This is the first time I’ve blogged anything in a long ass time. The 9-to-5 life had me all but discard of this domain name, but alas, we’re still alive! I came back here to announce that we’re proud to present our next show, featuring DC’s own Fat Trel. Check the flyer out above! Crazy, right!?

I blogged about Trel pretty in-depth a little over a year ago (check that here). While bigger names Wale and Tabi Bonney have worked diligently to put DC hip-hop on the map, Trel has been too, just a little differently. Trel’s been in the trenches (read: the studio), perfecting his craft and killing open mics and murdering shows across the country when time permits. Sure, the noise hasn’t been as loud (although it did garner some attention from Cash Money CEO Bryan “Baby” Williams aka Birdman, some big magazines, and a bunch of labels), but you’re about to hear it.

You may have caught Trel at DC’s Vitamin Water Uncapped show alongside Rye Rye, Wale and X.O. earlier this year (I was in there. It was wild!). If you missed it, here’s some footage:

He’s only 20, but his talent as a musician is unparalleled by most. I wouldn’t have said that before yesterday, when the DC to BC team hit the practice site for Krank Factory, the electrifying band that will be backing Trel on stage. He told us it was his first real time rocking with a band that wasn’t a go-go band, but watching him work, you would think he’s a vet. Adding his input for when the guitar should solo on a track, communicating with the lead keyboardists to figure out how to recreate the synth sounds for the live performance. He was doing all that. They jammed out for like 6 hours straight and didn’t even seem tired. That’s an artist if I ever seen one.

I don’t need to sell you on anything else except his actual music, which is what the compilation that we’ve put together will do. It’s called The Set List, and it’s (give or take a few surprises!) the exact same set list that all 500 fans will experience on Sunday evening. We curated it and finalized it with Trel before we gave it to you guys. We hope to gain Trel some new supporters through this mix; you can download this today and know all the words by Sunday. Lol. But really though, we think this could be a cool new way of experiencing music as a new fan. The old fans already know what’s up, but it’s worth a download because it features a lot of his crazy thumpers on one compilation. The best part for both old and new? It’ll sound completely different (but equally as awesome) with a live band.

The entire point of this blog post was to give you guys an exclusive. So here it is, “Nightmare”, the introduction to his heavily anticipated mixtape Nightmare on E Street, dropping at the top of 2012. Enjoy.

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DOWNLOAD: Fat Trel – Nightmare [DC to BC EXCLUSIVE! PLEASE TURN THOSE SPEAKERS UP!]

DOWNLOAD: Fat Trel’s Nightmare Before Christmas – The Set List [Mix Compilation]

I’ll have the streaming version of The Set List shortly for those who can’t download. Gimme like 30 minutes. I gotta find some food. For those in DC, see you guys on Sunday (grab tickets here!). For those who aren’t there, we’ll definitely document that joint for you!

We were fortunate enough to recruit Top Dawg Entertainment recording artist Kendrick Lamar for a much anticipated performance at the 9:30 Club, making it his first-ever public show in the nation’s capital. The Compton standout is expected to sell out the 1200 capacity venue thanks to his loyal following in the DC metropolitan area. Kendrick will be joined on stage by fellow label mate Schoolboy Q as he cycles through his hits spanning from his early career to his most recent project, the critically acclaimed #Section80. Also sharing the spotlight for the evening are buzzing DMV natives Phil Adé and Phil Da Phuture, both signees of Grammy nominated crooner Raheem DeVaughn‘s 368 Music Group, as well as Houston’s own Ashton Travis, a lyrical mastermind recently crowned winner of the Hip-Hop Unplugged Series, hosted by Def Jam’s Lenny Santiago and MTV’s Sway. You never know who else may pop up, either…

If you have any sort of cyberspace real estate (Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, your brand’s website, etc.), feel free to show the post love there too! Link for the Twitpic is here. #dontwuwwyDC is the hashtag for the event, so use it and abuse it up til the date of the concert to see who’s talking about it!

Event Details

Date: Friday, August 12, 2011

Location: 9:30 Club 815 V St. NW DC 20009

Time: 8pm until close (Doors open @ 8, show starts @ 9)

Tickets are now on sale. You can grab those bad boys two ways:

- Buying in-person at the 9:30 Club box office. Hours: 12-7, Mon-Fri and 6-11 on weekends. You avoid a service charge this way!

