I enjoy trying new drinks at social events with my family and friends. As something slight for me to do the weekend after my birthday at the last minute, attending a wine festival fills the void I have to go outside with “my ass ratchet friends” when needed. I went to the 2ndAnnualReisterstown Beer and Wine Festival with my sister to fill that need to leave my house after being inside most of 2023 with an infant. The event’s crowd was good, and with a purchased unlimited taste testers ticket, I felt good amidst the crowd.
There were a total of 8 to 10 vendor booths for wine connoisseurs to venture into. I’m highlighting two that were my favorite to visit. But overall, it was a good amount of vendors to spend a good Saturday afternoon getting tipsy.
Tipsy Teacher
Tipsy Teacher is a group of teachers who love wine and created a brand to help provide resources for teachers in need. Proceeds from purchases of wines from anything in their collection went to buying supplies for classrooms.
Misfit Winery Coconut Wine
Misfit Winery is a company a person who frequently attends festivals in Maryland might see often as a vendor. They’re a famous winery that I found packs their event calendar on their site with dates of where their wine is featured. I enjoyed their Coconut Wine. I decided to purchase this one to take home.
Overall my experience could have been longer. We spent 2 and half hours at a wine festival, and I thought we’d be there a little longer. I just didn’t feel the need to continue visiting the same 10 booths after I did a round of seconds. Maybe there were so few selections of spirits because this was only their 2nd annual beer and wine festival. But the lack of variety caused us to make our exit early.
Don’t get me wrong. There are many Beer and Wine Festivals for people to attend throughout Maryland. Baltimore recently hosted its first Wine Village in the middle of the Inner Harbor. I also attended The Secret Garden Weekend Wine Fest in Westminster, MD. It’s just that my experience warranted me to say we need more because this one, in particular, wasn’t too great.
Watch We Need More Wine Festivals in Baltimore via Doc’s Castle Media YouTube Channel.
It’s a year later, and I’m a guest feature on someone else’s “blog,” again. This time around I blessed the screens of TJDaDJ’s Quick Bites Food Review.
I first featured TJDaDJ last year during what Black Restaurant Challenge month when I shared the top 3 Baltimore black owned restaurants he reviewed on his YouTube Channel. This year we together reviewed a black owned restaurant in Baltimore named Creole Soul Restaurant while he also interviewed me about Doc’s Castle Media.
Creole Soul Restaurant is located in an industrial food hall and community space in Baltimore called R. House. Owner and chef Shunquita “Chef Que” Neal brings her Atlanta roots and ventures in the Bayous of New Orleans straight to the city of Baltimore to create the perfect fusion between the deep south and rich creole authentic dishes.
I really enjoyed the meal with TJ. I ordered the Oyster Po Boy while he ordered the Shrimp and Grits special. The food was phenomenally tasty and reminded me of the New Orleans vibes I experienced not too long ago on my 30th birthday.
TJDaDJ not only took me on a trip on reviewing this black owned southern goldmine of a restaurant, but he also introduced me to his subscribers with an interview with Doc’s Castle Media. We talked #Thirsty30Body, my latest art collection Tipsy Decor, and a little history of the Doc’s Castle Media brand. I had a good time with TJDaDJ and hope that we can collaborate more in future because I also enjoy trying new cuisine.
Watch TJDaDJ Interview with Doc:
What are your favorite Black owned restaurants in Baltimore that you like to eat? Share them in the comments below.
Doc’s publishes the first Doc’s Thumbs Up Playlist, six years after the Doc’s Thumbs Up segment first premiered as an additional commentary segment highlighting artists on Doc’s Castle Media.
It’s a long time coming, but honestly it never crossed my mind until I realized I was already creating my playlist without noticing. The IG algorithm was strong this year pushing way more musical artists than in the past, and I’m not mad at that at all because I love my ears being immersed in absolute originality. What I did that was so different this time was search Spotify for artists who I thought were cool and saved their songs for “later.” Boom, now I have a list.
I spent an entire year saving songs for later. Beginning Fall 2020 to Fall 2021, I added songs that got me through my days.
Aye, Baltimore! I summon you to stand up first, here, as I’m a native and understand the “Baltimore struggle,” I have to use my first Doc’s Thumbs Up Playlist to highlight the artist I love hearing from my hometown. Just to drop a few artist names that I included in the Doc’s Thumbs Up Vol. 1 Playlist, we have Abdu Ali, Kaotic Couture, Kariz Marchel, Kay LA, T.Ali, Miss Kam, Butch Dawson, Hazmat Caz, and so much more.
I’m certainly not the master of curating playlists. I simply like what I like. When I want to listen to a song for a while, I make it a habit to add it to my own track list like I used to make mixtapes back in high school. So this isn’t that much of a big deal than what I’m about to gas this up to be. But anyway…Doc’s published her first Doc’s Thumb’s Up Playlist. Woot woot!
I’m uncertain if I’ll make another Doc’s Thumbs Up Playlist. I did enjoy creating this one. It takes a lot of work finding local artists to include on this list. I spent many work days searching social media and Spotify to find songs I liked to listen to while working out, creating in my art studio, or to include on my daily drives.
Maybe, if I decided to create another playlist, I’ll do a collaboration with someone else. What do you all think?
Shout outs to these two brands that inspire me to curate my very own playlist. They are themselves Baltimore talent and the few media outlets I subscribe to when keeping up with what’s hot in the DMV region. These local media specialists are a great start if you’re looking on where to find out who’s worth listening to locally.
Karlito Freeze, host of and Rides with Freeze, and former host of Strong Way Radio.
The 5th Annual CM Ball Music Festival was cut short after the owner of CM.Pops Ky McCoy’s mistreatment towards Saxophonist Rachel Winder post her scheduled Saturday night performance at the culture festival. Days later, a social media protest emerges bringing awareness to allegations of fraudulent practices and misogynistic abusive behavior against female performers of the festival. Spoken word poet Maya Camille and artist Amorous Ebony support artists in a Cash App campaign to pay performers not compensated for their participation in the event.
Just short of a week following the blow-up of the Stardust Music Festival, Baltimore women speak out about abuse in the Baltimore arts community at another music festival held during Labor Day weekend. Allegations of fraudulent business practices by McCoy emerge on social media days after artists flock to social media with feedback of the culture festival. Maya Camille, the activist, and representative for Rachel Winder published a series of tweets outing abusive and dismissive business practices with the event’s promoter.
The CM.Ball, as stated on the website, is “an annual celebration of Baltimore creators and entrepreneurs presented by food startup cm.pops.” It’s a complete DIY community-based art project in its 5th year taking a stance to educate on health, environmental, and social issues while stimulating the economy of small businesses and artists. A few Baltimore artists to perform at the CM.Ball in previous years is Blaqstarr, Kotic Couture, Ducky Dynamo, Baby Kahlo, Miss Kam, and many more Baltimore-based talent.
Maya calls Ky McCoy out to be a con via her Twitter. “CM Ball is a scam. Ky doesn’t pay artists. He is a disrespectful, unprofessional, who uses the iota of clout he has to scam artists,” she shares in her first tweet about business handlings with McCoy. She tweets nine days after Rachel Winder and numerous other artists were not paid for their performances. Maya also shares that McCoy blocked her and Winder as followers from the CM.Ball Instagram account when contacted about payment. She further explains on her Instagram McCoy’s belligerent behavior during the event.
Ray Winder retweets Maya saying McCoy is “a true scammer and doesn’t know how to treat artists.” She follows up in another tweet a picture of McCoy. “This dude is a heartless and Spineless scammer. He’s blocked by several other artists. But He doesn’t know it’s not that simple.”
In case y’all don’t know who I’m referring to when I’m talking about @cmpopsUSA and Ky! This dude is a heartless and Spineess scammer. He’s blocked and several other artists . But He doesn’t know it’s not that simple lol pic.twitter.com/ZITJZj24rw
Maya and Winder’s disclosure of a scam artist sparked a wave of concerns from other performers that weekend. Some artists share their personal reviews via their social media accounts. Cash Liss, the founder of Tortilla Gurl, a small black Baltimore artist collective devoted to covering local artists in Baltimore’s arts scene, published a text conversation with McCoy to her Instagram Story. The conversation was a response after contacting McCoy about her payment. The conversation was later shared on singer and producer :3ION’s Twitter account.
THIS IS CM POP RESPONSE TO LISS AFTER SHE ASKED FOR HER MONEY.. (I got this from her ig story) pic.twitter.com/kJzNIK3SOl
This public mishandling led to a “Cash App Roll Call” for artists not compensated for working the CM.Ball Music Festival. Maya led the campaign to raise money for Winder. A number of artistswent to action sharing each other’s social media handles in support of the profit they lost. Cash Liss gave thanks to the artists who supported her in her hesitation to share her personal account with McCoy.
Say Her Name Coalition is a foundation that prides itself in “continuing the work of affirming, empowering, uplifting and fighting for the visibility and livelihood of Black women and femmes.” As stated on their website, “they seek to smash respectability politics, patriarchal and white supremacy systems, misogynoir.” When Amorous Ebony, activist, and founder of Say Her Name Coalition, caught wind of the debate between Cash Liss and McCoy, she expressed with us in an email, she personally reached out to Cash Liss to donate payment towards her performance “after seeing the disgusting texts.”
We contacted McCoy for comments about the social media protest, and when or whether artists will receive payment from CM.Ball. Doc’s Castle Media is yet to receive a response.
How To Support Black Women and Femmes in Baltimore Community
We wondered if there would be future efforts to raise money for helping artists impacted in situations like this. Ebony shares with us she’s “open with connecting and organizing to support them with a separate fund.” There currently are no campaigns with the organization specifically for artists impacted by this incident. In the meantime, the Say Her Name Coalition is a great place to start if you’re looking to support Black women and femmes facing similar challenges. It is their mission is to end violence against Black women and femmes within this city!
Labor Day weekend Basement Rap Artist Butch Dawson celebrated the release of the album Stardust. The Stardust Music Festival took place at the YNot Lot. However, the celebration was short-lived as protesters put a halt to the event speaking out against Karlos Locke, alleged sexual abuser of 20 women within the Baltimore arts community.
A video surfaced on Twitter and retweeted over 120 times, of performers demanding protestors leave the music festival for the disturbance. Protestors are seen in the video holding a white sign with red lettering that says “1 Man + 20 Victims.” Protestors called to bring awareness to sexual assault in the Baltimore arts community. Karlos Locke, former manager for Butch Dawson and numerous other artists under the Basement Rap label, is the alleged rapist in over 20 Baltimore women accusations.
guns being shown signs being ripped encouragement from the artist on the mic to insight more violence towards the peaceful protesters 1 man 20 + victims this needs to end now pic.twitter.com/b0GvB5HiQg
Numerous other videos surfaced on social media displaying disorderly conduct and commotion amongst the crowd. In one video, Butch Dawson is seen provoking violence towards demonstrators saying “I ain’t got nothing to do with no motherfucking rape….Y’all doing all this performative stupid ass bullshit…. If y’all don’t want to support me, don’t support me. Anybody say something negative, pop one of these motherfucker, yo.” A supporter of the protests yells “stop gaslighting,” as a response. Another video raised concerns of safety as one individual on the stage was seen flashing a weapon towards the crowd. The event ended early due to the disruption.
Butch Dawson also released a statement further apologizing for how he handled events that occurred that evening, disassociating his affiliation with Karlos Locke and the CMND Group, and apologizing to all the women in his life. He, later in the week, deleted the video along with remaining photos on his Instagram page.
Source: Butch Dawson’s Instagram
DMV Artists affiliated with the free festival apologize for the position they played during the protest. Miss Kam and Detranada published video apologies to their social media channels while artist Kelow Latesha and numerous other performers personally reached out to supporters of the event regarding how they responded to the protest during the show. Journalist and creator of A Ride Down 95 Kosso is spotted in a video shoving one of the protestors on stage. He also released an apology video. Later in the week, he deleted the video from his Instagram profile.
