The Roots in D.C.

It's another sad chapter. That chapter being me in the same city where The Roots are performing and me NOT going to the show. It's happened three times now (see previous 'The Roots' posts for deets). Enough already.

The most recent edition was in D.C., December 2009. The Roots were there for not one, but two shows: on Tuesday, December 29th and Wednesday, 30th. My sister gave me a heads up several days in advance, maybe more than that, but she thought the ticket price was high at $45 (plus service fees). I was on the fence. I had planned to be in D.C. to bring in twenty-ten, but my funds were a bit low at the time. Then on Monday, my boy from D.C. called. He knew I'd be in town and wanted to know if I wanted to go see The Roots. I balked at the ticket prices. He seemed indecisive too. He mentioned that the December 30th show had already sold out (though I initially thought he said it was cancelled because it had not sold out).

On Tuesday as I was headed to D.C., I got antsy. I began to think: 'Yes, I do want to go to see The Roots!' This is the one group that I can see over and over and over again and never tire of seeing them perform. Well, seeing them in D.C. did not happen for me. The closest I got was this money shot (see above) from in front of the 930 Club. Good looking tour bus, right?

I thought I could roll up to the venue and snap up some tix and be on my way. Right. It did not go down like that. My boy did end up going though. He's obviously got some connections in the Chocolate City. To add insult to injury, he also walked away w/'another' drum stick from Questlove.

Enough of my whining. Lucky me and you ... The Roots have some pics and commentary about the D.C. shows posted on Okayplayer.

So get to gettin hip hoppers. The moral to this story is that when The Roots come to town, get the ticket and balk at the price later. kfox.

Recognize Exhibit @ the National Portrait Gallery in D.C.

So I'm vacationing in the nation's capital. I visit the district w/some frequency since I have family and lots of friends that live in the area. Sometimes, I check out the cultural scene, but often I don't have the time.

But on this trip, I did get a chance to see a great deal. I had heard about the "Recognize" Exhibit, but the person who mentioned it to me did not seem so impressed. So now you are thinking that I was impressed, and I will say that I really enjoyed it! It was a small exhibit, considering the size of the museum, but I'll take it.

What was there to like about it? Everything. There were still photos of the hip hop icons like KRS-One as well as SuperNatural and DJs Shadow and Cut Chemist and my boy ?uesto from The Roots; there was paintings of LL Cool J and Ice Cube; there was a mixed media piece that paid tribute to some of the fallen hip hoppers like Biggie, Lisa "Left-eye" Lopez and others; a poem by Nikki Giovanni; some film shorts set to hip hop music and several graffiti murals. The website has images of nearly everything that is in the exhibit (in the event that you can't get there, but would like to see how hip hop fits into the major museum scene).

The artists behind the exhibit are incredible. I went w/a friend who is a true art connoisseur. And he gave me the back story on most of the artists especially Kehinde Wiley, whose talent is exceptional. I truly love David Scheinbaum's photography; I could look at it for hours. Just the kind of photographer that captures so much in an image. And who knew that so many hip hop artists make a stop in the Sunshine Theater in New Mexico.

Good stuff ... if you get a chance to see it, definitely take it in. It's there until October 26, 2008 ... and it's free and I know you are down w/that price tag hip hoppers! Get your culture on, kfox.