A Boogie wit da Hoodie is back with his fourth studio album, Me vs. Myself. The Bronx native’s newest project comes almost two-years after his last studio album, the platinum selling Artist 2.0, and nearly a year to the day of his 2021 EP, B4 AVA.
Correspondingly, Me vs. Myself arrives after being pushed back from its original November 4 release date to avoid competing for sales with Drake and 21 Savages, Her Loss.
In an instagram story post, A Boogie announced the album’s delay. Posting, “Sorry but Album dropping in December now, Drake was dropping same day and I’m not with that #HOODIESZN,” he wrote with a series of laughing emojis.
The 21-track project features heavy hitters from the hip hop and r&b world. Having recruited the likes of Lil Durk, Tory Lanez, G-Herbo, Roddy Ricch and Don Q. Additionally, the previously released single “Playa” with H.E.R. is included as a bonus track. In the same fashion, his Kodak Black collab “Water (Drowning Pt.2)” was released as a single. A sequel to his 2017 smash hit “Drowning,” A Boogie will look to replicate the success of the record which spent nearly 30 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 and went 7X platinum.
Me vs. Myself is an important project for A Boogie’s current status in the game. While he remains one of the most streamed artists in the world, his reputation for delivering good albums has waned. With the emergence of the drill scene, A Boogie must remind fans that he remains a heavy hitter.
In an interview with Hip Hop Dx, the “Still Think About You” rapper revealed his goals for his upcoming drops.
“I’m definitely one of those top guys now,” A Boogie assured.
I’m not where I want to be yet, but you already know what I’m going for. Number one, and we’re not settling for anything less. I used to settle for less because I never had that goal to look all the way up there, but now that we looking up there, it’s looking scary for a lot of people.
In the 1920s, “Rent Parties” were a common place in Harlem. As the end of the month approached, with rent looming and no way to pay, tenants would host a musician and invite friends, raising money and having fun, dancing and listening to music with their community in a place safe from discrimination. In 2020, as the pandemic struck, esteemed jazz pianist Emmet Cohen started hosting Rent Parties in his own Harlem apartment. He played with his trio and live streamed the event, calling it “Live From Emmet’s.” This event isn’t where his inspiration from Harlem’s jazz scene ends, though; Emmet Cohen’s newest record was made in Harlem’s spirit as well — Uptown in Orbit was released on October 28.
Uptown in Orbit presents huge energy through bright and powerful chords while showcasing immense talent and control. When listening, you see the view of bustling Harlem like you’re looking down on the streets from an upstairs apartment window. It’s all perpendicular and over-excited, but still perfectly harmonious, timed absolutely naturally. It feels like the song’s subject is orbiting, either we’re all circling around it or it’s circling us, either way the album brings the listener straight into this orbit.
The highlight of this album is the title track, “Uptown in Orbit.” Use of hemiola gives the song veritable bounce, as the ¾ rhythm is coupled into rhythmic pulses of three against two beats. The timing is swinging, and though Cohen likes to call back to the jazz hay days of the early 1900s, this track still has a modern feel with its energy and brightness. A saxophone comes soaring in during the second half of “Uptown In Orbit” — wailing with so much passion and grace, before turning brassy and raspy, almost like the voice in Pink Floyd’s Great Gig In The Sky.
Cohen has said jazz boils down to connections; between the musicians performing and the audience, as well. This album exhibits that connection flawlessly, with brass that floats over Cohen’s dextrous, easy-going piano, drums that shake the background, adding fuzzy sparkles and backbone to the other instruments’ colorful musicality.
Since he was three, Cohen has been devoted to the piano. He earned a Master of Music from the Manhattan School of Music after graduating from University of Miami, and has since performed in international events, such as the Newport, Monterey, Detroit, North Sea, Bern, Edinburgh and Jerusalem jazz festivals, in addition to playing in some of the most storied jazz clubs across the world.
