Friday night was the Lil’ Kim concert that I’d been waiting for. It was at the Paradise Theater in the Bronx.
It was definitely a trek, and I kept thinking “Are we there yet? Are we there yet?” Baby was getting impatient.
But we got there, and I was totally blown away. The crowd there was—and I don’t use this word very often—fabulous. Everyone was decked out and beautiful and totally excited.
The venue itself was absolutely beautiful.
I’m not going to lie, I was on shrooms. (I had some leftover in my fridge, so I thought, why not?) I couldn’t stop looking up at the ceilings because they were so ornate. And the tracers were a nice touch. I think all the photos I took were of the ceilings and walls of the Paradise Theater. It was such a trip. Definitely one of the nicest venues I’ve ever been to. I felt like I was in a Baroque wet dream.
Kim had a live band that was a nice touch. She played her classics and some new stuff. (I wish she would’ve played her newest track “Keys to the City” because I love that song.) She started off her set with “Queen Bitch”, and I instantly became that person that’s rapping along with Kim. Actually, that was everyone in the crowd. Everyone was excited.
There wasn’t any Nicki Minaj blasting except for a verse or two from her song “Black Friday”. That was good because I wasn’t interested in hearing any beef.
Love was in the air. Thick.
Eventually Kim started bringing out her special guests that kept being advertised. She brought out Drita D’avanzo, who is from that show “Mob Wives”. (She’s my favorite mob wife on the show.) Drita rapped Kim’s part from “All about the Benjamins”, and she did a good job! I was happy to see Drita in person.
And THEN, the real shit happened. I’m still tripping and tripping out, you see. And Eve comes out and Ben and I flip out. She starts doing her verse from the “Hot Boys” remix and a verse from another song of hers.
AND THEN AND THEN AND THEN Missy Elliott comes out on stage, too, and the crowd went INSANE. ABSOLUTELY INSANE. Ben and I flipped out for real.
Ben had kept saying to me in the couple days leading up to the concert, “I wonder if Missy’s going to be there…” But I put down that idea with stuff like “Yeah right…” and “I wish”. But then she did!
Missy and Kim are my favorite rappers, two visionaries, and it meant so much to me to see them onstage.
Here’s a photo I found from that night of Eve and Missy and Kim AND Pepa:
They all look beautiful.
One of the best concerts I’ve ever been to. I left feeling very grateful and still feel happy I got to experience that.
Rap royalty plus a nice balance of shrooms.
Heaven.
xo
craig
PS
I bought a concert shirt, too. I never buy those!
PPS
Kim’s hair is so BIG. I love it.
