See, What Had Happened Was: The Gift

I hate when people start off a story with “see, what had happened was.” It automatically tells me that their story is going to be total bullshit but I so have to start this story off with “see, what had happened was.”

See, what had happened was, my girl Butta was in town visiting from DC & we made a plan to hook up with our boy Keyknow for shits & giggles.

The jump off point was the Centaur bar where I enjoyed a few cocktails & shit talking began.  An hour or so later we wound up at the second point of the night, which was the Detroit Jazz Festival.

Along the way to the festival, a food vendor asked me if I wanted some popcorn. I politely declined. Then that bitch asked me if I wanted some watermelon. Ummm, did she just profile me? Really? I was like no, I don’t eat watermelon on the street. Wow!

While all of this was happening Butta tweeted:

“Did someone just offer @bygbaby some watermelon? #racialprofiling”

I made a small scene & it took me a minute to calm down from being profiled.

Anyway, we walked up just in time to catch Kirk Whalum & Lalah Hathaway do a tribute to Donny Hathaway.

1st off, the performance was more than all that. It was like epic! The music was killer. Lalah’s vocals were killer. It was just damn killer.

2nd off (do people say 2nd off), it was cold. Cold in the D! Actually while Lalah was on stage, she jokingly said “it’s so cold in the D.” You know that made the entire audience laugh. While saying this, she asked the audience to notice her jacket that had her father’s image on it. It was sharp!

After showing off her jacket, Kirk opened his shirt to reveal his Donny Hathaway t-shirt & that too was sharp. I was like, I need that in my life.  Then she busted out & said that the merchandise will be on her website soon.

Through the power of social media, I tweeted Lalah & said:

“@lalahhathaway I must have one of those Hathaway shirts. I hope they come in husky sizes!!!!”

Fast forward 40 minutes & I’m actually meeting Lalah thanks to Butta. Whaaad!  During our meeting, I mentioned that I was the one that tweeted her asking about the husky fit shirts. She laughed & said that she had one in her room so meet me at the hotel & I got you. I’m like is this real life? Seriously!

Fast forward 30 minutes, we walk up into the hotel to some jumping jazz party. Music was on point, the people were happy & there was a fireworks show. I felt like a kid. I’m like is this real life? Seriously!

Then out of nowhere Lalah appears and hands me a husky fit Donny Hathaway t-shirt. Then we snapped this photo. It was like the perfect random storm. Again, I’m like is this real life? Seriously!

Later in the evening, Kirk showed at the party & I eventually made my way over to him to introduce myself. I was very excited to tell him that his “Cache” album was the 1st CD that I ever purchased it. He was like for real. I’m like for real & I still have it. It’s bad ass.

Funny thing is, Butta & her BFF who was also rolling with us, suggested that I did not cuss while talking to Kirk. I was like shit, this is going to be a challenge. All I do is cuss…. To rise to the occasion, I talked slowly. LOL

Fast forward 35 minutes & we’re all in a cab headed back to our point of origin. Before we pull off Butta is like there’s Anita Baker. Excitement was all in the cab & I’m like that wasn’t Anita. Well, I was out voted 3 to 1 cause everyone else said it was Anita Baker, even the cab driver who appeared to speak very little English was like yeah that’s Anita. Hmmmmm.

What a great night filled with friends, music, libations, randomness & fireworks!

Side note:

That random mofo in the background in the photo above is Gregory. While we were taking the photo, he asked if he could get in with us. Who does that? Well, Gregory does. During the Kirk & Lalah set, he was dancing with his lady friend & they were quite sexually suggested.

At one point, he had her bent over & he had one leg up as he was pulling up to her bumper.  It was quite a mess! No, it was a mes. A big hot one but it did add some hilarity to the night.