*Los Angeles – The waning days of Summer is slowly coming to an end. The current heat wave seems like Summer might decide to stick around for a while.
The Labor Day weekend, September 1st-4th, 2017, provided Angelenos with many opportunities to get outside and partake of the cultural events spread out throughout the Greater Los Angeles area.
The inaugural West Adams Block Party was the ultimate street party to usher out Summer. This was a free event, that featured music from jazz, funk, soul and hip hop artists. A steady stream of guest DJ’s manning the ones and twos, insured that there wasn’t any downtime during the party in the streets with various styles of dancing in the streets.
The kids were engaged with Face painting, a bounce castle and other interactive games. Delicious Vinyl co-owners Mike and Rick Ross should be applauded for producing this massive event, that people hope will become another annual signature event for Los Angeles.
Yes, there was yummy food, especially pizza from Delicious Pizza and other established food vendors.
The West Adams Block Party also played host to a pop-up of the Detroit-based donut shop Dilla’s Delights Donuts in honor of legendary producer-rapper J Dilla. Many of the entertainers gave a shout out to J Dilla all afternoon. The artists also thanked Mike and Rick Ross and their team for organizing this awesome block party with its positive vibes.
The West Adams Block Party was held on Sunday, September 3rd, from 2pm-10:00pm, hosted by DJ Qwess Coast and Girl is Tough on a hot day in Southern California. The party was in full force when I arrived on site.
The.Wav rocked the stage with a high energy set of original tunes featuring guest vocalist Amanda Fallon. Their tight set was highlighted by the tunes “Proposition,” and “War.”
The energy on the stage kept heating up leading up to the appearance by Mellow Man Ace. His son, Cazall Organism opened for him to get the crowd all riled up while manning the controls in the DJ booth. Cazell Organism intro brought out Mellow Man Ace to perform “Mas Pingon,” “Lowrider,” followed by a medley of Cypress Hill tunes. He continued with “So Ruff, So Tuff,” “Classics,” “Mentirosa” that resonated with the crowd and concluded his set with “Good times.”
Tiffany Gouche captivated the crowd with a set of original tunes during her time in the spotlight. Polyester Saint followed by Don Kennedy were additional old school cats to entertain the huge diverse crowd.
The hype built up leading to up to Talib Kweli taking the stage. He didn’t disappoint as he share classic hits from his musical catalog. He performed a couple of songs to pay respect to Steely Dan.
Doug E. Fresh put the finish touches on a great show to the delight of all in attendance.
Delicious Pizza is a hip-hop pizza shop founded in 2015 by father-son duo Fred and Travis Sutherland and Delicious Vinyl founded by Mike and Rick Ross. Located in L.A.’s West Adams neighborhood, 5419 W. Adams Blvd. The restaurants high quality pies and golden era hip hop memorabilia has made it a destination for local residents and music fans alike.
Ricky Richardson is a Southern California based music reviewer, writer, and photographer. Contact him via: [email protected]
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