Road Trip Recap, Day 2 in Baltimore, MD

Friday morning Rekai & I met up with Shawntz. She traveled to Baltimore from Toronto ready to explore. We established a pretty good friendship and finally got the chance to link up. After enjoying the hotel’s complimentary breakfast, it was only right to go thrifting.

Noelle, the waitress from Supano’s that I told you about, put us on to DeBois Textiles and Blessed Treasures of the Earth. DeBois Textiles is huge warehouse in Baltimore where they grade and sort new textile remnants. Inside there is a vintage shop and a thrift shop. The vintage shop was cool but the real deals were in the thrift shop. Huge bins labeled from women’s blazers to men’s work attire. Good prices too like $2, $3, and $5.

Blessed Treasures of the Earth was the second stop on the list. It’s a house turned into a thrift shop. The vibes were good. The owner, Love Strength, welcomed us with open arms. Her whole family was kind. Blessed Treasures of the Earth has to be one of the most organized shops I’ve ever been to. Everything was sized from Small to XL and sorted sleeveless to long sleeve. It was two floors deep with a peace of mind to shop.

 I fell in love with this Bob Marley cloth. If only it was for sale. I don’t blame them though, if I had it I wouldn’t sell it either! From there we stopped by Goodwill and just explored different areas of Baltimore before getting ready for Mr. Yasiin Bey.

Tonight’s the night!  

Tonight was the night. The main reason we were in Baltimore. Yasiin Bey aka Mos Def was performing at Rams Head Live. Before the concert I read about the Rock Star Bar. It’s next to Rams Head Live and opens a few hours before the show. You can chill and enjoy happy hour, then enter Rams Head Live ten minutes before they open the doors to everyone. Rekai, Shawntz, and I showed up ready to experience this Rock Star Bar only to find out when we got there they were closed. I mean, we did leave the hotel kind of late and as a result we got hit with waiting in a long ass line. We were in line for about 10 minutes when a little birdie mentioned that they were letting people in on the other side. So, we skated from the line and headed through two doors and voila… just like that we were standing front row!! Well, there was a row of like 10 people in front of us but WE WERE CLOSE!

Watch the Duck, a 3 man DJ group (Jesse, Eddie & Jonathan) opened up the show. Before attending the show, I had never heard of Watch the Duck. I was intrigued to hear their sound though. Jesse, who has a soulful voice is lead vocal, while Eddie makes love to the bass and Jonathan strokes the keyboard. They definitely got the crowd going. Plus, they were full of energy. You couldn’t help but to feel the vibes. Watch the Duck sound is influenced by Rap, Trap, Soul, Dance, and Dubstep. All in all they did their thang!

Soon enough Yasiin Bey graced the stage to say Peace and introduced a friend from Brooklyn. He went by the name of Kai (not sure if I spelled that right) and he performed a few songs from his upcoming album. He had good energy but the crowd gave little feedback. Yasiin stepped to the stage again and sang a whole track with Kai. Much love was shown between the two.  

Time for the Main Attraction!

He was dressed in an animal print cap, white short-sleeve oxford with a black collar, tucked in white slacks (no belt), colored socks, and black leather loafers. The MAN was quite fly. It was simple but his charismatic movements sealed the deal on the fit. He opened the show with Casa Bey from The Estatic album. You already know he had his bright red vintage style mic. The whole show he kept you entertained. He did a good bit of songs including Boogie Man, Umi Says, Traveling Man, Sunshine Screwface, Auditorium, Leader of the Gang and Got.

He was just vibing with the crowd. Dancing, singing, and dropping gems. Every time he put the mic down to dance, it was smooth. It made you want to groove with him. In between songs the crowd would call out for him to do Ms. Fat Booty (which is my jam) but Mos knew exactly what songs he wanted do. He even expressed that after the 10^th person shouted  Ms. Fat Booty. He didn’t perform it but he sang “The Panties” to me, so I couldn’t complain. Have you ever watched someone perform and they are just making loving to their craft? Yea, that’s what I witnessed that night at Rams Head Live. Even if the crowd was down to 5 people he would have moved the same way. It was nothing but love and I’m glad I got a chance to experience it live! I was definitely entertained and it felt good to be in his presence!

It was a good night and a good show. Forever in my head… a moment to relive over & over again.

 Much love  Yasiin Bey / Mos Def / Black Dante.

Peep this VIDEO to get a little taste of the show!

As always, I appreciate you taking the time to read. Thank You!