08/20/2022 - On the 2nd Saturday of Harlem week, I traveled up to 135th Street. Freddie Jackson, Donelle Jones and EPMD rocked the stage. DJ Funk Flex threw on some classic Harlem throwback party jams. I joyfully ate my fried shrimp, sipped on my my vodka infused lemonade, enjoyed the performances and soaked up the vibrant people watching opportunity.
It was great summer vibe. I saw more colorful leggings, sundresses an short-shorts in those 4 hours than I had seen during the whole summer. Okay, enough with the "creep life" stuff...lol
At about 8pm, I decided to head over to my second destination. Back in July, an old college friend had gone to a cool musical performance in front of a brownstone and post pics & video on Facebook. It was called Stoop Sessions and looked super cool. There was a new Stoop Session happening that night. So, I took a leisurely 20 minute stroll through Harlem over to 120th Street and Lenox Avenue.
I arrived at 8:25pm and I was shocked because it looked like there were 100 people standing outside of a brownstone. While standing on the corner, I discovered that the official name of the event was The Soapbox Presents Stoop Sessions: The 90s Mixtape. Also, I founded out that the event is produced by an amazing woman named Marija Abney.
At 8:30pm, from zero to 1000, the show launched like the a Black Joy nuclear missile!!!
The host, performers and musicians were electrifying. And their synergy with the crowd was magical as they ran through one 90s classic jams like Hold On by EnVogue, Creep by TLC, Juicy by Biggie and TV Theme songs like Livin' Single and the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. One right after the other, back to back, blending and mixing through their performances. I pleasantly surprised and completely mesmerized.
Enjoying the show, a felt someone tapping me on the shoulder so that they could get closer to the dance area. When I turned around, it was my college friend, what was the odds? lol. I didn't even know that she was going to be there. So, we got to catch up a bit, small talk and watch the show.
I was totally blown away and got swept up in the whole experience!!! Before I knew it, I looked around and the crowd had grown to what felt like 300 people. Spilling into the street and standing on all four corners.
When the founder and producer Marija announced that her & the staff were taken donations, the Holy Creativity Spirit moved me, I reached into my wallet, took all that I had and ran over to put in her purple bucket. I said to her, "Take my money. Y'all earned it. This is dope and you're amazing for doing this." She gave me a warm, smile and said, Thank you!
Great summer night experience. I highly recommend seeing their future events! Tens across the muthafunkin' board.
Man listen, this was the most unique and dopest event of my summer. See photos and videos below:
