Ashley August' Book Release Event !

    Ashley August is a 20 year old Brooklyn Native, Writer, Actress, FemCee and New York City's current Youth Poet Laureate. She began her poetic journey during the summer of 2009 at Urban Word NYC where she has taken part in various slams, competitions, and productions. Now August has released her first chapbook through Bronx-born publishing company Evolution NYC.

    The event was held at the funky bar/restaurant Drom NYC, in Manhattan's East Village. It is a very spacious, modern, stylish venue, and the lights were dim for a classy nighttime feel. The evening began with founder of Evol NYC, Ashley "Ajay" Johnson greeting and thanking all of the guests and then introducing out our hosts.

    The beautiful hosts were good friends of Ashley's and fellow artists, Mojo Disco and Jessica McGrath. Both were lively and very charismatic, entertaining the crowd with funny stories and clever remarks the whole night.
    The first poet to grace the stage was Jay Davis who introduced herself and stated that she hadn't performed in about six months, but would gladly be there for Madam August. The pieces she shared were some old, some new, all lovely. Her performance was followed by another good friend and FemCee Nossis. Nossis kept the energy in the room at an all time high while she performed 3 songs that she wrote and produced herself. Our final performer was Spoken Word artist Reynold Martin, who shared three of his most popular poems(I know because I've heard them before and he is amazing) just before the lady of the hour, Ahsley August, hit the stage reading straight from her book "Love Handles"

     "Love Handles" is a journey of the breaking, healing and discovery of Love's in's, out's and between's. It's a Brooklyn soul figuring out how exactly to handle Love. August performed a select few poems from "Love Handles, a few of which most of us were familiar with and impressed the crowd more than she already has before.

Here are a few photos from the night, courtesy of Kash Photography:

Nossis

Ashley August

Reynold Martin

The Audience

August performing alongside her friend Mariah

Mojo and Jessica

Jay Davis

     The hosts kept the party going, as well as the DJ, DJ Flip Bundlez. Somewhere during the night there was a Twerk/New Orleans Bounce battle between Mojo and a friend of Ashley's, I don't know who one but it was the icing on the cake of the unforgettable night.

Get your own copy of Love Handles HERE!
Also, connect with the artists!
Ashley August

EvolNYC

Kash Photography

FoxGold ?!

    Now I know her as Cristal Joshua, but she is now debuting as rapstress: FoxGold. Her first track "Deep Down Inside" hit the interweb just yesterday and it is quite promising. The song is very house, very upbeat and the Azealia Banks comparisons are certainly soon to come. But with this track FoxGold represents and declares who she is.






Listen:

   As a fan of Hip-Hop music I appreciate samples and as a young woman I appreciate other women speaking their mind and not being afraid to tell it like it is. Fox exudes confidence throughout the whole track and though we are all tryna bring house back, "Deep Down Inside" is effective and stands alone. This first single is exactly what a first single is supposed to be. It grabs attention, introduces who the artist is, and leaves the listener wanting more.

I have no idea what to expect from Foxgold but I am excited !

Check her out:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/BadFoxGold
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/BadFoxGold
Tumblr: http://badfoxgold.tumblr.com/

Spring Break in Boston

   Last week a few friends and I went on a short trip to Boston, during Spring Break. We stayed at the Hampton Inn. We were there for 3 days and 2 nights. Most of our time was spent roaming the streets of Downtown and having fun in the hotel. Boston is very different from NY. Their subway system is so much smaller and less intricate than ours and although it is a city it had more of a town/suburban feel to me. What I liked most about Boston was Faneuil Hall, which is their main shopping area and  I learned from this trip that I certainly should travel more, I only went to Boston!

Here are a few photos:

Our Hotel room

a note from the hotel

Breakfast

Breakfast

Our view

The Pool

AppleBees

Quincy Market/Faneuil Hall

Us :)