Source: comment under a supporter’s Instagram post.
Baltimore Curators Speaking Against Sexual Assault in Baltimore
Following the commotion, at the Ynot Lot Saturday evening, event curators and small businesses in Baltimore Station North Arts District postponed shows and made public stances on their social media accounts to stand in solidarity with those silenced and to find solutions that’ll resolve conflicts inflicted upon underrepresented communities.
Mia is the co-founder of Invisible Majority, a “Baltimore-based creative community incubator providing space, services, and support to Baltimore’s independent creative business community.” She often shares her opinions via her social media channels. In her video shared on her business Instagram profile, she shares her support with those who were silenced at the Stardust event. Mia talks about supporting the women in the movement brave enough to stand against sexual abuse, the importance of holding people accountable when wrong is being done, and why this is such a vital time to ensure that we stop injustices brewing in the art scene.
City Beach, a group of artists and event curators known for the Pretty Beach and Heathen Beach Drag Shows, postponed the Strange Family Variety Show to use as a time of reflection. Curators will use the time to send surveys to supporters in the Baltimore Arts community for feedback in order “to hold themselves accountable as event curators, space holders, and humans in this city to ensure that moving forward [they] can be a safe and secure space for everyone to feel heard and welcomed.”
PreviousDoc’s Thumbs Up feature Kotic Couture publicly announced their break, as well, deciding to pause performances and withdraw from the majority of their upcoming bookings.
How unfortunate it is to write about a #MeToo moment in my very own neck of the woods. It’s unfortunate, but not surprising because the majority of women face sexual assault, especially in the professional environment. There’s no exception to the Baltimore arts community. There is no right or wrong way, or time, for exploiting intolerable and inappropriate behavior such as sexual abuse. Silencing someone’s choice to speak out against it does more detriment to an individual’s mental health than finding a resolution. Seeing the protestors brutally treated as if their words are falling on deaf ears is an outrage!
As a woman myself, I can speak as a victim of sexual abuse throughout my working career. I stand with the women silenced during the Stardust Music Festival. I understand that I have a platform I can bring awareness to this injustice that these 20 victims and many other women face. This is why I chose to document the demonstration using Doc’s Castle Media. It’s important that women, AND MEN, speak up and use available resources to spread the word about sexual assault to stop biases and corruption within the arts community.
I am not associated with the protest that took place during Stardust, but I am a listening ear to those ignored. Sexual assault is unacceptable. It is intolerable. All in all, abusers must be held accountable.
What do you think? How can we make sure that the Baltimore Arts Community has the resources for victims of sexual abuse? Leave your thoughts below.
Thank you to the many Pen Pal friends I met in early 2021 from across the world. Today is the day I’m sharing more “free game” for inquiring minds who want to know about what I do. How to Start A Blog as a Hobby is easy. So I narrowed it down to six essential steps for helping someone figure out the basics of creating a blog.
Slowly is a geosocial networking app and Pen Pal generator. It’s an app for “people who yearn for meaningful conversations in the era of instant messaging.” Users send letters, photos, and audio clips to their matches based on language & commonly interesting topics. What makes Slowly authentic to the Pen Pal theme is the time taken by a message to be delivered. Messages deliver depending on the distance between the sender and the recipient. So if someone who lives in Baltimore, MD expects a letter from Egypt, they’d prepare to receive it within 26 hours.
I made over 25 pen pals from around the globe using Slowly. But I remain connected to a core group of 5 people from Ghana, Brazil, India, Malaysia, and Egypt. I downloaded Slowly to meet new people from other countries and gain personal pandemic survival stories from people during Covid. I intentionally sought for the differences and similarities of how we all cope with implementing social distancing into our daily lives. See, I’m interested in how others handle living in a global shutdown. All in all, we were doing fine.
Slowly App Logo
Turns out, everyone’s finding new things to learn and hobbies to take on to keep ourselves busy. While getting to know these people, I learned about the privilege I have compared to people living outside of the United States, too. Upon finding out I’m a blogger hosting my own website, I quickly realized I possess certain technology and knowledge that many people around the world do not have. When asked to share what I knew about blogging so they could take on starting a blog as a hobby, I thought ‘why not share this mini luxury of mine. So as another “free game” post, in which I give free advice for something that doesn’t require much to figure out with time and patience, I’m spilling the tea on how to start your own blog.
