Guess who’s back? That’s right, your favorite auntie on your mama’s side is out here in these streets once again! Long COVID, you tried it girl. But it will take more than Miss Rona to keep this sturdy shape down. I know, the nerve of me to show up out of nowhere after five years! Two more years and y’all could have had your girl declared unalive. But I’m not here to carry on about my absence. I want to focus on how I picked the perfect weekend, the first in September, to pop back out on y’all. Uncle Charlie, cousin Breezy, stepdaddy Babyface, real daddy El DeBarge, problematic big brother K-Ci and enlightened nephew AJ McQueen came through that weekend and reminded me how much life I get by being outside. So did some of my favorite creatives in the 314 (and 618). Let’s go ahead and get into it.
A Breezy Bowl blast. When I tell you Chris Brown did not come to the Dome to play! Just know that he did way more than just run it. I would borrow a line from BBD and say he “smacked it up, flipped it and rubbed it down.” But the “smacked” might be taken out of context (no shade). However, he popped, locked, dropped, hunched, flipped it and flew through the sky. But let’s give a bit to his openers before I get into how he threw down. Bryson Tiller the Black male Sia kept it cute. He just might be the first person in witness protection to become a music star. I swear, I’ve seen him in concert three times and if he walked up and started a conversation with me, I would have to pretend like I knew who he was. And to the Godsend that finally got through to Summer Walker about actually performing for the audience instead of singing like she is in her dorm room under her comforter, I owe you an edible arrangement. Meanwhile, Chris owes me absolutely nothing! He went so hard that some of the Gen Z and Millennials were complaining. Yes, Richard Slater, I’m talking about you. Your post and the comments had me hollering! But back to Breezy. He gave us more than 2.5 hours of uninterrupted energy. And had he given five minutes less, the Gen X folks would have been like, “was that it?” But we couldn’t say a thing about how he slayed the stage nonstop that Friday night!
Fun at the 5K. Because I am a glutton for punishment and a regular glutton. I decided to take a nap after Breezy and head to the 5th Annual Northside Trap Run first thing Saturday morning, Sept. 6. I’m so glad I did! In these few short years, it has really turned into an annual moment. Hundreds upon hundreds got their run, jog, sassy shuffle and walk on. Can I talk for a bit about how the runners ran the whole 5K with times that I wish I could do in one mile? The winner, Dorrian Gordon, crossed that finish line in 15 minutes. Help! And let me give a shout out to Dr. Duane Moore for his sub-20 minute 5K. Sir, you are making us Gen Xers who are aging disgracefully look even worse!
Uncle Charlie and ‘nem cooked! I can’t tell y’all how wore down I was after starting my weekend with Chris Brown and ending it with my aunties and uncles – including Uncle Charlie – at his R&B Cookout at Hollywood Casino Amphitheater. It’s a good thing my job is still halfway hybrid, or your girl would have been calling in after those Sunday night shenanigans. And by shenanigans, I mean Babyface threatening to find his next wife in St. Louis. Sir, you best ask a few of your music industry colleagues about us – and they will tell you once you fall in love with a woman from The Lou, we will have you emotionally locked in for life. Ain’t no shaking us! Now that you have been officially warned, you are more than welcome to buy my clothes, pay my rent and cook my dinner too. But let me get on with the show! Uncle Charlie, El DeBarge, K-Ci and Babyface brought enough heat to cook pork steaks on that stage. They did not let up or take it easy on us. The energy was on 1,000 (and that’s out of 10)! It brought out those types of uncle and aunties who you can always trust with the aux at the family parties. You now, the ones who know all the right slow jams and the party anthems to play. If you missed it, you missed a golden opportunity. A time was had!