- Buying online: http://ticketf.ly/dontwuwwyDC

http://twitter.com/#!/DCtoBC/status/96581975376269312 <—— That is a tweet you can feel free to retweet in regards to the tickets.

I should add that the more support this event gets, the more everybody across the nation and the world will respect our city. We’re just trying to put DC in the game. People think about politics and government when they think about this area, so the DC to BC team is working really hard to change that.

Hit me back here or on Twitter (@DCtoBC) if you have any questions, and enjoy the day.

Dilla fans, rejoice!

DC to BC is a proud media sponsor for the 6th Annual J. Dilla Tribute and Fundraiser, featuring some of DC’s most prominent hip-hop acts and headlined this year by Pharcyde. I honestly thought I’d never get to see these left coast legends rock a show, but this was a pleasant surprise. At the 9:30 Club, too. Talk about trill.

I can’t believe it’s been 6 years since the incredibly influential producer’s passing. I wasn’t even hip to how influential Dilla was until after he departed; I found out he produced so many jams that I never knew he had any part of crafting. It should be cool seeing all these local acts, as well as one of Cali’s most legendary and iconic hip-hop groups, pay their respects through their music!

Grab those tickets, cuz they’re moving quickly. Hit @heartdilla or the official site for any more info.

I’ll see you guys in there. I’ll be the dude posted up on the wall in the back, doing a super smooth head bop and blending in with my people and my surroundings.

Major, major shout out to Howard University’s Zon D’Amour as well as all of Endustry Power Players for inviting me to kick it with them and chop it up with whoever shows up to this event, OPEN TO THE PUBLIC, about whatever’s on their minds. I invite and encourage anybody who rocks with me to come through. It’s at 7pm, and the address is below:

Howard University
Armour J. Blackburn University Center
2397 Sixth Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20059
202-806-5983

Bingo. Any problems, just call that number. I’m nervous because I’ve never spoke at a panel before! I just want to make sure anything I say helps whoever is in the room get closer to whatever they’re striving for.

I’m excited to share the room with the brilliant minds behind Concrete Loop, Ready Set DC, The Fab Empire, and more. Some of these folks I know, some of them I’ve been following and admiring from afar from a while, and some I’m not hip to. Regardless, I think it’s just crazy that I’ll be on this panel.

Shout out to all the supporters who still rock with a slowly moving movement. The summer has some cool stuff in store! Promise! Shout out to Marcel and Quinn. And shout out to anybody who believed in the DC to BC movement from jump.

P.S.: These guys are so smooth. I didn’t even give them my logo or anything. They just snatched it from somewhere. Respect.

That’s right! Tomorrow Night at 201 Lounge in NE DC! Music By DJ Spicoli and the Section 8 Band! Happy Hour from 9-11pm! Semi-Formal attire required, like back in the days when people wore 3-piece suits to the club. Click the flyer for tickets.

I decided last night. Why? I’m not sure. Why not? That’s the better question. Just look at the lineup!

Yep, squint those little eyes at that crazy listing of talent (if you can’t squint your eyes that tight, then just click here for the same list presented in an eye-friendly fashion). There’s some small bands, there’s some major artists not headlining, and there’s just all sorts of ridiculous chaos. I want to write a legit blog post, but I’m really just putting this up because people have been heckling me to blog something to keep the buzz of this website up.

Oh, and here’s the map of the premises.

Now I think you know why I want to go. Who’s coming?

DC’s newest men’s lifestyle collective Undercult is throwing another event with Stones Throw recording artist James Pants on Wednesday, October 21st (tomorrow) at Denim Bar in Bethesda from 7-10pm, and you should fall through! Jam some of the James Pants x Undercult mix below as you read the rest.

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They’ll also be jamming fellow Stones Throw producing prodigy Madlib‘s Madlib Medicine Show #10: Black Soul, which isn’t even out yet. At the very least, come hear what one of LA’s most eccentric producer’s been cookin’ up for the past few months (or years; you never know with this guy).

Food and drinks (sushi, beer, wine, etc.) as well as shopping discounts from the Denim Bar will be at your fingertips, too. I’ll most likely either be in New York scoping out a CMJ real quick or in Boston running amok, but hopefully I’ve encouraged you to make an appearance and introduce yourself to these cool kids. Look out for Undercult’s full-fledged online space to launch November 7th (you can still see some cool stuff here), and find them on Twitter Nation, too. Shout out to Kevin.

