New York City: #009 (Wow, I'm in Bed-Stuy)

Yesterday, this blog is all about yesterday. 7pm is where we pick up. I decide to hit a couple open mics and look a couple up. I find two good ones, one in brooklyn & one in harlem. I konw someone at the harlem show so i can get there later, I head for the brooklyn show first. Sign is at 8, I get off the train at 7:45, perfect. I can go up first or second and then shoot back to harlem. Well, as I'm walking down "bed-stuy" I think about the shirt Radio Raheem was wearing in Do the Right Thing, "Wow...this is Bed-Stuy" I said to myself.

But wait...my iPhone say I should be standing right on top of this open mic. But I don't see nothin. I start asking -- which they say don't do b/c then ur a target for a small crime we call ROBBERY. But I need to know, so I ask. "Excuse me my dude (got my I'm not from here but I will CUT you" voice goin), you know where I can find a little coffee shop around here." "oh yeah", dude says, "just go down to the corner by the fruit market". "Ok." I say. I start thinking to myself, there's no "market" around here. So after walking the block about 3 times I realize I'm becoming prime prey to get got! So I call it quits and head to the bus stop to sit down for a sec before heading back to Harlem. I sit next to another girl who was dressed like she was going somewhere and wasn't bad on the eyes, seemed harmless.

"Hey, excuse me. Do you know where Solomon's Porch is?"

"Ah, they closed down." She said. "It used to be right here where that market is." I looked on the corner again, and above my head is an old market sign. I started to laugh.

"It's cool. I gotta go back to Harlem anyway."

"You came all the way from Harlem!!?" She said.

"Yea." ...more laughter at me than the situation now. "I'm a singer/songwriter visiting the city and was looking for something to get into tonight."

"Oh cool." She smiled.

"You look mighty nice, where are you headed to?" I ask.

"I'm headed to this album release."

"Oh really. Who?"

"You heard of Black Milk?" she said.

I had heard of him from a few blogs but never paid it much attention. There's alot of great underground hip-hop artists, too many, and just as many blogs to keep up with them. But I'd heard of him for sure.

"Yea, I've heard of him."

"Yea, he's great. You should come if you're looking for something to do in brooklyn, it's at SouthPaw."

"South What?

"South Paw. It's a venue not far from here." Her bus was coming now...

"What's your name" she asked.

"Darnell Levine."

"Nice to meet you Darnell Levine - come if you can."

"Cool, I just might." I said.

Well I did, I stayed at that bus stop and 10 minutes hopped on headed to SouthPaw. I found that girl, and her name -- Narvani, she is a music journalist. See here: http://www.navaniknows.com/.

So... I couldn't stay for the whole show, so no Black Milk did I see, but I'd never really been to a true hip-hop show, it was a good experience. 10:45, I'm outta there. Grabbed a quick slice of pizza and caught the 2 train back to my temporary stomping grounds. On the train there was the young dude singing at the top of his lungs with his headphones on. I couldn't stop laughing at him as he sang "SOMETIMES SHE CALL MY TREY!! SOMETIMES SHE SAY TRAMAINE!!", and so I took a pic. Standing teenager in the white hat is the songbird, the rest are his victims.

I got to a spot called The Shrine and immediately noticed some of the same people I'd seen at previous open mics I'd scouted. Cool I thought...the world really ain't so big after all. I went up and since I knew a couple folks got on to the list pretty easy (which isn't always the case--thanks to Raine & Shawn Mosley for that). I sung a new tune that I been working on for the new album but I wanted to see what people thought about it, it's called "Get Up & Rescue Me". The crowd calmed down from the loud band activity before my set, and by the end the background vocalists were making harmonies and the crowd was attentive - and for a split second all was right with the world. It was cool.

I hung around and good thing I did for two totally opposite reasons. 1) Never thought I'd here a song called "Invite Somebody To Church" over the GAP band music "Outstanding". But I did. There were alot more entertaining moments like that that kept me laughing to myself all night long. But 2) there was a special guest who they called up to the stage, I'd heard his name before but didn't know where to place it. His name...Rudy Currence. Dude was really cool, and had a great voice. And did original material which of course isn't the norm at open mics so I appreciated that. Later that night we talked and he's going to be a feature on BET Music Matters soon, so stay locked to him. As the night closed, I walked out the double doors of The Shrine and started making the short trek back down Lenox Ave. with the chilly night skyline hovering overhead, thinking...this is just one big movie.

And I'm the lead with no script...