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Parent Category: Onstage

Join us for a look back at 2013 and our take on some people, trends, songs, and videos from the local/national music scene that struck us as either stupid, boorish, untalented, or a waste of time. But don’t misunderstand us; we got nothing but love for ‘em anyway!

1.       Kanye West/Kim Kardashian video.

Go take a listen to 808s and Heartbreak to remind you of how incredibly talented Kanye is, and then ask yourself about Bound 2, “WTF?”

2.      Raheem DeVaughn

Just kidding! We got nothing but love for “The Love King” but we do kind of wonder who co-signed that moniker.  It’s kind of retro in a neon pillowcase kind of way. So is the album cover for “A Place Called Love Land” but the music is, as always, superior.

3.      BET Music Awards

BET sucks, in case you didn’t know.

4.       2013

2013 sucked too, as far as being the year for talented DC area artists to break through. When local radio won’t even play your jams it shows just how stacked the deck is.

5.      The Lincoln Theater deal

Not that anybody should have organized a protest or anything, but the whole stealthiness behind a fabled art house being essentially given over to I.M.P. Productions, which owns and operates the 9:30 Club is still a head scratcher. Were the other competitors who bid to manage the theater completely out of their depth? Or did the Arts Commission engage in a bit of racial gerrymandering and conclude that the Howard Theatre was all the venue black audiences in DC required?

6.      Young DC rappers trying to sound like 2 Chainz

Work on your own distinct style! 2 Chainz is a flavor, not very deep, not all that nice.

7.      DC Elected Officials

These folks bend over backwards to spend money on bike lanes and dog parks, on the doomed to fail Living Social, on tech incubators Fortify and 1776, but won’t put a quarter into supporting DC artists and musicians in a tangible way.

8.     Rock The Bells

How you goin’ cancel the DC date?

9.     Trillectro

No, just kidding about that too. The Trillectro Music Festival best represents DC swag. But you can’t be in the music business in this town and not seriously envy the guys who put it together.

10 Any Hip Hop artist who performs over tracks

Music is a live experience. When you show up for a performance with pre-recorded tracks and basically lip synch your way through the show, that’s a fail homie. Take some notes from Awthentik!

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Parent Category: Onstage

Over the past few years that OnStage has featured the work of local artists in the OnStage Video Showcase we’ve had the opportunity and pleasure of viewing the work of practically every name you can think of when it comes to DC, Maryland, and Virginia. Our area is filled to the brim with talent – always has been - and the spigot doesn’t show any sign of turning off anytime soon. But like the national scene what we aren’t seeing too much of are the ladies. So our question; are we seriously uninformed and missing out on dope local female MC’s, or are there really not enough around?

Obviously the best way to get an answer would be to just ask DJ Heat whose DC Mumbo Sauce is the signature place to go for all things local in Rap and Hip Hop. But DJ Heat is busy, so we put the question to you. Can you come up with a list of local female MC’s who can rock the stage anywhere, anytime, and when you compile that list can you do it without including RAtheMC?

Here are three names that we do have in the Video Showcase we think should be included in any list of ten:

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Parent Category: Onstage

Cool Kids Forever Films is one of the most-noted and sought-after music cinema companies in the Washington, DC region. On November 6, the creative group released their five latest artist projects before a crowd of approximately 200 supporters at the “#5XCool” (Five Times Cool) video premiere event held at Indulj Lounge in Washington, DC – 5 Videos. 1 Night. 100% Cool: new projects included Uptown XO's “Real DC”; Priest ft. Maybach Music Group Artist Fat Trel in “On Deck”; Good Hood “Quotables”; Joey Swagga, “Word Around Town”; and Slutty Boyz' “Y'all Ain't Ready.” The Artist Cierra Lynn’s live painting added to the ambiance of the event.

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Parent Category: Onstage

By the time we’d pulled into a parking space that finally opened after 20 or so minutes of cruising and praying, a light but steady rain was promising to skewer any unbiased take on this year's H Street Festival. Unless you live in a drought stricken country the words “festival” and “rain” don’t generally belong in the same sentence so admittedly we got off on a sour note. Or maybe that was the second sour note, since when we’d surveyed the line up for this year’s musical acts we noted the relative scarcity of hip hop when compared to the filled-to-the-brim offerings of just last year. But we had a good time anyway. Nu Era and Trilogy III rocked the 4^th Street stage and as we watched them jam we kicked it with the homie Yinka Diz who definitely should have been on the program. Then we caught up with our friend Keith Killgo, drummer for the legendary BlackByrds, just before they performed on the 8^th Street main stage. And last, but not least, we watched closing act Fathers Children do their thing before the evening came to an end. Check out some of the attendees in the OnStage Photo Showcase and here’s hoping the 2014 H Street Festival will be bigger, better, and dryer!