From 12 pm to 6pm on Friday, March 19th, DC to BC and The Great Progression, along with several other fine organizations, will be hosting Quality!, a South By Southwest showcase in Austin, TX. How did this all happen? If you’re interested, you better read on.

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I’m helping Howard Homecoming with their marketing efforts, so I’ll be blogging a bit less because this money comes first!

First order of business: I need everybody who is on Twitter, regardless of where you are in the world or if you’re attending the homecoming to follow @HUHomecoming09 for me. Also, Retweet this:

“To win a chance to have your Howard Homecoming experience FREE & VIP, FOLLOW @HUHomecoming09 & RETWEET! #howardhomecoming“

Thank you. I’m about to go enjoy this Friday full of meetings and stuff. Enjoy the weekend. I swear I’ll get back to my duties on Monday. Stay tuned to some crucial Howard Homecoming info, too. If you’re into that. If not, scroll past, I’ll still have the regular tomfoolery and such.

DC-based streetwear brand Durkl teamed up with producer/rapper/label owner Judah, one of the metropolitan area’s favorite producers, to celebrate two things: the grand opening of the Durkl studio / store (443 I St NW in Chinatown, 11-6 Mon-Fri!) and the release of the first installment of Judah’s Survivor Series mixtape. The masses were out, the drinks were pouring, the merch was flying off the shelves, and everybody had a good time.

RA threw me some of the flicks she took with her beautiful SLR camera, so I figured I’d throw them up so you guys could live vicariously through them. Enjoy, and shout out to everybody I dapped up out there, especially the Durkl boys.

Oh, and I can’t forget the mixtape Judah dropped that night either. Get it HERE. More photos from the event can be found over at my man Bryan’s photo blog, Go-Fresco.

Talk about eclectic. I’ll be out at the Kia Soul Collective Warehouse in DC to check all these FREE shows. Wale, Ponytail, Dan Deacon, The Creepers, and much more. DJ sets by the best from our area, including Dave Nada, Chris Burns, and Stereofaith. I’m especially amped for MGMT’s Sunday show, because I’ve never seen them perform.

Like I said, the shows are free. What are you doing this weekend? Exactly. So don’t miss this stuff. For ALL the info that you need, hit up kiasoulcollective.com (click that link because it takes you directly to the DC info). Whipless (read: do you have no transportation)? No worries. My people over at Brightest Young Things let me know that there’s FREE SHUTTLE SERVICE! More info on that here.

You should also test drive one of their vehicles while you’re there, too. I heard they’re giving away some free stuff for that. Let’s get it.

the world’s greatest group will be performing in NYC on governor’s island tomorrow, september 9, 2009. i will be there, straight off a plane from cali to DC. i’m a dedicated fan. bussing it from the district. anybody tryna hit it? dizzy, omar, maud, mr. anderson, we bout to be out there strong. N*E*R*D fans, unite. asher roth will also be performing, curious to see what that performance entails.

check the official flyer, with ALL the info you need about the concert, after the drop.

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one of my goals with this blog is to shed light on anything major going on in my area. durkl is an emerging streetwear brand that was founded a couple years ago and is beginning to take DC and the surrounding neighborhoods by storm. the combination of skater influence mixed with a cleaned-up, organized version of second-hand ’80s and ’90s threads is pretty cool if you ask me. there was a trill party a little over a week ago at the new durkl heardquarters, housed in a recently converted taxi garage. the ‘09 merchandise was on display, which features everything you need to make it through the fall season. house DJ chris burns was killing the jams while people were getting live tattoos (by adam’s morgan’s tattoo paradise), in-place bike racing, getting their drink on, and enjoying a swag bag of products, courtesy of durkl and the party’s sponsors. ALL FOR FREE! don’t believe me? check out my man ricky parker’s video footage below.

crazy, right? vimby TV was also in the builing. shout out to my man luke pierce, the man in charge of durkl’s operations, for having impeccable execution for durkl’s first party. check out the ‘09 lookbook over at durkl’s site.

two things. i woke up and 2dopeboyz had goodies just waiting for me. like a gift bag at some kinda party or something. new jay-z and j. cole. yes, you just read that. critical.

