Breakin' Bread 5 - After Thoughts

Late post written in 2013. (Never finished but shows how planning events always have issues that nobody hears about. In the end it all works out. ) Here is the old post.

Breakin' Bread 5 was one of the dopest events I had been to in a long time.  Each time I threw an event, there was always something missing.  But the vibe at this one was exactly what I was searching for.  We had many ups and downs.  Lots of issues had arose. I wasn't sure how the whole event was going to turn out.  Here is the recap:

1)  The jam had to be run by generators.  The owner promised 2 months prior to the event that he would have the power cut on in the venue. He was still in the negotiation process with the property owners on leasing out the location next to his pizzeria for expansion. Therefore, since negotiations were still ongoing, the power being turned on was still an issue. Every week, he reassured me that negotiations were coming along and that the power was being worked out.  A week later prior to the event, the owner disappointedly stated that the power was still not turned on but that he had finally negotiated in obtaining the venue.  He then suggested running the power by two powerful generators.

2)  The lights specialist backed out because of her concern with the generators being used.  Because she backed out, we had no lights at all in the venue.  No power and no lights in which the jam was just 3 days away.  Mike, the sound engineer, had offered 3 of his flood lights to be run off the generator.

3)  Out of town vendor backed out the night before.  
4)  There were some companies/individuals who were supposed to provide photography and videography but never ended up going to the event or went to the event. So I was unable to capture anything. (End of transcript 2013)

(2017 con’d) Actually I was able to capture footage using my own camera. Also, some other photographers were able to make it like Neleh and DJ Paet. Big thanks! Looking back after all these years, this still was the most raw Hip Hop event. Eddie Muchado came thru by running to the gas station to get more gas for the generators. When he got back, we filled the generators up while it was still running just so the music wouldn’t stop playing. Everybody inside was vibing out. It was hot inside but the cold weather helped balance it all out. It was a free event so people were coming and going. In and out the doors.  DJ Mordecai held the music down even though there was few glitches in the electricity. Ginzus were posted up next to him; scratching throughout the night while the breakbeats hit the big ass sound system provided by Mike Miller aka The-Guy-You-Want-For-Sound. Everybody was feeling the energy. Battles were intense. Newcomers like Jon Squared or Greg Nice kept the onlookers second guessing during each battle. The regulars of the 757 brought their intensity ready to roast anybody they could. It felt like the 90s Hip Hop all over again with crowded room full of hungry hungry Hip Hop Heads. (Below: R to L Johnny Breaker, Disko Dave, Delinger. Chillin in the back of the building with the generator in the background)

Lighting
We had no real electricity. We had to improvise on lighting and a few outlets. The lights were work lights that you use when you’re working on your car outside at midnight. We worked with what we could find around our garage.  I remember hanging a central light above the dance floor.  Running the extension cords to one of the surge protectors near the back exit; looked gutter as hell. The set up was as low budget as we could make it. Everybody received text messages to bring 2 extension cords because this was gonna be a hard one to wire around that 1600 square foot leased space. My own brother came by holding 2 extension cords. I remember Eddies girlfriend, Lisa, suggesting to put a light near the front entrance; but i hesitated because it would have been difficult to run the extension cords across from the back end to the front just to get one bulb up.  She did have a great idea but we nixed the idea due to limited resources and time.

Summary
Overall, people came thru to make it happen. Hip Hop was definitely in the building. If people actually paid more attention, they would have questioned the location. But nobody cared. Hip Hop is gutter. It should be low budget. It should be sweaty and unrehearsed. Hip Hop should be felt with positive communal energy to make sure it’ll be a success. That’s Hip Hop. That’s the rareness of it. That’s what we should continue to strive for. Even if it happens in a blue moon. It’s worth 1000 of jams to get that one that brings you back to the real ness of Hip Hop. Peace and love to the ones who made it happen but also to the ones who doubted or didn’t show.  Hip Hop was still represented with and without you. Real winners: the generators.