Philly 360° Exclusive: Backstage at Heineken Inspire

July 16, 2010

Stephen Starr's Washington Square

July 17, 2010

Theater of the Living Arts (TLA)

Last weekend was a musically-driven, inspiring and stellar time in Philly – and I want to give you an all access look at all that transpired.  

On Friday night, I gathered with a mix of old and new colleagues for the Heineken Inspire dinner at Stephen Starr’s Washington Square.  It was a good looking mix of young, progressive influencers who were gathered for no other reason but to foster our city’s creative energy by acknowledging the behind the scenes players in media, music, politics and sports who contribute to our current renaissance.

The next day, I headed over to the highly anticipated Heineken Inspire Concert at the TLA featuring J. Cole, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Musiq, Philly 360° lead creative ambassador Marsha Ambrosius, and to top it off, a surprise appearance by Freeway that took the crowd by storm.

Backstage, we had a chance to sit down with some…

Urbanista Chic: Andrea

Philadelphia is home to some of the coolest people. During my fun filled afternoon of Global Fusion  festivities over the weekend, I met up with Andrea, social media and design expert. She was present in her usual fabulousness and sporting the urbanista vibe.

To get Andrea’s look you can:

Head into Duafe Holistic Hair Care (3502 Scotts Lane) and ask Philly 360° creative ambassador Syreeta to give you a straw set.

Go on over to The Bambi Project at The Piazza (1001-13 N. 2nd Street). You’ll be in uber heaven as they show you their selection of handmade local jewelry.

Swing into Topstitch (54 N. 3rd Street) for asymmetrical tops and balloon legged pants.

Mocha latte and Blackberry not included.

I consider myself more Philadelphia than a cheesesteak. My native pride is a shade of a cool dark brown inspired by a rich patchwork of history that springs from generations of musical legends that my home town breeds. As Memphis is known for the blues, Detroit for funk and Atlanta has Crunk, in my humble opinion Philly is unparalleled in soul, jazz, hip hop and pop. In the coming months I will share with you my insider’s view of our city’s contemporary music culture.

June is Black Music Month and here in Philly, we’re celebrating with native sons and daughters’ musical releases, festivals and more. 2010 promises to be a stellar year with upcoming projects from modern renaissance women Jill Scott (poet, singer, film and TV star), internationally renowned poet Ursula Rucker’s seventh studio album, She Said; hip hop legend and MC Bahamadia’s fourth album, Here, singer-songwriter debut solo projects from Marsha Ambrosius (formerly of Floetry) and Nikki Jean; and last but certainly not least, a little hometown band known as The Roots with their tenth album release, How I Got Over.

I encourage…

CHECK OUT THE PHOTO SLIDE SHOW ABOVE FOR EXCLUSIVE PICS FROM THE PHILLY 360° HEINEKEN GREEN ROOM!

photos by L. Whitaker for GPTMC

The 3rd annual Radio One Music & Entertainment Conference went down yesterday and had I not had the opportunity to mix and mingle in the Philly 360° Heineken Green Room with old friends and colleagues from my hometown, I might have thought I was backstage at the BET or Source Awards!

A mix of past, present and future stars of R&B, hip-hop and gospel amassed in the city of brotherly love to network, promote, listen and critique the work of over 1,000 aspiring artists. Legends like Stephanie Mills and Andre Harrell greeted each other with open arms and hugs and shared industry war stories with contemporary players like Jermaine Dupri, Pharell, Jim Jones, Teairra Mari and Yolanda Adams.

My favorite part of the day was having the opportunity to reconnect and reminisce with local heavy hitters like super-producers Carvin, Ivan and Mike McArthur, the creative team that made Musiq Soulchild a house-hold name; witness Philly 360° creative ambassador Marc Byers lecture and guide his protégé’ Khemist, exchange a few jokes…

Tayyib Smith

Founder of Little Giant Media and Publisher of two.one.five magazine

Mr. Smith has long been a successful conduit between artist, niche brands, and the music industry, earning the respect of corporate brands for his unique ability to connect with the hearts and minds of the trendsetting youth market via facilitation of successful relationships. His reputation as a musicologist and social planner started with a chance encounter in youth with friend and mentor—and Philly 360° creative ambassador—King Britt and has lead to a rich career of experiences producing events that marry brands in the Philadelphia region with culture.

And to his clients—and others—he's known as Little Giant.