Yerp, you read that blog post title correctly. The Duck Down 15 Year Anniversary Tour makes its DC stop today, and I’m lucky enough to have two (2) tickets to give to a lucky die-hard DC to BC reader / hip-hop aficionado.

To win these, all you gotta do is e-mail me at info[at]DCtoBC.com and tell me:

1. Why you rock with DC to BC.

2. Why you want these Duck Down tickets.

When I gave away Wale “Chillin’” tees, a guy swallowed some worms to get one. When I gave away tickets to Rock The Bells, Bryan of Go-Fresco sent this in. And when I gave away the Virgin Mobile Free Fest tickets, Ebony went HAM with this. What I’m alluding to is the fact that DC to BC die-hards are actually die-hards. They’re regular folk who go above and beyond to hit up great events such as this awesome hip-hop concert. So come with some kinda heat, or don’t bother entering.

It’s like 11 now, and I need the winner’s name by 4pm. See what magic you can make happen in the five hours. I’ll be back at around 4 with an update, and if the winner did anything worth sharing with you guys, I’ll put it up.

General info for those too shy to show what they’re made of to get some free tickets:

What: Duck Down 15 Year Anniversary Tour
Who: Pharoahe Monch,  Boot Camp Clik featuring Buckshot,  Sean Price,  and Smif N Wessun, and Skyzoo. DJ Evil Dee
When: Monday,  Oct. 18th,  2010
Where: Liv, 2001 11th St NW, doors at 8pm
Ticket info: Tix $20 – http://bit.ly/ac1nN1

Also, if you’d like to meet and greet these marvelous emcees, then fall through Commonwealth DC from 6-8pm. Drinks, music, and great people.  All that info is in that flyer below.

“As always, we stress presentation and quality when we go about crafting these events, and we are happy to have local artists, the talented Kokayi, NY based-but Ohio bred artist Stalley (Creative Control), and to top things off we have the illest hip-hop trio, Diamond District along side the amazing in-house band, The eLs to close out the nights festivities. Soundtrack throughout the night provided by DJ CamJus and DJ EYE AM!  Hosted by Lamine of DYDC. Definitely a night to remember!”

Don’t forget to check out DYDC on Tumblr here. Oh, and don’t worry. The event is free, but due to limited spacing you must RSVP @ thetalented2.eventbrite.com.

Exactly what the flyer says:

the great progression (“the gee pee”). the movement you’ve heard about, but have yet to see actually move. well, it’s finally upon us; all i need now is funds to make the dream a reality. yeah, you heard me. the moola and the guap, like wiz said on his album. what better way to donate to a good cause than to throw a video game sports tourney / kickback on the eve of sunday, october 10th? NBA 2K11 dropped (with a playable michael jordan, who you can see in the background!), recently; we’ll be playing that on PS3. but while we’re at it, we might as well pay homage to dreamcast, a system so ahead of its time the industry couldn’t handle it. it dropped on 9.9.99, and 2K premiered its first game, NBA 2K, on this console.

we’ll have two screens going all night; one with the newest 2K offering, and the other with vintage dreamcast 2K sports games (NHL, NBA, and NFL. we ain’t playin’!). suck at video games? so what? come to support! we got jenga, connect four, uno, taboo, music, and great people to keep you occupied. $5 to fall through (larger donations welcome). it’s in g-town; e-mail modi[at]DCtoBC.com for the address. complimentary cocktails by belvedere, the best vodka in the biz.

Yeah, you read it. Starts tonight at 8pm. You don’t have work tomorrow, so don’t even fake like you do. Feel free to bring more beverages to spice things up, too. Could be some surprises there, too. You never know…!

Not in town/can’t come out to support, but still wanna donate!? We appreciate that! Check out our donation link below.

Links riiiight to my PayPal account. If you’re curious, the funds you donate will help pay for the beautiful website as well as any fun events like this that we have in the near future. We appreciate you! Do me this favor and tweet about the event via this twitpic link: http://twitpic.com/2wdv0e. Thanks for supporting another DC to BC/The Gee Pee-powered gathering, and hopefully you’ll enjoy it like the last joints we’ve had.