The pianist is currently touring Europe, but in December he will be back in NYC for five days at Dizzy’s Club with his trio and Mary Stallings, starting December 8. You can RSVP for tickets here.
In celebration of 50 years of Billy Joel, the renowned concert film “Billy Joel: Live at Yankee Stadium” will be released in theaters worldwide on October 5th and 9th. The legendary 1990 concert is one of the greatest concert films of all time. Originally shot in 16mm film, it has been re-mixed and re-edited in 4k with Dolby ATMOS audio.
The new version includes “Uptown Girl” along with behind the scenes footage not seen in the original release. The film initially premiered on basic cable’s Disney channel on March 17, 1991. It was also released on VHS later that year and nominated for a long form video Grammy Award.
Billy Joel at Sag Harbor Cinema 8.22.22
Last month Billy and his wife Alexis attended a preview of the film at the renovated Sag Harbor Cinema. Joel stepped up to help save the theater after it was destroyed in a village fire in 2016. The cinema stood there for more than 100 years and was the center of the downtown. It reopened in June of 2021 complete with state of the art projectors and sound systems.
Also in attendance were band members Dave Rosenthal, Tommy Byrnes, Crystal Taliefero and Mike DelGuidice. It was surreal for me to watch the film with the man himself sitting just a few feet away. The crowd in the 240 seat theater applauded after each song making it feel more like a live concert rather than a movie.
After the film concluded, there was a Q&A with director Jon Small and producers Steve Cohen and John Jackson. After a few questions from fans, Joel raised his hand to ask… “When do we get something to eat? I’m starving!.” As I left the theater another surreal moment happened when I saw Sir Paul McCartney entering the lobby with his wife Nancy to meet Billy.
Tickets to the October viewings of “Billy Joel: Live at Yankee Stadium” can be purchased here.
If you grew up in the early 1960s, or watched Nick at Nite in the late 1980s, you probably remember this theme song:
An ear worm if there ever was one, the theme song to Car 54, Where Are You? is one of the greatest in television history and one that traverses four of New York City’s boroughs in just 16 seconds of the 29 second theme song. Meanwhile, Officer Gunther Toody (Joe E. Ross) and Officer Francis Muldoon (the legendary Fred Gwynne) are playing checkers on the dashboard of the titular Car 54.
For a run of 60 episodes, starting on September 17, 1961, Car 54, Where Are You? was the start of a career for a few of the actors on the show, and served as one of the early examples of portraying police, fire and even the military in more comedic situations than had been the custom on TV and in cinema.
The cast also included Al Lewis as Officer Leo Schnauser; Charlotte Rae as Sylvia Schnauser; Nipsey Russell as Officer Dave Anderson and Paul Reed as Captain Paul Block. Guest stars were a staple of the show, and featured notable names including Tom Bosley, Hugh Downs, Hal Linden, Charles Nelson Reilly, Sugar Ray Robinson, Jean Stapleton and many more.
Car 54, Where Are You? aired on Sunday nights from 8:30–9:00 p.m. on NBC, following Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color and preceding Bonanza. The show wrapped up on April 14, 1963 after two seasons.
Created by Nat Hiken and with theme song and lyrics composed by John Strauss, Car 54, Where Are You? had multiple directors, including Hiken, Al De Caprio, and Stanley Prager. The show was filmed on location and in the Bronx at Biograph Studios, which burned down in 1980 and now is the home of the New York Department of Sanitation. The show was nominated for four Emmys, winning one for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy for Nat Hiken in 1962.
In order to renew the show for a third season, NBC wanted to negotiate a part ownership deal for the show. Hiken would not agree to the deal and the show’s sponsor, Proctor and Gamble, could not convince CBS into taking the show over, where there was no room on the schedule. Hiken had become burnt out with writing, directing, and overseeing the show, and becoming exhausted with issues on the show, he ended the show after the second season and never worked on anothre series again. Not maintaining the success of the first two years – where the show placed in the top 20 of shows each week – led to cancellation in 1963. Hiken would pass away a few years later at age 54.