How Doc’s Castle Media came to be is from years of trial and error, and genuinely wanting to understand publishing my own content. It’s easy and done for free if you know where to find the correct resources. Aside from what I’m sharing here, YouTube is a great resource for further information. Ten years into blogging, it is still my go-to for new ideas on ways to improve Doc’s Castle Media.
Here are Six Steps to Starting A Blog As A Hobby for my Slowly App friends
What motivates you to start a blog
Start by thinking of your reason. There’s a reason people want to create a blog. One pen pal from Slowly tells me they want to share information about their culture. Another pal wants to use it as an outlet for their poetry. I also have a friend from Brazil who wants to create an anonymous online diary. Anything can be the spark to get someone started on the path towards blogging. Mine was for a good grade in school. Figure out your why for your site.
Choosing a blog name
A lot of bloggers choose whatever they’re writing about to also be included in the title of their blog’s name. People mainly do this to appear easily in Google’s search engine. But your blog’s name can be anything. I named my blog Doc’s Castle Media because I didn’t have a specified genre to write about, just wanted to write about what I enjoy. It took a while to figure out what I enjoyed exploring. So I kept my blog’s name simply by using my nickname because my commentary is the common theme on the site.
Choosing your blog’s hosting platform
Deciding where your blog is hosted is one of the most important steps in the process. This is where you’ll think about what you’re truly investing in, whether this is something for fun or if you have an extra income coming your way. If this is a hobby, finding free websites, like Blogger or WordPress.com, are great free tools that provide easy-to-use templates to start. The interface for some of the administrative dashboards on free hosting sites can be more user-friendly and targeted to beginner bloggers. So use these tools to your benefit when creating a website tailored to your passions.
Use free templates and plugins
Explore and experiment using your blog site as the playground. There aren’t any rules to what you create. Researching free templates and plugins gives your blog personality. This is where you build upon your original content and how you’ll structure how you want to physically appear to your readers. Colors, pictures, or plain text format, you learn through using free tools how your finished product should look like.
Myspace in 2008 was where I originally learned how to edit a webpage using basic Html. Basic Html skills are easy to learn online these days because the information is free. Using free resources, like W3Schools and Html5 Editor, teaches me how to build a page by showing me the coding language that communicates with the backend of my website. A combination of using free templates, plugins, and HTML coding editors can help you build the best website for your blog.
Share your content in an online community.
Sharing your original content on social media gets it in front of an audience that supports what you put into the world. You can subscribe to the big social media sites, but the cool thing about the Internet is you can find even smaller communities within bigger social networks that are more geared to your specific content. It places your material in front of people who genuinely enjoy the same things as you.
Join groups that are specific for the topic or genre of blogging you participate in. Places like Reddit, Meet-Up, or Facebook friend groups are great places to start to find your niche support group for your blog. You aren’t limited to these websites. These are just a few to name.
Don’t be discouraged in the process of starting your blog
Your blog is your voice. Remember you have complete control over what you post when you’re the creator. You have that ability to constantly recreate yourself. So even if you feel stuck or reached a block, change it up and explore something new. Change the topic of what you write about. Do what you need to do to keep your voice. You could even start a new blog. But don’t give up if it’s something you love.
Let me help you:
This was a fun video to record for my Slowly friends. I’m intrigued with what other questions any of you may have about blogging. Remember, Doc’s Castle Media started as a hobby and is still a hobby, but I do make a little money from what I enjoy. I make it work for me. Leave in the comments below questions that you have about blogging.
I briefly covered some of this in What’s Up Doc: Where Have I Been and Hair Diary Vlog. I gave you the basics of the past, present, and what to expect in the future for Doc’s Castle Media. One of those things is the introduction to the Doc’s Castle Tipsy Decor & Art Store. Doc’s Castle, LLC now sells alcohol lamps as part of my Tipsy Decor Collection and Tequila Tasting Art Experience.
