VSB Happenings: #REMINISCEDC (5/5/12), #DEFJAM25DC (5/12/12), Sweatshirts

It’s been a long time, we shouldn’t have left you, without a newsletter to skim thru. It’s your main ninja behind the motherlovin’ trigga, Panama Jackson, and I’m here to talk shop with you today. For starters…hello. How you doin? How ya mama doin? Good? Great. First things first…we’ve got some events to talk about.

5.5.12 #REMINISCEDC | Liv Nightclub, Washington, DC
First up, it’s time for another edition of #REMINISCEDC, the party dedicated to all 90s music at Liv Nightclub in DC!!! Straight hip-hop/r&b/dancehall brought to you by Very Smart Brothas x Shine On Me x Just Cause Events. Come party with us THIS Saturday, May 5, also know as Cinco De Mayo (rock your sombrero), FOR FREE! It’s FREE before 11pm with RSVP (reminiscedc.eventbrite.com) and $10 after, there’s an OPEN BAR from 930-1030PM (sponsored by Courvoisier) and NO DRESS CODE. It’s cheaper to come out and party!!!! After you down all the Coronos and Margaritas you can, come party with us! Plus, we’ll have $5 drink specials all night long. Really, you can’t beat it. Peep the flyer!

Then, there’s ANOTHER dope event to talk about for the hip-hop lover in you! It’s the celebration of Def Jam’s book talking about their first 25 years in existence happening in DC. Peep the Details:

5.12.12 Def Jam 25 | The Lincoln Theatre, Washington, DC
Join us as we pay homage to the 25 year milestone of the iconic Rap Label-DEF JAM & The Book it inspired- “Def Jam: The First 25 Years of the Last Great Record Label”. Check the festivities below.

CONVERSATION with Cey Adams-Def Jam’s founding Creative Director, Bill Adler-founding Publicist, Rap Legends EPMD, invited guests DJ Spinderella (Salt-N-Pepa), Timothy Anne Burnside [Smithsonian Institution NMAAHC]…

PERFORMANCES by The Legendary EPMD, Asheru, Carolyn Malachi, Tabi Bonney, Maimouna Youssef, RaTheMC, JF Koop, Seez Mics and more

Lincoln Theater – 1215 U St NW WDC 20009
Tickets : $35 adv/42.50 day of/$50 box seats
Promotion Pkg $85 incl. advanced ticket and book

Tickets: Ticketmaster (http://bit.ly/DefJamTix), Lincoln Theater Box Office
Or to arrange drop-off service (DC) email us : info@hedrushmusic.com

Info: info@hedrushmusic.com
Facebook: HedRush // Twitter: @HedRushMusic and #defjam25dc

****NOTE: Representatives from Hedrush will be on site at Reminisce this Saturday to sell tickets in person if you’d like to avoid the TicketMaster excess fees!****

AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST, we’re still selling VSB crewneck sweatshrits in collaboration with Coliseum Apparel. These shirts feature the VSB logo and are perfect for every day hanging and support of your favorite website. Go to the link here and get your cop on. They’re going fast! We really appreciate all of the support that’s been provided to us over the years and if I could buy everybody their own, I’d do it! But I can’t…but I’ll hi-five you if I see you in one!

Well that’s all for today and I know that was a lot! Happy hunting! Thanks for sleepwalking with the kids!

Very Smart Brothas and Urban Cusp Panel On Black Identity & Culture in Mass Media Tonight in DC!

This is a day-of official announcement for those individuals in DC who may not have seen the notice on Facebook and/or Twitter.

Today, Wednesday, February 22, 2012, Panama Jackson from Very Smart Brothas and Rahiel Tesfamariam from Urban Cusp will be moderating a panel discussion on Black Identity & Culture in Mass Media from 6-8PM at the Washington Post Community Room, located at the Washington Post buildling (1150 15th Street, NW).

From the flyer, here’s the intro and purpose of the event:

Panama Jackson of Very Smart Brothas and Rahiel Tesfamariam of Urban Cusp will moderate a Black History Month dialogue led by a panel of dynamic artists, bloggers, journalists, and filmmakers on representations of Black American identity and culture in the media and entertainment industries. The discussion will seek to inspire guests to have greater individual and collective impact on the shaping of Black American “popular culture.”

If you’re available and in Washington, DC, tonight, come on through and join in on the discussion and if we’re lucky, it will be like a real live VSB post in action. Complete with comments and the whole 9.

See you tonight!

-VSB P

DC Happy Hour!

Hey VSBs and VSSs in the DMV area, we just wanted to give you a heads up about a Happy Hour we are co-hosting TOMORROW in DC in conjunction with The Usual Suspectz and Elevated Entertainment.