An early show that made light of the boys in blue, viewers did find enjoyment in the show, as seen in Nyack, NY where a patrol car was stolen from the police station parking lot was given the nickname “Car 54.” Not every police officer liked the show, leading one high-ranking New York police official, speaking anonymously, said he’d have liked to see the show cancelled as he believed it made all policemen look morons. “Being a policeman is a grim and humourless business, not at all funny,” he was quoted as saying.
Still, while being set in the fictional 53rd precinct in the Bronx, Car 54, Where Are You? was filmed at a studio in the Bronx’s real-life 48th Precinct, where the captain of the 48th made the show aware that he and his men found the show amusing and enjoyed it in their squad room.
Gwynne and Lewis would go on to greater fame in The Munsters, and Gwynne would write children’s books while extending his acting career into the early 1990s with his memorable role in My Cousin Vinny.
Joe E. Ross would provide vocals on a popular Milt Jackson jazz track, “The Oo-Oo Bossa Nova” on the album Jazz and Samba, a reference to Officer Toody’s trademark catch phrase “Oo-Oo.”
In the early 1980s, the show’s theme song is parodied as “Mario, Where Are You?” in an Atari commercial for Mario Bros. video game.
The lyrics to the theme song include five calls to respond to that lie in and outside the 53rd precinct: a hold up in the Bronx, fighting in Brooklyn, a traffic jam that spans from Harlem to Jackson Heights in Queens (a stretch of 7 miles), a missing child report and the head of state of the U.S.S.R. arriving at the future JFK Airport who presumably needs a police escort a mere 17 miles away. Can Muldoon and Toody really be expected to handle all these crises at the same time? Of course not, but the myriad of duties these two and their station are needed for expresses a positive view of the police in the early 1960s, keeping the role comical yet respectable. But was Car 54, Where Are You? an early form of copaganda, or just a light-hearted look at an integrated precinct in the melting pot of New York City?
The line “Khrushchev’s due at Idlewild” is the only part of the theme song that reference real events (although a cross-borough traffic jam is not out of the question), dating to September 1960, when Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev flew into Idlewild Airport (now John F. Kennedy International Airport) to attend the United Nations General Assembly.
Debuting in the 1960 when merchandising became a key part of any major network show, there were multiple comic books based on Car 54, Where Are You?, as well as a board game, a car model, and puppets of Toody and Muldoon.
The Car 54, Where Are You? board game
A reboot of the show took place on the big screen in 1994 when Orion Pictures released what would be a bomb in Car 54, Where Are You? Starring David Johansen (of New York Dolls and Buster Poindexter Fame) as Officer Toody and John C. McGinley as Officer Muldoon, they were joined by original-series cast members Al Lewis and Nipsey Russell, and accompanied by Fran Drescher, Rosie O’Donnell, Daniel Baldwin, Jeremy Piven, Tone Loc, The Ramones and Penn and Teller. Among the reasons the movie bombed – the movie was filmed as a musical, but most numbers were later cut, leaving the movie to the dustbin of Hollywood.
A Car 54, Where Are You? comic book
A classic television show set in the Bronx, Car 54, Where Are You? serves as an early TV show set in the Bronx with a legacy that goes beyond its memorable theme song.
“Car 54, Where Are You?” theme-song lyrics
There’s a holdup in the Bronx, Brooklyn’s broken out in fights. There’s a traffic jam in Harlem That’s backed up to Jackson Heights. There’s a scout troop short a child, Khrushchev’s due at Idlewild Car 54, Where Are You?
Da’ Block Music & Arts Festival will premiere at The Bronx Brewery from 1:00 pm to 10:00 pm on Saturday August, 27, 2022. The festival will feature bands Left In The Attic, Ronx, Incircles, and artists Pigkaso, Iamchelseaiam, July Quin, and Emelia Vero.
