I have ever seen the artists always says thank you to their crowd and tries to show their appreciation, no matter how small the crowd. Even Ghostface had fans come up on stage and rap verses with him. To me it was a way to give back to his fans that support him and give them an opportunity be part of his performance. That's what you should be doing as an artist even if there is only one person in the crowd.

Minus that one performer, A3C was amazing, even though I only got to stay for 2 days.

A3C gave me hope in hip hop, it made me realize that even though I program mainstream music at my job, I should still push the music that I love. Sometimes I don't get a chance to listen to all the dope hip hop music out there because I'm so caught up in my work (which is sad because I work in the music industry). But to see all those artists trying to make it and putting their heart out on the stage is amazing. It gives me hope that there are artists that really want to stay true to hip hop and not do this for the money. The indie hip hop scene is such a culture and a community, to be able to be part of it makes me feel excited and hopeful. Maybe mainstream isn't ready for the realness of these artists but I hope one day they will because a lot of them should get the recognition that they deserve. People at my job tell me that I need to start giving up on the indie hip hop scene but I can't, I will support and listen to these artists until I can't hear them anymore. A big shout out to A3C and all the performers (minus that one dude) for the inspiration and giving me hope in hip hop music again.

Eternia

BHF '11 - Eternia from BrooklynBodegaTV on Vimeo.

Here is one female MC that I appreciate. listening to the bad shit that's been coming out I really love the fact that there is are still some strong female MC's out there ready to kill the shit and really love Hip Hop. I've spoken to Eternia mad times and I've always loved her kindness and her love of the music. So I'm happy that she did this video for the BHF. Check her out  at the Brooklyn Hip Hop Fest this year. Thank you for the music!!