Archive for the ‘T.O.N.Y.’ Category

The Roots Got Skillz…

Thursday, May 28th, 2009

roots

Why haven’t you been to the Roots crew Jam Sessions @ Highline Ballroom yet?

Is it geography? Are you too far away from NYC? I just linked with some kids from Temple U. that made the trip to NYC just to see the show.

Is it topography? Are you one of these NYC residents who doesn’t cross bridges or go downtown after 11pm?

What is YOUR problem?

Whatever your pathology is you need to get your mind right and come to see the legendary perform at the $10 bill show. There ain’t nothing left in this city to get you this high for this cheap. The Jam Sessions have featured some of rap and rock’s best performers along with some of the faces that will be the future of music.

Plus, you get the Roots crew going in hard for over two hours of non-stop body rocking, booty shaking, free your mind musical madness. You won’t be able to get this deal forever. When these shows at the Highline Ballroom are over who knows what the schedule of the band will become. You need to get up on it doggoneit.

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roots

On Tuesday night I stopped by my old barber’s shop in Corona, Queens. I have had the same dude cutting my hair since I was 15. STEVE is also my mentor, my therapist, my football teammate, and one of my best friends. I had been promising him that I would bring him to one of these Roots shows and the window opened up this evening thanks to SHAMZ.

STEVE is a music lover. He appreciates the intricacies and the skill level that entertainers have to employ for their craft. STEVE blew my mind when he gave mad props to JAMES POYSER for holding down the keyboards. Many of you will recognize that name from the Hidden Beach recording sessions that produced such talents as JILL SCOTT.

STEVE got the extra treat of seeing ESTELLE sing with the Roots on a few songs including the classic ‘You Got Me’ which the Roots transformed into a Jamaican dancehall riddim to let ESTELLE flex her Caribbean roots. The rapper Skillz also showed up and gave the crowd an old school rhyming battle with Black Thought and Truck North.

After that performance, which happened to be STEVE’s first Roots experience he vowed to return for a subsequent show. I know STEVE will too because he is a man of his word. So what’s your story? Why haven’t you come through? The Roots crew Jam Sessions @ Highline Ballroom are not be missed. Stop sleeping and stay ‘woke.

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Asher Roth Loves Job Corps…

Wednesday, May 27th, 2009

job corps

On 4.20.09. Dallas Penn got high and met pop rap sensation Asher Roth.

Dallas Penn loves college.

Asher Roth loves job corps, Air Force 1’s and fishsticks.

Asleep in the Bread Aisle in stores now.

Terrence Elenteny on the lens, editing and special effects.

Asher Roth Loves Job Corps from Terrence on Vimeo.

SNEAKER FIENDS UNITE!

Tuesday, May 26th, 2009

am98

When I spotted these Air Max ’98s in super crisp condition I had to take a picture. These are some of the hardest to find kicks in the game. If there is one place that will have them, that place is Flight Club NY.

Flight Club NY is the museum/temple/clubhouse for sneaker collectors to buy and sell some of the rarest Air around. Hundreds and hundreds of sneakers are there in some of the most unimaginable materials and colorways.

I paid a visit to Flight Club NY this weekend just to chop it up with the folks that grind there. These guys are like the monks that guard the Holy Grail except these holy grails you put on your feet.

I can’t wait to be rich.

In Memoriam Of My Money…

Tuesday, May 26th, 2009

check cashing

**Always a shout out to the soldiers getting their shit blowed the fuck up in the mountains or the desert in order that I can type my shit on these here internets…

I went to the ‘hood financial services institution to liquidate my earnings from my XXL column. The rate at check cashing locations has gone up from 1.7% to 1.83%, that is a 6% increase and perfectly honest within capitalism’s morays. I feel every penny though. I was still able to pay some bills with the remainder of the check and blow the rest the only way I know how.

Lord & Taylor is having a banana-head sale on Polo Ralph Lauren. I.T.’s that were $125 are now $40. I caught a nice knit shirt for summer splash-off status.

Red Lobster is hell’a expensive for being just some regular ass seafood spot. The cheddar biscuits were good. C.S. ended up not sharing the leftovers with the kid.

Marshall’s was selling Nike Dunks for $35 so you should already know how that went down.

dunks

dunks

C.S. took me to a Mexican tapas spot in Red Hook. We squeezed off another C-note thanks mostly to the pitcher of sangria that we ordered.

Later that evening I found myself in a bar in Williamsburg with the DeCon crew and DAN from OKP. The bartender was sexy enough to buy me back on a round of Ketel-1 and tonic.

From there we rushed the door of the Bobbito and Rich Medina party ‘Happy Feet’.

With my last ten bucks I went to White Castle.

Sadly for me, it’ll take another month before I can do this shit all over again.

I just wish I could be the same way with money the day AFTER cashing my check as I was the day BEFORE it arrived.

ROOTS YORK CITY…

Wednesday, May 20th, 2009

roots

For one night every week the Roots crew from Philadelphia takes over NYC. They invite some of their friends and people they barely even know to grace the stage with them at the Highline Ballroom. The Roots Jam Session is only $10 and there is nowhere else in New York that you can get this level of artistry for that small amount of money.

Every night that I have attended the Jam Session I have been delighted with the remarkable talent that has made the Roots the pre-eminent ambassadors of my generation’s music. They specialize in rap, rock, rhythm and blues, reggae, punk, funk, ska, and almost anything else you might care to listen to. The Roots are led by the sonic dichotomy of thunder and lightning, the sounds of the drum and the voice.

Questlove and Black Thought might be the most important duo in all of music, not just rap music. Every performance is an adventure in time management and teamwork. While Questlove controls the groove Black Thought commands the microphone. Artists enter and exit the stage all the while and the beat never stops. The Jam Sesssion is a fanboys dream because you never know which artist will show up and who will have the energy and the enthusiasm to match the dynamism of Quest and Thought.

I haven’t been disappointed yet.

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Black Thought is the ringleader

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The Roots lets Torae zone out.

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Juice crew veteran Craig G blesses the microphone.

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Dirty Rotten Scoundrel

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Franz from Duck Down is so focused.

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Dice spits that Raw shit

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Truck North uses his rhymes to illuminate.

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My favorite pic of the set. I’ll admit to being a slave to a page in Black Thought’s rhymebook.