Da’ Block Music & Arts Festival
Holding the mission that empowering local music in the borough, creating a safe space for culture and providing a platform for the local community will help build a lasting creative legacy, Da’ Block Music and Art Festival will also hold a jam session by That Houseparty Tho as well give vibes with DJ First Class, Ultraviolet and Lynn. The collaboration between Bronx creatives Bryan Durieux, Uptown Melody and The Fox & King contributed to this exciting festival.
The Fox and King, Inc. (TFAK) is a Bronx located artist development, booking and media agency founded in 2011 while The Uptown Melody is a platform dedicated to highlighting Bronx and Uptown creatives through dynamic live music events created by Bronx-native singer Ayanna Williams. Bryan Durieux is a Bronx-based artist takes on alternative R&B/Soul.
“As the birthplace of hip-hop, our local community has provided the world with music, art, fashion, food, literature and pop culture icons.”
Ayanna Williams
“The Bronx is defined by its culture and creativity. It’s time to celebrate our contributions with a festival that’s dedicated to our local community.”
Fernando Michael
“We’re empowering the Bronx with our music and our culture. This festival will be the first of its kind in the borough and we’re looking to leave this creative legacy for the next generation.”
Bryan Durieux
Tickets for the festival will go on sale this week via Eventbrite and will also be available to patrons at the door on the day of the show.
Count the New York Yankees as one of the many entities lined up to celebrate the late Jerry Garcia’s upcoming birthday. August 1 will mark what would have been the legendary artist’s 80th birthday and to celebrate, the Yankees are breaking out the bobbleheads. The first 1,000 fans to purchase a special event ticket for that night’s game against the Seattle Mariners will receive the collectible Garcia bobblehead figurine, adorned in a Yankees jersey, pinstripes and all. Portions of the ticket sales will also benefit the Grateful Dead’s longtime non-profit, Rex Foundation.
The Yankees’ Garcia Bobblehead Night is just one of the events that are slated to celebrate his birthday that day. The Jerry Garcia Foundation, in partnership with Starchive, will also host a benefit concert on August 1 at Blue Note Napa in Sonoma County, CA with music performed by Garcia’s fellow New Rider of the Purple Sage in David Nelson and his band. The event will benefit the Jerry Garcia Foundation who, along with its technology partner in Starchive, have announced an upcoming archival project to help preserve the historical and artistic contributions of Jerry Garcia.
Like the Garcia bobblehead, tickets for this show are limited and can be purchased here. Yankees tickets can be purchased directly though mlb.com.
“Rock the Bronx” summer music series kicks off on Saturday, June 25th, with additional concerts on July 23rd and August 21st on the plaza outside the Bronx Music Hall, presented in partnership with The Fox and King inc. and the Underground FLC.
Bronx Music Hall
The BMHC is run by the nonprofit Women’s Housing and Economic Development Corporation (WHEDco). The 14,000 sq. ft. music hall will be the first newly constructed music performance venue to open in the Bronx in more than a half century. It will offer a variety of flexible indoor and outdoor spaces for concerts, film, dance, live theater, and spoken word events, as well as music and dance classes, serving 20,000 in-person audience members and students annually at full capacity post-pandemic.
The series features emerging artists from the borough and the surrounding area that span various genres bringing a variety of new sounds to the South Bronx throughout the summer. The series will be emceed by Marco Soccoli, a New York City music mainstay who played drums for the band the Roxx, and managed the drum departments at Sam Ash Music and Manny’s Music on 48th street’s legendary music row. Show lineup is showed below.
Blackfort & Black Lotus Band – June 25th, 3:00pm
Blackfort
Leading off the series is Blackfort, a duo of artists hailing from the Bronx influenced by soul, rock, hip-hop, blues and Afro-Punk.
Black Lotus Band
Following up is the R&B and soul music band Black Lotus Band. The band is comprised of vocalist, songwriter and guitarist Duo Greene from Manhattan, keyboardist Sean from the Bronx, bassist and guitarist K$tuss from Brooklyn and drummer V from Long Island.
