Funk Fest 2022, Good Music, Food & Community

Recap of the Funk Fest Summer of 2022, held at the amphitheater in Orlando, Fl

Pictured: Recording artist Jazmine Sullivan/ photograph by @adriennexjones

“ It’s always a good time to celebrate the musical contributions of black musicians, and this year, the Funk Fest Tour is providing a dynamic live show and an exclusive virtual experience in the spirit of Black Music Month”- Elora Mason, Publicist

Funk Fest Day 1: Ladies Night

This past June, the annual #FunkFestTour showcased big ticket celebrities to kick off what is known as #BlackMusicMonth. It was two days full of performers that really rocked the crowd the weekend of the 3rd. Day 1 of the fest was star studded and all about the ladies - with such performances from Egypt, Tweet, Trina, Jazmine Sullivan and the queen of Hip Hop Soul, Mary J. Blige.

A little over twenty years ago, the Funk Fest was launched by founder Leo Bennett in Mobile, AL back in 1994 to give the black community an event where we can embrace our culture freely through music. Since then, the Funk Fest has became one of the longest running R&B concert tours in the US.

When we showed up, we were met with crowds of attendees collectively herding to the gates - a mixture of generations that extended from baby boomers to Millennials. Although the weather was a bit rainy, people came prepared with umbrellas and ponchos.

HITTING THE STAGE

First up, we saw a delightfully choreographed ensemble by Egypt (@iamegyptmusic). As the opening act, she graced the stage with a silver studded blacked out bodysuit, truly commanding the audience's attention. Secondly, the legendary southern hummingbird Tweet (@tweet_) floated up on stage with such an elegant and soulful energy. She began performing one of her classic numbers "My Place" from her studio album Southern Hummingbird, released in 2002.

When we get to see our lady Trina (@trinarockstarr), the crowd turned ecstatic to rap along to "Bad B---h". Trina truly engaged with the fans bringing nothing but high energetic vibes throughout each number she performed. As the show events moved along, the Funk Fest attendees prepared for Jazmine Sullivan's (@jazminesullivan) stage appearance while stage crew worked their magic setting up her band. She finally stepped on stage in an asymmetrical white leather jacket sweeping the crowd up with "Bust Your Windows". Sullivan's background vocalists were in all white as well, with such a well coordinated light dance routine.

The anticipation waiting for the Queen of Soul herself enticed the crowd more once they knew it was getting close to time. Some began to chant her name while others began recording on their smartphones ready to capture the right shot of Blige as she made her entrance on to the stage. We were fortunate enough to catch the backstage entrance, as her motorcade rolled up to the stage for a clean New York style arrival. As we made our way back to the pit, we noticed it became a little too crowed with fans and other media outlets clambering to be in the perfect spot for a clean shot of her first couple numbers. Although we lost that battle, it was still an experience to even be that close to the Queen herself.

Funk Fest Day 2: The Guy-Takeover

Fellas, this day was still for the ladies. Especially with the sensual performance that Raheem is expected to give. With his signature rose toss to his fans and using the mic as a proxy of a woman at times, it got a bit steamy for the fest-goers. That's not to say that all performances on day two catered to us women. Carl Thomas' approach was very entertaining - in the sense of maintaining that 90's soulful vibe when performing his hit "I Wish".

I decided to not rush back to the pit for Jodeci's performance, not because it wasn't spectacular, but wanted to get an aerial view of their performance. If I didn't know any better the fest-goers came to see Ka-ci and Jo-Jo. I mean, let's face it, their all leather ensemble transported us back to 1994 like we never left. Then, night hit and we saw the southern gentleman, Anthony Hamilton, smoothly take the stage with his hyped background vocalists. The hospitality Hamilton brought to the stage felt like a trip to the Carolinas taking the scenic route as the sun sets...my apologies, sometimes the poet comes out.

THE HUMAN BEHIND THE PERFORMER

As someone who is always actively seeking out the raw posivity of others, the goal was to people watch to the umps-teenth degree. Capturing the natural vibes of the festival of course, but also show the true essence of the people. Sometimes, I find that difficult to do with performers, for they have to always look and present themselves in certain ways to appease their fans. You know, give a good show. But There were some shining glimpses of momentary humanisms that came about. These moments particularly happened backstage. Even though the pressure of looking "tip top" was still on, I noticed that most of the performers preferred the more intimate environment and being able to blend in (as much as they could) and overall fellowship with others. Now, don't get me wrong, of course the cameras and mics were still turned on but the you can tell the shift of energy happened once they could have this moment of satisfaction.

I wanted to be respectful of each talent by not getting too close. Some would say, "you don't get fed that way" which in a lot of cases that holds validity. But for me, I understand the importance of personal space and when to approach. I'm an introvert at heart so space is how I recharge before facing the world the next day. But I noticed how at some point certain talent did not look at anyone with cameras with endearing energetic vibes - more like with intrusive eyes. But then it dawned on me, paparazzi, news media outlets, and entities have been soul grabbing these artists for a while, so when you see another person with a camera ready to capture another shot of you, it can be taxing to the point of exhaustion.

Some may argue that these artists chose that when they decided to become who they are (people in the limelight). I honestly believe that nobody just signs up for someone to cypen their energy for their own personal gain so why should we naturally assume that's what entertainers signed up for? Now, that's not to say that they aren't aware of it being something they will come up against in their industry, and to be prepared for as much as they can, but I believe as the greater collective consciousness, we should be more mindful about lifestyles/experiences we haven't necessarily lived. It's like that saying, to be kind to everyone you meet because you never know what someone is going through internally...or something like that. I didn't mean for this to turn into a TEDxTalk, but thank you for coming.

Watch Part I: Girl's Night of the Funk Fest by clicking below.

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