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.

Welcome to the third edition of Singles Awareness Day. This year’s S.A.D. will be celebrated a couple days early, allowing you to ride into the weekend with 31 songs that say all the things that you’ve been thinking about love, lust, or anything in between. Most of these tracks you’ve never heard, and if you have, you won’t mind, because they just work so well on this compilation. Don’t think this just some sappy ass depressing music, either. Singles Awareness Day isn’t a day of mourning; it’s simply a time where you’re made aware of the single life, whether or not you’re living it. If you’re boo’d up, you can reflect on the lives of your friends who aren’t, or you can wonder what it’d be like if you didn’t have shortypop by your side this V-Day. If you aren’t, then you can play this and reminisce, living vicariously through the music.

If this is your first S.A.D. mix compilation you’re downloading, I should let you know that I do things a little differently: no tracklisting. Just get it, throw it in your iTunes, vehicle, iPod, and jam it. It’ll probably stay in rotation for a long while, so just be prepared to have some new favorite songs. As always, I dedicate this to all the maneaters, heartbreakers, and hopeless romantics out there. Click the artwork or the link below to download.

DOWNLOAD: Singles Awareness Day 3 [S.A.D. #3: The Mix Compilation]

Oh, and if you’re in DC, we’re doing it EXTRA BIG. Rock Creek Social Club has decided to throw a party around the concept, and that’ll be on the 15th. Sure, you may hear some of these tracks, but Jerome and Harry Hotter have their own playlists that’ll make partying on the day after Valentine’s Day super fun.

Thanks for your support. Any feedback, send my way in the comment section. If you’d rather e-mail, hit me: modi[at]DCtoBC.com. Thanks for all the artists who allowed me to throw their music on this. Everybody who submitted music and didn’t make the final mix, I apologize. It was a tough decision, but I think these 31 joints will satisfy everybody. Huge s/o to Odd Future‘s Matt for the album art.

My god-sister Amaka, my man Curtis and I have spent a while writing these 196 addresses on these envelopes for to DC to BC supporters. I tweeted about it, and you guys came out of nowhere with the requests. I think that’s incredible. As usual, thank you guys for rocking with the movement. I don’t even blog anymore on a regular basis, yet people still check the site consistently. Awesome.

Got more stickers on deck. I’ve given over $1,000 for free, so this time, I’m just going for $5 for a pack of 5. To mail out all those stickers was a pretty penny! I figure I’d at least recoup the cost of making these bad boys and sending them out in the mail.

Like the first time, send me an e-mail with your mailing address, and I’ll send you a PayPal thingy so you can purchase your batch of stickers. modi[at]DCtoBC.com (that’s my e-mail addy. I just use [at] instead of @ because that’s how you get spam!). Keep it simple, and just write a sentence or two about why you want a sticker. I’m just curious, and it’s always cool to hear how you came to learn about DC to BC.

I would say scoop some at Stussy and Commonwealth, but Omar told me they’re all gone. I f*cking love you guys. And thanks for not worrying about the $5! It’s just $5, and is just for those fans that have supported me! Whether it’s been since ’08 or you just got hip last week, I appreciate it wholeheartedly.

One day in early August I got an e-mail from Trent and Walker, two ambitious filmmakers hailing from Sin City (that’s Vegas for anybody who just completely missed that), explaining that they’d be making a documentary on Eli Porter, the rapper famous for his unintentionally hilarious YouTube video which I blogged about and did play-by-play commentary a couple years ago.

They told me they wanted to interview me, and were flying to DC to do exactly that. I didn’t really believe it, but I figured I had nothing to lose, so I sent out my contact info and gave them the address to where I’d be around Friday, the day when they said they’d get in. I thought nothing of it until my phone rang a week later on that Friday evening and they said they were five minutes away.