Francesca Lamantia Savoy & Left in the Attic – July 23rd, 3:00pm
A Multitude Of Drops
Francesca Lamantia Savoy from A Multitude of Drops will start the show. Francesca and her band play both electric and acoustic music and formed in the Bronx in 2019.
Left In The Attic
Then, Left in the Attic, another Bronx-based trio will perform their style of garage band rock. They feature Jacks on guitar, Crissy on bass and Murphy on the drums. The band members met in high school and have been performing together since 2008.
Duriex – August 21st, 3:00pm
Duriex
Singer-songwriter and performer Duriex will close the series. They will be joined by other performers to be announced later in the summer.
The Bronx has a history of being the nexus of important music scenes—from being the cradle of hip hop to the center of salsa music. The young musicians in this series are carrying that banner into the 21st century playing rock and R&B on their own terms, revitalizing the music scene of the Bronx.
– Elena Martinez (co-artistic director of the BMHC)
Seating in the plaza is limited, so attendees are welcome to bring lawn chairs. In the event of inclement weather, the performances will move inside the Bronx Music Heritage Center, located at 1303 Louis Nine Blvd, at 4:30pm.
Events on the Bronx Music Hall plaza are free. BMHC also provides a livestream on their Facebook page.
The Bronx Music Heritage Center (BMHC), located at 1303 Louis Nine Blvd. in New York City’s northern-most borough, will close out their May programming with a series of events featuring dancing, Latin music and a multicultural celebration. Events will also be held at Bronx Music Hall Plaza, located at 438 E. 163rd St.
Although the Bronx was once a hub for music creation and performance, the disinvestment in the 1970s and 1980s destroyed many performance venues, devastating the music scene. As a result, access to arts and cultural programming has become scarce in the Bronx.
The BMHC, created by WHEDco, is committed to preserving and promoting Bronx music, cultivating Bronx artists, spurring neighborhood revival, and providing free cultural programs for the community. T The BMHC hosts music performances, art exhibits, artists-in-residence, workshops throughout the Bronx.
On Saturday, May 21, the Bronx Rising! program will feature Irish, U.S. and Cuban traditional traditions highlighting percussive dancing with the groups OYU ORO and CITY STOMPERS. The show starts at 8:00 pm at the BMHC, and the cost is $7 at the door.
On Friday, May 27, BMHC will present ABAZOS ARMY as they gear up to promote their upcoming CD release. ABAZOS ARMY combines music in a fusion of funk, reggae, Latin music, jazz and hip hop. This is a free show starting at 8:00 pm.
BMHC ends the month with a concert in partnership with the Multicultural Music Group featuring FELIPE FOURNIER & SUPERMAMBO on Saturday, May 28th. This is as free show, held at BMH Plaza. If it rains, the concert will be held at the BMHC.
From the BMHC archives, watch the last program held before the pandemic began. In February 2020, celebrating International Mother Tongue Day, the video features the Bangladesh Academy of Fine Arts performing a Bengali folk dance. BAFA is a Bronx-based group and led by Margia Shiriti.
Lil Nas X, two-time GRAMMY winner, will be touring his debut self-titled album MONTERO, this year. The acclaimed artist will be performing two back-to-back nights at Radio City Music Hall, on September 20th and 21st.
(Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)
The 23-year-old rapper from Atlanta quickly rose to popularity in 2019, after the release and successful marketing campaign of his country-rap song “Old Town Road.” Critics were quick to judge the song, however, arguing that the song was not country enough to deserve its #16 spot on Billboards Hot Country Songs Chart, and it was quickly moved to the Hot Rap Songs Chart the following week. This controversy shot Lil Nas X to notoriety and the song eventually shot to number one on the Billboard Hot 100.
