For DMV music, 2010 is off to a great start and the DMV Helps Haiti benefit concert is living proof. The evening was organized by DMV Helps Haiti. DMV Helps Haiti is an initiative that was created out of an idea that was tweeted; it was not just a demonstration of how the DMV can organize and ban together but also bring great music and a large crowd to help people who are less fortunate, in this case the people who suffered from the tragic earthquake in Haiti. With the help of countless entrepreneurs, organizers, promoters, music artists, volunteers and staff, the event was able to go off without a hitch and it was definitely an evening of enjoyment and giving. Held at the 9:30 Club on 815 V St NW, Washington, D.C., everything from the venue, ticket sales and artists performances to the 9:30 Club’s staffs wages at the event were donated for charity to the Partners in Health Organization and Wyclef Jean’s Yéle Haiti. This was not just a good look for Haiti, but also a good look for the DMV as the concert was graced with the presence of ‘out-of-towners’ from as close as North Carolina and Pennsylvania to as far away as California and Boston.

It wasn’t just the fact that the money from each twenty dollar general admission ticket would be donated to help the people in Haiti that gave the crowd such a positive vibe, it was also the music. There were so many hip-hop artists from the area putting on great performances: Black Cobain, Innerloop Records’ K-Beta, Beam Up Entertainment’s Kingpen Slim, Studio 43′s Uptown X.O., 368 Music Group’s Phil Ade and Raheem Devaughn, Jive Recording artist and Looky Looky movement leader D.C. Don Juan, Organized Rhyme’s Tabi Bonney and of course RocNation’s own Wale all put on some amazing musical sets. It was hosted by Chris Cole of BET’s College Hill South Beach and beyond the artists who were on the ticket to perform, there were a host of special guests, DJs and many great extra performances that were not on the bill. Special guest artists such as Bear Witnez, Paula Campbell and SouthEast Slim also performed and area DJ’s like DJ Money, DJ Heat, DJ Alizay, and DJ Anonymous were just some of the many DJs accompanying the artists during their sets. Big G of BackYard Band, Dre AllDay, Kenny Burns and even D.C.’s Ward 5 Councilman Harry “Tommy” Thomas, Jr. also made special guest appearances to speak about the situation in Haiti and the efforts the concert was making to contribute all while the graphic images of the effects of the earthquake in Haiti played repeatedly on the projector screen in the background reminding us of the real reason we were all there.

Some of the highlights of the evening were Bear Witnez’ acapella rap tribute to Haiti, the beach ball craze and Beat Ya Feet Kings doing their thing during Tabi Bonney’s vibrant performance of “Beat Rock.” Other surprises included Raheem Devaughn’s performance of “Bulletproof,” the DMV’s own Picasso live painting during the performances and later auctioning off the two paintings he did during the concert. The first painting sold for $600 the second for $1200 with all proceeds being donated. Further into the night, we got to hear the freestyle cipher among K-Beta, Bear Witnez, Adversary and Phil Ade, and of course the biggest highlight of the evening was none other than Wale and Tre of UCB’s performance for the final half hour to close out the evening. Wale definitely built up the excitement and anticipation in the audience, waiting until thirty seconds into his first song to make his appearance on stage. He performed “Pretty Girls,” “Chillin,” “World Tour,” “90210,” “Let It Loose,” “Beautiful Bliss” and many more tracks off of his freshman album Attention Deficit and even dropped a quick freestyle for the crowd where the lyrics “Charles Hamilton” and “stay off my label” were spoken (hmmm…interesting). Although his Attention Deficit tracks did get the crowd hype, it was his performance of “Nike Boots” that really made the crowd go crazy. DJ Alizay switched up the beat about three times and it was the sound of Wale’s “Nike Boots” lyrics over the instrumental of Gucci Mane’s “Wasted” that made the crowd come alive. His grand slam performance reminded us all of why he was the headliner for the concert.

Some other songs performed during the night that got the crowd hype were: D.C. Don Juan’s “Looky Looky,” Phil Ade’s “Hollywood,” Kingpin Slim’s “Powder for the Babies,” Tabi Bonney’s “The Pocket,” Uptown X.O.’s “Take Home,” and TCB’s performance of “Sexy Ladies.” As the show started at 6:50pm with Black Cobain as the opening act, there was a packed house by 8:30pm around Raheem Devaughn’s set and it ended at 10:40pm after a freestyle cipher featuring some of the DMV’s best lyricists.

After the concert when asked about the situation in Haiti, Bear Witnez felt that it was “tragic and unfortunate” and said he “wish(ed) that things like this didn’t have to happen for people to come together.” In regard to being able to perform at an event like this one he said “it always feels great to perform…it’s self satisfying” but because it is for something tragic it was very “bittersweet.” When asked about the DMV doing its part in contributing to Haiti and helping with the relief effort K-Beta stated, “events like this are an indicator… we do this to inspire people to contribute.” He felt that the DMV was definitely doing its part just by having the DMV Helps Haiti concert and giving back. He also said that if asked to do another benefit concert in the future he would “definitely” be apart of it and “wouldn’t hesitate.” With great performances from every artist in the building along with the donations and raffles, the guest speakers and DJs and the overall reason for everyone being there to contribute and give to those who have been affected by the devastating earthquake in Haiti, the DMV music scene and the DMV as a whole stepped up and did its part in making a difference for Haiti all while giving a great show for its music listeners.

Greg Akers: Contributing Author
Main image courtesy of Francis Chung