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DOWNLOAD: Jay Z – A Star Is Born [feat. J. Cole]

also, karen civil just cised me with this info about j. cole performing at NYU on september 12, and i figured i’d let you in on the good news. happy to see this man succeed. my homie nyle, who you may know from his craaaaazy video rendition of d’wayne carter’s “let the beat build” is a recent NYU grad (and former def jam intern, we were working hard in that building!) who will also be performing. let’s get it.

With the VMA’s around the corner, the list of performers are becoming more and more clear by the day. The entire weekend has unofficially been centered around that of Roc Nation. That Friday, September 11, Jay-Z will release his highly anticipated LP, Blueprint 3. On Sunday, the 13th, the actual awards show will air including a performance from Jay.

On Saturday, the 12th, Roc Nation’s first signee, J. Cole, will be performing live at New York University’s Kimmel Center in the 4th floor E&L Auditorium. The event, which is being thrown by NYU’s Gentlemen of Quality, will be hosting the event. Here is the need-to-know info:

*Doors open at 8:15 pm for press/VIP and 8:30 for general public.
*Tickets are $7 for NYU students and $10 for non-students. These can be purchased online for students (NYUHOME) or at NYU’s Ticket Central on the 2nd floor of the Kimmel Center.
*Tickets MUST be purchased prior to the event.

The intimate atmosphere will also allow for audience members to ask questions directed at J. Cole. As an added bonus, new material will also be played here for the first time. Half of the proceeds from this event will go towards GQ’s Martin Jackson Scholarship Fund. Jackson was a high school student GQ mentored who lost his life in the spring of 2008 due to gun violence.

Nyle, a NYU alum whose video adaption of Lil’ Wayne’s “Let The Beat Build” has been a YouTube sensation, is slated to be one of the opening acts.

do you see all these names? a three day festival with so many acts, it’ll make your headspin. somehow i lucked out and am posted up with my man ice cream cones, whose roommates have the hookup. we’ll be in there like swimwear at least one of these days. really would have liked to see incubus, but today (saturday) looks like more my speed. if you’re out here, let me know.

oh, and i can’t forget the ever-so-trill sneakerpimps, san fran edition. today. flyer below says it all, except phil ade will not be performing, contrary to what the flyer says.

flyer says it all. go party with the dudes, they rock. and they’re nigerian. and twins. and they make good music. MAKE SURE TO RSVP to the email address listed, it’s ESSENTIAL. and yes, this is in NYC. if you don’t know who christian rich or colin munroe are, hit the search bar and type their names in there. trust me.

to my NYC-based readers: do me a huge favor and retweet this, or link your homies to this. thanks a whole lot.

it’s back. the trillest afrobeat mixtape series ever, dropping just in time for the coinciding afrobeat party hosted by the sexy ass ladies of LunchBox Theory on U street tomorrow, friday july 31st. DJ underdog still hittin’ ‘em with that live mix – no serato either, straight vinyl baby! wowzers.

not sure about what afrobeat is? well, here’s a definition:

Afrobeat is a combination of Yoruba music, jazz, highlife, and funk rhythms, fused with percussion and vocal styles, popularized in Africa in the 1970s. Its main creator was the Nigerian multi-instrumentalist and bandleader Fela Kuti who used it to revolutionise musical structure as well as the political context in his native Nigeria. It was Kuti who coined the term “afrobeat” upon his return from a U.S. tour with his group Nigeria 70 (formerly Koola Lobitos).

exactly. this is truly some special music, and i implore everybody to get on it, because it’s a pretty trill genre. we posted the first mixtape a few weeks ago; grab it HERE.

DOWNLOAD: Africa Plays On, Pt. 2 [Mixtape]

and the party is INCREDIBLE! AND ONLY $1! PLEASE COME OUT AND SUPPORT TONITE! I’LL EVEN GO WITH YOU IF YOU’RE NERVOUS TO SHOW UP SOLO! I’M NOT EVEN LYING!

mixtape tracklisting after the jump.

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