Chicago's African Festival of the Arts

aka the biggest hip hop show of the year.

last weekend this time, i was knee deep in a three-day hip hop show that only cost me 30 bucks. for old people like me, the Fest is the time of the year where middle-school hip hop acts take to the stage and show us why hip hop was so much better in the early-90s. this year, my middle-aged magicians on the mic did not disappoint. it was a blast.

monica "taking a picture" with greg nice. he's still live as hell. and peep him tryna get some chicago points.

smooth b rocking the em eye see

me and my skinny arms and visible bra strap and backne (low self esteem much?) trying to keep up with greg nice.

dres as black sheep (mr. lawnge was nowhere to be found) being really personable, engaging in witty repartee with the audience, and doing the hits. his new material's pretty good, real talk.

jimmy being thoroughly entertained and engaged by black sheep's set.

monica "taking another picture" with thelma. (yep, she was there too.)

i must say, we blasphemed by leaving before kane hit the stage saturday night, but we were tired. six hours of local "talent" and no kane. dude, we were done and i kinda regret it. either way, the highlights of the weekend were surely nice & smooth and brand nubian. they were live as shit and almost immediately brought the show down into the audience. greg still moves like a 20 year old and daryl is still smooth as hell. even jimmy, who was barely alive during their era, was entertained. plus, Rachel, Monica, and I were all jacked up and manhandled by greg nice, greg n-i-c-e. it was awesome. (more on that later.)

brand nubian rocked the house as well, but in a different way. first of all, every single one of them looks fantastic. sadat x has a little meat on his bones now and his skin in frickin' amazing. grand puba has lost a few but hasn't lost any swag at all. and finally, lord jamar (minus his locks) is still gor-ge-ous. breath control was all over the place AND they did the hits. monica, jimmy, and I had stepped off for beverages, missing the first three songs, but we still got quite the show. (i also broke my shoe running back, but that's just my fault now isn't it?) unfortunately, all of the pictures i have of them suck, so you won't be seeing those.

This is Greg Nice putting it on Rachel. Notice how he bumps her right out of the frame near the end.