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Home > Atlanta Music Scene > Archives > 2007 > October > 13
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Day 3: So many parties, so little time
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I had a late late night last night…my pre-Hip Hop Awards party was off the chain but I thought it would be. Busta, Nelly, Ciara, Jagged Edge, Chamillionaire, David Banner…who else? I can’t even remember all who was inthere, but it was packed! Celebs, athletes, all of Atlanta. That one should go down in the books…LOL!
Got up early this morning to head to my book signing at Border’s. It was a good turnout! This is my first book so this is new territory for me. And a little different than how we do things on the music side. Cool nonetheless. I just gotta get prepared for all the other in-stores and events surrounding the book release for the next several weeks.
Straight from there, had to go over to the Civic Center for the Hip Hop Awards. t’s going to be a good show and it’s definitely a good look for Atlanta! The whole hip-hop community is in the city! I know the show is going to keep getting bigger and bigger and bigger every year.
I’m still trying to figure out my schedule for the rest of the evening…there’s a couple spots to hit up. BET’s post party and of course, my ’80s joint at Studio 72 with Nelly. Kid Capri on the wheels, MC Lyte, Doug E. Fresh…it’s going to be the craziest party of the weekend! We taking it back! I guess it’s going to be another long night…
JD
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Scenes from the red carpet
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
While many celebs stopped to chat Saturday afternoon, not all were talkative. Big Boi, LL Cool J and Fat Joe were all quickly hustled inside the Atlanta Civic Center as the show was about to begin.
Others, like recent Atlanta transplant and singer-songwriter Ne Yo chatted about the songs he’s writing for Mary J. Blige’s upcoming album for TV cameras and MTV radio but stiffed radio and print reporters on the back end of the carpet as he sprinted into the venue.
“He’s just tired,” a publicist patiently explained as one Washington, D.C. radio reporter protested. Another radio DJ mumbled, “Then we might just get tired of playing his songs.”
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Hudlin: Atlanta’s ‘where hip hop is happening’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
BET president Reginald Hudlin said he was thrilled to bring the network’s second annual hip hop show back to Atlanta this year.
“This is where hip hop is happening,” he explained. “And this year, we had to go to a larger venue because this thing just keeps blowing up. The stage is bigger this year and the show is more spectacular.”
Of his black velvet jacket, Hudlin joked: “It gets a little chilly in Atlanta at night. I’m feeling hip hop with this on.”
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And the crowd goes wild …
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
For more than three hours Saturday afternoon, about 75 members of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Atlanta had a incredible vantage point to watch the red carpet arrivals.
The teens, clad in yellow club T-shirts, screeched and yelled each time one of their favorites arrived.
Lil Wayne, Mike Jones, Big Boi and L L Cool J all warranted ear-piercing screams from the group.
“My voice is about to go,” said Chakiria Duncan, 15. “We’ve been screaming all afternoon”
Kiaria Bostic, 18, said Lil Wayne was the artist she was most excited to see.
“He tells the truth,” she explained. “He expresses himself and what he’s about to you. And he does it intelligently.”
To help keep the kids’ energy level up, a BET production assistant ran up and down in front of the bleachers where the kids were standing, waving his arms wildly and encouraging them to scream. They were rewarded with small packets of Skittles and M&Ms that were regularly tossed to them.
A BBC Radio 1 news crew trying to conduct interviews directly in front of the kids were less than pleased at points as interviews got drowned out.
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Bootsy Collins: ‘Blessing’ to be here
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Sporting a pink leather suit and top hat, R&B legend Bootsy Collins made an indelible impression on the red carpet. At 55, the former bassist for Parliament, Funkadelic and James Brown is now regarded as an elder statesman of hip hop.
“It’s a blessing and an honor to be a part of this,” he said, gold tooth flashing. “It’s all about how these guys have kept up the funk. A lot of these artists learned about the music from their moms and dads showing them our album covers and playing the records.”
And later, many of those same artists have sampled endlessly from Collins’ trademark bass licks as well, ripping riffs from many classic P-Funk tunes.
And do his royalty checks reflect exactly how much has been borrowed through the years?
“The lawyers stay up with it as much as they can!” he said, laughing.
