Here we go again...One Night In Norway

(Written by Hex, kept safe on @houseshoes' myspace blog)

"Here we go again...One Night In Norway"


I was fuking horrible @ geography in school.

I have no fuking idea where the hell Norway is.

All I know is, it's FAR AS HELL, we took 4 planes to get there, & for one night, Kristiansand,Norway was the HipHop capitol of the world.

It seems like a nigga always has to go half a world away to make it home. And for that ONE NIGHT, Kristiansand,Norway was HOME.
It was the home for HipHop & it reminded me of how I felt the first time I heard the SugarHillGang, "TheMessage" or "It's Like That". It gave me the same feeling I got when I saw "BeatStreet" for the first time.
You know that feeling don't you? The feeling you get when you realize that you're witnessing a life-changing event?
The feeling that made you tell your mama, "Fuck a bike for my
b-day, Ma. I want a boom-box, & as many rap tapes as you can get me."
Yeah. You know. And you know the feeling you got when you finally got that big-ass fucking JVC (even if it wasn't for your b-day) & those RunDMC, FatBoys, & Whodini tapes that you played so much the words faded off tha damn cassette within the first two weeks.

Well, it was like my muthafuking birfday in Norway, my niggas.

I'm not gonna walk you thru tha concerts & shit, you guys know how the festivals go, weird performances, OK performances, & great performances from some of your favorite artists & some artists you've probably never heard of.

I'm gonna tell you about a party.

A party in fuking Norway, which I'm convinced is the most blond-haired, blue-eyed place on the planet (side note: no offense to anyone of the caucasian persuasion, but I was standing on the corner under an awning taking refuge from the rain, & two people approached me & asked me for coke. (SIGH) I guess some things never change no matter how far you are from the hood.
So I served them. Sike).
Anyway, we walk into this party, & head to the VIP bar. Some dude is playing some fuking "trance" music or whatever that shit's called, & it's packed in that muthafuka. PACKED. Almost every black person in the club is crowded into the VIP area. Mixed drinks, beers, a few bottles get popped, niggas are chillin'.

In goddamn Norway.

W/ niggas heads unconsciously doin' tha sideways bob like the dudes from "Night At The Roxbury". Fuking trance music.
Suddenly, the vibe changes. Is somebody playin' "ShookOnes"?
What the fuck? & who the hell is that on the mic, shouting niggas out & damn near inciting a riot? Voice sounds familiar.
Cats start getting up & squeezing their way thru the crowd, heading towards the stage.

?uestlove is the best fuking DJ in the world.

Sorry, MarkRonson.
No disrespect, D-Nice, Houseshoes, Dez, Babu. DJ AM. Yeah, ?uest had that muthafuka off the hook. On some HipHop shit. & when he took a break, DJ Chaps stepped right on in, & like Jesus turning water into wine-he kept tha party goin'.

In fuking Norway.

I guess this is the part where I tell who the partygoers were. And I do mean PARTYING, not posted in the VIP w/ sunglasses on,trying to see who could out-cool each other,but on the stage & on the dance floor doin' the fuking Wop (& in some cases the ErrolFlynn).

In no particular order, JeanGrae, Frank-N-Dank, KillerMike, BlackMilk, TalibKweli, PhillyFrank,Damon,& Kirk from the Roots, EfremJenkins, Sarah, & BlackThought. While ?uest & Chaps spun that real HipHop shit.
Dog, I felt like I was IN BeatStreet.
Or @ least on it.

In fukin' Norway.

Oh, I didn't tell you who the host w/ tha most was. Tha dude on the mic rockin' the party from coast to coast (whatever the fuck you call Norway's coast).
Tony Fuking Yayo.
Yeah, nigga. THAT TonyYayo.
The TalkOfNewYork himself.
The dude that arguably 95% of tha cats on this board probably hate on @ least once a year, maybe even twice.
This nigga got into the DJ booth, commandeered the mic, & set it off like KoolHerc.
You wanna know about surreal shit? You ever hear TonyYayo say,
"My nigga BlackMilk in the muthafukin' building!"
Yeah, that'll make a nigga go, "Where tha hell r we again?"

Fuking Norway.

"Frank-n-Dank in the house, LegendaryRoots band, TalibKweli! Brooklyn's in the house! Queens in the house! Detroit in this muthafuka! Philly in the house! KillerMike, ATL! 'CURTIS', September 11! G-Unit!"
Always reppin' his dog & his crew. Man, I fuking love that nigga TonyYayo.
Yeah, & the party's jumpin' like the 1st time u heard "IN DA CLUB" in the club. 6foot blonde broads everywhere, exotic "Disney" lookin' females, some twins from the Norwegian national gymnastics team. IT WAS CRACKIN'.

Real HipHop. Real live HipHop niggas TOGETHER, partyin'. Everybody yellin' "AAAAAYYYYYY!!!" w/ KillerMike when ?uest dropped that Outkast joint. The whole crowd doin' the ErrolFlynn along w/ FnD & BlackMilk when that classic Dilla or Slum shit came on. Everybody dancin' to each others shit, recitin' the lyrics word for word. No airs. No entourages, no fake shit. This shit would probably never happen in the States. Just abuncha niggas 10 trillion miles from home celebrating & loving the music that got them there. For one night, some of the most critically acclaimed names in HipHop were fans again. The Roxy, TheTunnel, St.AndrewsHall,TheRhythmKitchen, GoodLife (LA). For one night, the vibes of all those spots converged into some club in the Land of Vikings whose name I can't remember (TheHollywood?) & kinda brought 88 back.

In a crucial time where people are declaring our beloved music dead & HipHop is in everyone's crosshairs like the PE logo,it was like the first time all over again.
I wish you guys could have been there.
I feel so blessed that I was.

Fuking Norway.

Have gun, will travel.