This quick fame would even land him a featured remix of the song with country-pop star Billy Ray Cyrus, which would become the longest-running #1 single in Billboard Hot 100 history after 19 weeks atop the chart.
Lil Nas X Long Live Montero North American Tour Dates:
Tue Sep 06 – Detroit, MI – The Fillmore
Sat Sep 10 – Chicago, IL – Byline Bank Aragon Ballroom
Thu Sep 15 – Toronto, ON – HISTORY
Sun Sep 18 – Boston, MA – MGM Music Hall at Fenway
Tue Sep 20 – New York, NY – Radio City Music Hall
Wed Sep 21 – New York, NY – Radio City Music Hall
Thu Sep 22 – Philadelphia, PA – The Met
Sun Sep 25 – Washington, DC – The Anthem
Tue Sep 27 – Atlanta, GA – Coca-Cola Roxy
Sat Oct 01 – Nashville, TN – Nashville Municipal Auditorium
Mon Oct 03 – Orlando, FL – Hard Rock Live
Tue Oct 04 – Miami, FL – James L Knight Center
Tue Oct 18 – Los Angeles, CA – YouTube Theater
Fri Oct 21 – Phoenix, AZ – Arizona Federal Theatre
Sun Oct 23 – San Francisco, CA – Bill Graham Civic Auditorium
The City Parks Foundation announced the SummerStage 2022 lineup on Tuesday. This year’s performing arts festival will feature 90 free and benefit concerts in 12 different parks across New York City’s five boroughs.
Fans attend a George Clinton concert at SummerStage 2021.
Shows will be held at the SummerStage flagship venue at Rumsey Playfield in Central Park; Marcus Garvey Park in Harlem; Von King Park and The Coney Island Amphitheater in Brooklyn; Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in Queens; Crotona Park in the Bronx; and Corporal Thompson Park in Staten Island.
The first shows in the lineup are two benefit concerts (which are not free to the public) in Central Park. Aurora presents the Gods We Can Trust tour/ Sub Urban will open the concert series on June 4. Followed by Modest Mouse and The Cribs on June 8.
Yo La Tengo performing at last year’s SummerStage.
Summerstage 2022 will kick off its free shows, also in Central Park, with an opening night concert on June 11 with jazz legend Herbie Hancock.
This year SummerStage plans to return for a six-show series at The Coney Island Amphitheater. The most notable of which is the Spread Love Hip-Hop Jam Hosted by Ralph McDaniels and DJ Scratch on August 11.
Another highlight will be the 30th Annual Charlie Parker Jazz Festival on Aug. 26-27 in Marcus Garvey Park and Tompkins Square Park. Headliners for this year’s rendition are composer Terence Blanchard, jazz singer Jazzmeia Horn, and avant-garde saxophonist Archie Shepp.
Outside of its numerous musical offerings SummerStage 2022 will also screen the Oscar award-winning documentary Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) for free on June 17 in Marcus Garvey Park. The documentary, produced by The Roots’ Questlove, tells the story of the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, which was held 50 years ago in the same park.
SummerStage returns with a full slate of shows this year after reducing their number of performances last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, it was cancelled altogether.
“We are so happy to be back in local neighborhood parks after a two-year hiatus” said Heather Lubov, City Parks Foundation’s Executive Director. “Parks have always been neighborhood gathering spaces, but the pandemic brought to light just how absolutely critical parks are to our city’s health.”
Photo by: Buscar Photo (www.buscarphoto.com)
This year’s lineups reflect the diversity that New York is known for. Artists performing this year will be 52% woman or non-binary and 95% of performers are BIPOC.
“Each season, SummerStage has always presented a festival full of talent as diverse and broad as the communities that host these performances in parks across all five boroughs,” said Erika Elliott, Executive Artistic Director of SummerStage. “The artists we are presenting this season not only represent their own distinct cultures but reflect the global diversity that truly matches the spirit of New York City.”
The full lineup can be found on the SummerStage 2022 website.