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Songwriter: Britney’s ‘human’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Britney Spears wasn’t in town, but one of her favorite songwriters was. Sean Garrett, who wrote four songs for Spears’ upcoming “Blackout” album (due out Oct. 30), came to the defense of his embattled pop tart.
“She’s human,” Garrett said. “She kept it real. She worked hard. It’s tough to make that transition, I think, having kids and going through her personal issues. But to still make an album, I commend her. I can’t always endorse everything that’s happened with a person. But I can definitely say I always have found good in a person and she’s one of the best.”
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List of winners at BET awards
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Atlanta had a strong showing at Saturday night’s BET Hip-Hop Awards. The winners of the show, which ended at 9 p.m.:
Best Collabo: UGK featuring Atlanta’s Outkast, “International Players Anthem”
Best Movie: “Stomp The Yard”
Best Dance: “Crank Dat Soulja Boy,” Atlanta’s Soulja Boy
Lyricist of the Year: Common
Video Director of the Year: Part-time Atlantan Hype Williams
Track of the Year: “Party Like a Rockstar,” Atlanta’s Shop Boyz
CD of the Year: Common, “Finding Forever,” and T.I., “T.I. vs. T.I.P.”
Best U.K. Hip-Hop Act: Kano
Best Live Performance: Kanye West
Producer of the Year: Timbaland
MVP: Lil Wayne
DJ of the Year: DJ Khaled
Hustler of the Year: 50 Cent
Best Ringtone: “Big Things Poppin,’ ” T.I.
People’s Champ: “Stuntin’ Like My Daddy,” Birdman and Lil Wayne
Best Video: “Stronger,” Kanye West
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Chilly dance and low-key beauty
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Thievery Corporation seems like a late night outfit. The D.C. duo’s chilled-out dance vibe just screams for the wee hours, but the DJ pair and their band - including an actual sitar - played hypnotic pied piper for the Echo Project crowds as the sun dropped behind the trees Saturday evening. The hula-hooped hordes undulated to the sounds of world music couched in deep percussive grooves. Maybe twilight time is the right time for Thievery Corporation.
While the crowds moved to Thievery Corporation, part-time Atlanta resident Chan Marshall, aka Cat Power, was on the next-door Lunar stage. The sound threatened to drown out her low-key meld of indie rock and classic soul, but her set came off without a hitch.
There’s only minimal trace of the reticent chanteuse she used to be. Marshall claimed to be nervous several times, but it rarely showed. During a set that included her unusual takes on classic such as “Dark End of the Street,” “Tracks of My Tears” and Patsy Cline’s “She’s Got You,” she seemed both playful and sultry, bouncing around in her bare feet. Her throaty voice made the wide open spaces feel much more intimate, and the relatively small but attentive audience welcomed Marshall’s own songs (including “Lived in Bars” and “The Greatest,” both from her most recent album) with the loudest approval.
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King’s daughter gives ‘mad love’ to hip-hop
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The most surprising guest to grace the red carpet before Saturday night’s BET Hip-Hop Awards? That would be Bernice King, the youngest child of Martin Luther King.
“It’s a celebration of Atlanta,” King said of Saturday’s festivities. “I think it’s a celebration of what I believe hip-hop is moving into. I think there’s a resurrection of sorts that hip-hop has come out of, post-[Don] Imus and post-Jena 6. Even though people don’t see it today, I see it coming.”
King said she didn’t have a favorite hip-hop artist but admitted to be particularly fond of one song.
“I have to give mad love to Fabolous and Ne-Yo for the song ‘You Make Me Better,’ ” she said. “They gave props to my mom and that touched my heart, it really did. As a matter of fact, I’m trying to get with them so I can really tell them that. I didn’t even know hip-hop could understand that.”
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Dancing in the dust
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Aside from the omnipresent dust, the Echo Project grounds are remarkably clean for the second day of a three-day festival. The eco-theme really seems to resonate with this crowd. You’ll see folks picking up random trash and depositing it the nearest receptacle, even though they had nothing to do with creating it.
That red-hued dust, meanwhile, partially obscured the stage during the powerful Saturday afternoon set of North Carolina’s Avett Brothers. The frenetic dancing reached a peak during the encore, “Talk on Indolence.” The trio’s music - imagine folk and bluegrass jammed through a punk-rock sieve - had the crowd stomping and twirling, raising clouds of dirt.