Wowzers. I was over at my man Greenwood‘s house for another epic gathering that I put together with some friends (you don’t believe me!? The video footage from that event was documented here. All from that party. That’s just how I do it in DC. Don’t sleep on us, please!), and before they called, I had completely forgot that I had told them to fall through. Five minutes later, these guys were up in Greenwood’s house, enjoying the wild party atmosphere outside for a quick second before getting down to business.

Yep. It looked like that. Anyway, they mic’d me up (like all those wires and stuff you see in that behind the scenes footage! It was cool.) and we sought refuge upstairs, somewhere much quieter to talk to me about the viral video that moved them enough to dedicate the last year of their lives following Eli Porter, the Iron Mic Freestyle champion.

I won’t go into much detail, because I don’t know what I can spill and what I can’t. I do know that we talked for about an hour or so about other viral video superstars, about the video’s impact on the world, and whether or not to take him seriously. At the end of the day, he’s an actual person with a real dream, and I can respect that. I was blown away by the in-depth research that Trent and Walker did, both on me (and trust me, there’s not much to know about me) and on viral videos in general. I respect their hard work and dedication; the guys were so damn cool. I’m still surprised that they came all the way to DC because of a damn blog post I did. They told me that it was the play-by-play commentary that had them dying, and although the breakdown was kinda hilarious (shout out to my roommate from college and best friend, Ricardo aka @InternetGoon for watching that video like 100 times with me while we shoulda been doing homework), it was pretty thorough. I found pretty much everything ridiculous in it and wrote about it in detail. Click the link if you don’t believe me.

I say all that to say this: these guys are working hard, man. The documentary is shaping up, and they really have been following Eli around like celebrity stalkers/paparazzi. In a good way, though. They just dropped this extended trailer today, and I figured I’d share it with you guys. I’m in it, as are some e-contemporaries:

- Jay Smooth of illdoctrine.com/​ (twitter.com/​jsmooth995)

- Andy Milonakis (twitter.com/​andymilonakis)

- Jeff and Eric Rosenthal of itsthereal.com/​ (twitter.com/​itsthereal)

- Rafi Kam & Dallas Penn of internetscelebrities.com/​
(twitter.com/​rafikam & twitter.com/​DPZ4Reezy)

So yeah, here it is! Enjoy.

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.

My man Callender hit me up to be a part of the New York City leg of this marvelous national tour with Big K.R.I.T., Smoke Dza, and my Curren$y, aka $pitta, aka the trillest lazy flow in the game.

October 5th,  7 – 11:30pm. $20 pre-sale and $25 at the door. Purchase your tickets ASAP (here) so that you don’t get to the door, muttering angrily under your breath about how outrageous it is that these tickets sold out on you like that.

There’s also a bunch of solid guest acts, including Pittsburgh’s Mac Miller. I say grab the tickets, and then come say what’s up. I’ll be there, posted like a stamp with my small but satisfactory squadron of scrambling scholars. Shout out to Heather, GFC, 2 Dope Boyz, and the rest of the folks on this event with me. Fall through!

GRAB TICKETS HERE!!!

Shout out to my homegirl Reiana for chopping up this footage from our Child’s Play event! It looks marvelous, and captures pretty much all the memories from that great day. If you need some film work done, holler at her: @flip_the_script. Check some of her stuff at ESSTXR Media.

Yep. We made it out alive this weekend. You probably wouldn’t know, but Nelly’s throwback song “Never Let ‘Em C U Sweat” was the only thing keeping me together on Saturday. Last-minute moves to the grocery shop, Staples, Target. I was moving like Carl Lewis with no track. I think Sheena needs a special shout out for all the advice and motivation she gave me the day before.