I’m highlighting myself today, duh!
I was not lying when I said you will see more of ME on Doc’s Castle Media. I’ve spent the last year revamping and rebranding the website to share more of what I’ve been up to offline – not just sharing current events or talking about what’s happening around me.
In my absence from blogging in 2018, I submerged myself in rediscovering an old passion of mine. Painting, drawing, and many other forms of art became my calling during the depression. DCM Readers from 2018 could probably see a shift in topics covered at that time from being the majority about underground hip-hop in Baltimore swiftly changing to highlighting art exhibitions and museums. This was slightly before the craziness of my website crashing.
A list of mentionable posts while Doc’s Castle, LLC was transitioning:
Not only did I start writing about the visual arts, but I also started an art blog via Instagram named @DocsCastlePix where I shared personal pieces to get away from the stresses of writer’s block and depression. I began sharing some of my old graphics and flyers. I didn’t tell people I created an art blog because I only used it as a virtual gallery of what I like to see of my own work. But we all know what Instagram and Facebook do. The power rests in algorithms and friend suggestions. My family and friends started following my page when they discovered I was posting art. Now I have over 220 followers watching me post creations from my art lab.
Tipsy Decor by Doc’s Castle, LLC
Busy Doing Nothing Podcast is my biggest motivator for the Tipsy Decor Collection. I spent many Saturday nights drinking while recording for the BDN podcast numerous brands of wines and spirits. Many of those times I was caught admiring the appeal of the bottles featured on the show. Eventually, I thought to take a bottle home with me to make into a vase for my new home.
Once this was just a personal interior design project for my new home, later it turned into a plethora of bottles to showcase and share with friends I like to drink with. Decorative vases, stress bottles, lamps, and keychains are just to name a few things I’ve stumbled across creating all this alcoholic art during the Covid-19 pandemic. It is so much it’s to the point I don’t know how to share them all. I often try to find ways to get rid of them. Hosting my first tequila tasting was a start to a brand new awakening for Doc’s Castle, LLC. My next goal was to create an Art store to keep everything.
In early 2021 I invested in obtaining a bartender’s servers certificate. Though it’s not required in the state of Maryland, I am now certified under the TiPS Alcohol Certification program to serve at any bar in Maryland. But I probably won’t serve at just any bar here. I have reservations to serve the majority of different variations of tequila; a tequila bar exactly. I’m taking an interest in the alcohol industry but in my own little way.
Merging Tequila Tastings and Tipsy Decor, Doc’s Castle, LLC hopes to bring people that enjoy art and tequila together in celebration of a good time. I created a new art extravaganza giveaway experience and paired it with a cocktail class. I’m your catador serving you tequila while you win custom-made alcoholic decor, and because you’re having fun, I can guarantee you’ll walk away with a memory that’s one of a kind and possibly a new appreciation for this rich spirit.
Juneteenth Doc’s Castle Tipsy Decor & Art Store Appearance
Doc’s Castle, LLC’s official online art store is now open. We offer a mod podge of things Doc loves. Signature party drinks for small gatherings, magnets, keychains, lamps, and more. We’re now ready to take your orders. It’s not a grand opening as I expected. There were a lot of delays and setbacks. Instead of opening in Spring 2021, I tried my best to open before the summer. But still, it’s not a grand opening. Hopefully, I can do Doc’s Castle, LLC that justice later. We’ll do what we can at the moment.
For now, Doc’s Castle, LLC will pop up at the 5th Annual Juneteenth Dovecote Cafe Art Bazaar. This is the second vending event for Doc’s Castle, our first was over 8 years ago at the 2011 Body and Soul Salon & Spa Annual Back to School Drive. This time around, along with 80+ other art vendors, we’ll have a table that showcases custom decor and visual art created by us. I’ll promote Doc’s Castle Media and give everyone who stops by the booth a piece of what’s new that I have to offer. This will be the first of many to come participating in art festivals and pop-up shops.