“These songs are supposed to be played out of tune, by the way,” said guitarist Scott Avett earlier in the set, as his brother Seth once again tuned the banjo. Those tuning interludes happened frequently, but it never seemed to stall the momentum these guys created. The brothers attacked their instruments with such force, it was a minor miracle that they didn’t crush their instruments.
A short distance away, at the fest’s main stage, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah started up just minutes after the Avett Brothers’ set. There was a decent-sized crowd gathered, but the enthusiasm seemed a little muted compared with the hoots and hollers that greeted the Avetts. Perhaps CYHSY’s spiky post-punk wasn’t quite what the average Echo-goer was looking for. You could find that at the Eclipse stage, where the sprawling, solo-heavy jam-rock of San Francisco’s Tea Leaf Green wafted through a crowd that overflowed the tent.
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Meanwhile, in a tent with no music …
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Echo Project has some high-minded ideals in addition to rockin’ out, and a lot of those get expressed in a place called the Echo System, a big white tent in the middle of the field given over to various activist causes, guided meditation, and short films.
Al Schnier of the band moe and Marc Brownstein of Disco Biscuits drew a SRO crowd into the tent to pitch Head Count, a project to get young people to register to vote. A little before that, there was a yoga session.
Then there was the musician Futureman, who spoke Saturday on the subject of Social Change Through Music. During the Q&A session, he gave an answer that included “Lord of the Rings,” string theory, the composer Richard Wagner, theosophy, Picasso, “Star Wars,” iPod ads and his hat, which was a pirate’s hat with a white feather plume, that was on a cosmic plain rarely visited outside a place like this.
author=Phil Kloer
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Hooping it up at Echo
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Echo Project music festival south of Atlanta may have the highest concentrations in metro Atlanta of smoking paraphernalia, guys calling each other “bro,” and, surprisingly, hula hoops. The old kids’ toy, introduced about 50 years ago, is everywhere.
Dozens of young women dot the festival grounds, standing by themselves or with a few friends, languidly dancing with their plastic hoops. But this is far from the kids’ game of standing in one spot and frantically spinning the hoop at the waist. The basic dance is what’s been called the “noodle dance,” a loose, free-form movement favored by jam band fans, but with the hula hoop moved up and down the body, from waist to torso to neck to outstretched arms, then back down.
The effect, when done right, is somewhat hypnotic for the dancer and for those who watch.
“It puts you in a zone,” said Nikita Kern, a waitress from St. Louis, Mo. “It’s like you’re playing your own instrument.” She said she had thought that hula hooping to jam bands was a local phenomenon back in Missouri, and was surprised to see so many young women hooping it up at Echo.
“I think it was the Spring Cheese Incident kids who started it,” said Rachael Terman, referring to a popular jam band. “It’s been going on for a few years. Terman is a vendor who makes her own hoops by hand, from recycled plastic utility pipe liners and sells them for $20. (Thus in keeping with the Echo’s “Green” theme.)
“Some of these girls really get into it, it’s like an art form,” said Josey Henton, 21, up from Santa Fe Community College in Gainesville and an avid hooper.
The other must-have accessory for many is a bandana, worn up over the nose and mouth to ward off the dust being kicked up off the dry, drought-stricken fields. Concert-goers walk around looking like Old West train robbers, if those robbers had also favored cargo shorts and sunglasses.
“You get a lot of dust kicked up,” said David Ashbrook, a jewelry vendor from Asheville, N.C.., sporting a blue and white patterned bandana. “But it comes with the territory. We’re praying for an afternoon rain, just a brief one, even though that’s not gonna happen. It’s a double-edged sword; you normally don’t want rain, but it keeps the dust down .”
Erin Cowey, a junior at the College of Charleston, didn’t have a bandana so she improvised a maroon and red silk scarf wrapped around her nose and mouth. “It’s been really bad, blowing up my nose. I’ve been coughing a lot. There’s also a lot of smoke around. It can’t be healthy.”
But there was no rain in sight Saturday afternoon. The sky was bright blue and cloudless, broken ony by the occasional jet high above heading into or out of Hartsfield-Jackson.
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