Details below. If you can make it, please come and rep for all the VSBs and VSSs who ask us where do we all hang out at. Panama Jackson (and Liz) will be there to meet and greet you all! Continue reading

A Forum For Black Men: Featuring Panama Jackson, Wale, Dr. Steve Perry and Enitan Bereola

What up VSBers,

This is just a quick note to let all the folk in the FAMU/Tallahassee area know VSB’s Panama Jackson will be speaking TOMORROW (Thursday) at their FAMU Man Rising conference. He will be on the Forum For Black Men Panel with Dr. Steve Perry, Wale and Enitan Bereola. Peep the details:

If you’re going, or are in the area and wanna meet up with P, hit us up for more info. The event will be livestreamed too! If and when we get the embed code or link, we’ll create a new post (and possibly a chat) here on VSB tomorrow at 7pm EST. Now back to our scheduled post for the day.

VSB Guide: The Do's and Don'ts of BBQ Etiquette

bbq

heavy load movie This past weekend, 2/3 of the VSB family, VSB P and Liz, threw a birthday BBQ in Washington, DC to commemorate our ascendance into wisdom and sagacity. You weren’t invited, unless you were, in which case you were probably there since quite a few people I actually didn’t know were there. At my house. That’s okay, this BBQ was practice of Iversonian levels. For what you ask?

The VSB BBQ. You heard it here first. Coming soon.

Anyway.

It’s summertime in your city. The advent of summertime means that every weekend, save for the weather, somebody you know is having a BBQ. Now you might not KNOW that a BBQ is going on, but perhaps you just weren’t invited.

Maybe it’s because you suck and don’t know BBQ etiquette. Lucky for you, I was born.

Allons-y.

VSB Guide: The Do’s and Don’ts of BBQ Etiquette

Do show up with something unless it is specifically stated by the host that you are not to bring a thing. Nothing is worse than the mothertrucker who just shows up to the BBQ, eats all the food, drinks all the drinks, doesn’t help clean up and leaves. If this is you, go kill yourself.

On the other hand, don’t show up with some twist-ties for some trashbags that you did not bring, talking about “I’m contributing to the cause.” I’m not saying somebody did this this past weekend, I’m just saying don’t ever do that again motherf*cker or I’ll run you over with my Magnumwith two boxes of Kit-Kats in my trunk.

Do make sure to dress appropriately for a BBQ, which is by most accounts, an outdoor event. At this past BBQ, this chick I know (bless her heart) ACTUALLY showed up with a sweater on because it was “cool” this morning.

By the way, that morning, it was 69 degrees outside. The forecast predicted 80. I don’t care if you’re from the 7th ring of Hell where its usually 2000 degrees, if the forecast is 80, wear some loose fitting and non-wool clothes, duckface.

If youchoose not towear the appropriate clothing, don’t complain to anybody that it’s hot as it will give Panama them free reign to douse your dumas with the water hose. Not that this happened or anything.

Do make sure that if you are going to drink alcohol in the sweltering sun and heat that you pace yourself so that you don’t end up being the dude trying to go to sleep on my somebody’s deck because you mixed too much light and dark liquor together and got sick. It just doesn’t make you look good — you look like the guy who can’t handle his liquor.

Do enjoy whatever food that the hosts provide assuming it tastes good, but don’t complain about what they didn’t cook if you didn’t bring a single thing to the table in the first place. There’s nothing worse than somebody who finds a reason to complain because you didn’t have steak at your BBQ when they showed up with a bottle of $2.99 wine. Seriously, who in the flying black squirrel f*ck drinks wine at a BBQ anyway?? That’s new to me. Perhaps I’m uncultured because at every BBQ I’ve been to its beer and hard liquor.

Apparently as you acquire degrees, folks start bringing Pinot Noir to the soiree. Hey ho. Hey hey.

Do make sure to be social. It’s a BBQ: God’s Social Hour. Seriously, that’s how you can tell whether or not you have a keeper boyfriend or girlfriend. If you take them to a BBQ, a social event by design, and they retreat into themselves and don’t speak to anybody except you, throw the b*tch back.

By the way, in that last sentence, b*tch is non-gender specific.

Speaking of speaking, if you do happen to decide to go to a BBQ being thrown by somebody you don’t know, don’t traipse your happy little arse into the person’s abode or pavilion and not speak to a single person except the person you know. For one, a person like me will call you straight the f*ck out for coming into my establishment on some f*ck sh*t. But also, it’s just rude. And nobody likes rude people. People like nice people who smile and speak.

Maybe it’s the southerner in me, but seriously, that’s like coming in my house and not wiping your feet on the rug. Disrespect.

Well, I think that’s enough out of VSB P for now. What are some other do’s and don’ts that people need to be aware of when attending a BBQ and specifically the upcoming VSB BBQ?

Sharing is caring people. We’re indirectly healing the world.

-VSB P aka THE ARSONIST aka TANGLE JIG P aka GIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIRL, HE A 3