There’s a lot to look forward to coming from Doc’s Castle Media. We’re evolving into more than just talking about the dope people around town. Doc also has a talent to share. I hope to merge everything that I’m learning about the alcohol industry with everything that I’ve grown to love about Baltimore’s art culture. I hope to use these to create even more opportunities for this art culture in the city.
Are you looking to sponsor vending events or collaborations with Doc’s Castle, LLC? Visit our contact page and send your pitch!
You could feel the spirit of K-Swift in the production in this one. Issa Rae, TT the Artist, and Nexflix come together to showcase Baltimore city’s club culture in Dark City Beneath The Beat documentary.
Dark City Beneath The Beat initially premiered at the South by Southwest (SXSW) Music and American Black Film Festivals prior to the 2020 pandemic. The documentary premiered mid-April 2021 with a bang on Netflix while artists in Baltimore share in pride and excitement across their social media timelines opening weekend.
I can speak for many in Baltimore when I say we were a little skeptical of the documentary. It’s been years since I celebrated club music. I reminisce of my peak in embracing Baltimore’s club culture when I joined dance battles amongst my middle school classmates. I miss making up dance routines with my neighborhood friends. Those fun moments in my past that I associate with club music and viewed as a distant memory, aren’t as extinct to many artists like TT the Artist, DJ Mighty Mark, and DJ Blaqstarr.
It was in the early 2000s when the city lost its club music queen K-Swift. There are small glimpses of a rise of Baltimore’s club culture – back when K-Swift traveled and advocated nationally for house music prior to her passing. Without K-Swift, the aura is not the same. It’s like the people of Baltimore secretly get jealous of acclamations that other house music listeners from states like, for example, New Jersey claims “to being the land of the greatest club music, ever.” & Such claims are absolutely absurd, of course.
TT The Artist is a Baltimore city arts advocate and director of Dark City Beneath the Beat. She speaks about the hate she receives considered an outsider of Baltimore. Originally from south Florida, TT moved to Baltimore city and fell in love with Baltimore’s club culture while attending the Maryland Institute College of Art. When she left to pursue dreams in Los Angeles, she exited carrying with her the precious sounds of the Baltimore club mix to push an evolution. TT saw something magical. She felt that club music and dance were too good to keep confined to the streets and people of Baltimore city. She sees a culture that uplifts a community that also needs to be uplifted in return. So she created this documentary.
About the Film
The artists featured in the film have the charisma to share with the world what Baltimore’s club culture is about. What I and many other people lack is the knowledge of how they do this. The film sheds light on groups and organizations working to keep the Baltimore club music culture alive. Viewers learn a brief history of club music, the names of staple icons, such as dancers, singers, and producers, in the current Baltimore’s club music scene, and soak up the essence of feeling Baltimore’s original beat. The documentary isn’t so caught up on historical breakthroughs in club music by highlighting influencers that we so often hear of like the well-known Frank Ski, Rod Lee, and Ms. Tony. Rather we learn about influencers in the culture today. A new list of artists comprised of dancers and community leaders like Uneek and Tsu Terry.
I gave the documentary a shot the morning it premiered on Netflix and wasn’t disappointed. I had faith in it doing well so I support it. It stands as a good representation of what Baltimore club music does for those who live here. It’s not so prevalent in my lifestyle as it once was for me as a child, but the beat still speaks to me whenever I do hear Baltimore club mix. It’s near impossible to watch the film without doing the crazy legs or sexy walk in my chair. It should be the same for anyone who’ll stream the film on Netflix. I encourage others to give it a shot, too.
Overall the film gets a Doc’s Thumbs Up because TT The Artist served her purpose well. She paid homage to Baltimore and forged a visual representation for a famous Baltimore art subculture. She works her ass off helping to pave a lane for this art. The film is beautifully done. I commend her and everyone involved in the production of Dark City Beneath the Beat. It deserves to be celebrated.
Watch Hey Baltimore! Produced by Kariz Marcel and written by Rufus Roundtree and Eze Jackson.
I’m opening up another year with the Busy Doing Nothing Podcast crew ready to discuss current events for those lovely listeners who like to do nothing right along with us. We’re here with season five and more readily available for others to find us to stream their favorite podcast platforms.