Thank you, those who made it out to the event, for helping make Child’s Play the success that it was. Everybody who chose to get down and dirty with our team sports, whether it was dodge ball or tug of war. Everybody who wasn’t afraid to jump around on that moon bounce like the old days. Everybody who donated to our 9/11 Memorial Fund and picked up the beautiful shirts we had printed as a keepsake for all attendees. Everybody I met and who said what’s up, from the participants to the entrepreneurs, from the students to the bloggers, from the photographers/videographers (Boney, Xavier, Dre, Brandon, Reiana, I see you!) to our DJ’s (Cam Jus and Jerome Baker 3rd. Google them, baby.), from my friends to my family (my dad even showed up. That’s pretty cool. I didn’t even know he knew about it.) I appreciate you guys and gals.

I’m still amazed at the people that decided to show up! Ohio-bred MC Stalley fell through with Creative Control, man. Grizzly Adams inspired beard and everything. Tabi Bonney made an appearance with some serious stunna shades that I may or may not have to ask to borrow next time I see him. Nick Schonberger, editor of Selectism.com, CuratedMag.com, and Words Beats Life soaked in the scene and chopped it up with our guests.

The AnmlHse family (what up, Jon, Panda, and Corn!?) made the trek from Philly to parlay and politick with us, which I am so grateful for. Check out their awesome product (they cised me with a snapback that could quite possibly be the coolest piece of head gear I’ve ever owned), and their Child’s Play / DC trip recap on their site (smooth shots and solid photo journalism here, so I’d click that if I were you).

Big shout out to Jabari for jumping on that Bolt Bus from NY to indulge in some friendly games of kick ball and dodge ball.

I had to just let you guys see that boy COOK! Oh, and I definitely can’t forget my Complex family members Dom and Roo, who also made the 4-hour power move from NY to play some kick ball, dodge ball, and tug of war, as did my brother and advertising guru, Kenji Summers. Way too trill.

Angelo Logan and the SoleDiction.com squad took that long drive from in the cut in VA (sorry, guys, but you guys are in the cut.) to show face. I feel like that guy and his team could be the next crew to look out for, because he’s only 17 and the guys are doing stuff I was doing in college. Thanks for that 5-panel hat, too!

I have a million and one thank yous to everybody (like Team 1803, they deserve a serious shout out because they came out and brought the energy that sparked the event off – catalysts, if you will!), and I prolly missed a few, but the biggest go to my team. Marcel for just always being there and getting things done in crunch time, Lamine of DYDC for inviting me to partake in his vision, as well as being the motivational speaker at times when I needed it the most, and theConArtistsGuild for their various contributions too. We all hustled in crunch time and made it work. Enough text, though. Videos are the future. So allow me to show you what Child’s Play looked like.

Yeah, exactly. If you missed it, you blew it. That’s Dre Eastwood who chopped up that awesome footage like a master chef before I even left the park (I’m not lying. I got in my car at like 11, checked my tweets, and he already had a link for me. Ridiculous. What’s more ridiculous is that he also lives deep in the abyss of Virginia and had it up that fast. My goodness.) Oh, and my brother Adrian, get better soon!!! He took a spill during the dunk contest and may or may not need some surgical procedures done on his leg, but things will be okay! Send your well wishes his way via Twitter.

Until the next epic event…which is this Tuesday (9.14), for my first of a couple birthday celebrations. This joint is at Recess. Another Rock Creek Social Club production, my friends. Crazy awesome DJs, Spinser Tracy and Jerome on the slipmats, and that Belvedere openbar from 9:30-10:30. Let’s go. RockCreekSocialClub.com / @RockCreekSocial for more information.

I guess so.

Shout out to my man Leon from ListenToLeon.Net (literally the funniest blog I’ve ever read; I’m a loyal reader. If you’re from DC, you should read it. Hell, even if you’re not.) for reaching out to get this joint in motion, as well as my man Brandon with Usual Suspectz for actually bringing everything to fruition.

I’ll be at Park around 5pm today, August 26th, eating good with my man Freddie Brown, as well as the rest of the bloggers (some of whom I know already, others who I’m looking forward to finally meeting), so come check us, baby. All the info you need is on the flyer. Come through, I’d love to read any loyal readers / any people who don’t give a f*ck about DC to BC but want to eat and drink good!