If you aren’t the one to listen to podcasts but you’re looking for something light to start you off, the Busy Doing Nothing crew is back with more content for easy listening. I’m lucky enough to say I’m still apart of the Busy Doing Nothing crew since 2017. It’s been four years of bliss and sharing interesting topics while drinking with cool friends.
Watch Season 5 Part One: Episode One of the Busy Doing Nothing Podcast
In Season 5, the crew returns to discuss more social topics that make us ponder the normalities and common sense of the world around us. Expect ear cringy content to sharing a bit of light-hearted material, the crew talks to you while drunk about it all. They share a traditional shot of the Drink of the Day at the beginning and end of each episode, and sometimes individually throughout the episode all in good fun to close off each week.
The Busy Doing Nothing Podcast is originally filmed on a 360-degree camera to provide virtual reality interaction with viewers who get right in the middle of the conversation. So listeners can view from a perspective as if they’re sitting directly at the table with the Busy Doing Nothing hosts. The Busy Doing Nothing Podcast also prides itself on highlighting local talent and business owners by either having them as a guest on the show or promoting their cause during the episodes. Some guests to grace the BDN microphone are producer Jony B, rapper 7uca, journalist Ryan Chance, photographers Sofia Vidal and Shae McCoy, videographer A Ross Films, and multiple other talented and business-savvy people from Baltimore.
I’ve truly missed meeting up with my friends every weekend to talk and make light of what’s happening throughout the week during 2020. Before season four was cut short due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Busy Doing Nothing crew introduced a new segment for viewers. In addition to the podcast, there now is a portion of the show where hosts test out and judge each other’s mixology skills.
Busy Making Drinks is a series of short videos brought to you by the four BDN hosts. Each host takes turns in choosing a wine or spirit to use as the main ingredient in a mixed drink prior to the recording of each episode. Hosts record, taste, name, and rate on a scale of 1 through 5 their mixology dexterity. The same mixed drink concocted in Busy Making Drinks is sipped throughout the podcast and viewers are left to infer how good the drink is by watching the cues of the hosts throughout the show.
Watch Haus make her mixed drink on Busy Making Drinks: Haus’ Quarantine Punch.
New episodes of the Busy Doing Nothing Podcast are posted every Wednesday via Anchor Podcast and YouTube. Watch all previous content at the Busy Doing Nothing Website www.bdnpodcast.com.
Stream Busy Doing Nothing Podcast on your favorite platform:
Definitely wasn’t expecting this one. I spend so much time writing and researching about other artists in Baltimore City, it’s really been quite some time since someone reached out to have Doc as a featured guest on their platform. That’s why I’m thankful for Brian Waters of Breaking Through Glass Ceilings Podcast because he didn’t have to do this.
It wasn’t since 2017 in my interview with Whiskey Girl in her blog series Embrace The Crazy, I joined another podcaster to talk about the ends and outs of what’s currently going on in the life of Doc. Then, the topic with Whiskey Girl was of Love and Hip-Hop and to share the intimate tales of a former romance with owner Strongway Lifestyle, LLC. In 2021, I interviewed with Breaking Through Glass Ceilings and shared the many outstanding accomplishments I’ve made so far breaking molds with my brand Doc’s Castle, LLC. Love and romance were out of the question, here.
8 Baltimore Media to Watch for Independent Artists is an article on Doc’s Castle Media highlighting the media I think are dope and provides great insight on artist news in Baltimore. Brian’s Breaking Through Glass Ceilings is one of the eight featured platforms I mentioned. When I reached out to share my article with Brian, I didn’t expect to get a personalized special shout-out for sharing his podcast with my readers. Not only did Brian give Doc’s Castle a shout-out, but he also invited me on the show as a guest on his show! Didn’t think I would turn up being that.
We discussed a number of topics and reason why I do the the things I do for Doc’s Castle Media. Some topics such as when I felt I broke through glass ceilings, the importance of sharpening your career skills using your 9-5 job, who has the best crab cakes in Baltimore, and more. I really enjoyed my time as a guest on the show. So I thought I’d share.
