Ovadose by ambitionn < back

With over six stages, 200 scheduled acts, sidewalks lined with food vendor's and activities, coordinators of this year's music fest had hopes of executing the largest and most diverse concert of 2008 in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. But they forgot about one minor detail, the mother of all mother's, "Ladies and Gentlemen... Ms. Mother Nature". Now, I must admit, the only thing that kept me from being washed away into the nearby St. Johns river, or being struck by lightning in the middle of Metropolitan Park had to be the overdose of adrenaline a handful of underground artists exuded while performing for the first time on the main stage at last weekend's Unity Music Festival.

I've been following the progression of this group of artists since mid-2007 at Open-Mic Monday's at Endo-Exo. For those of you that have had your head in a hole in the ground for the past year or so, open-mic Monday's is hosted by 93.3 the beat's T-Roy and DJ King-Ron. I've sat back and listened as dozens of "rappers" hit the small stage with their two songs and a freestyle. I've looked in their faces as the veteran hosts offered a little constructive criticism and I've smiled as I watched most of them walk off the stage never to return. But the fact is, I wasn't doing that alone. Those that remained, were the one's that were strong enough to grow from that criticism and realize the potential in T-Roy's and King-Ron's "open-mic night experiment". Those that remained, were becoming lyricists and were months away from performing on one of the biggest stages in Jacksonville.

Originally, this ambitious and loyal group of lyricists, where scheduled to perform in a small mud-filled tent near the entrance of the park. But when opportunity knocked, they all agreed to take it. We all followed as an amped T-Roy led us past the empty tent and over the hill toward the vast, unoccupied main stage. Now I'm no performer, but as I walked along side the crew I began to feel a faint sense of arrival, as if, this were the day that every hip-hop lover in Jacksonville were going to know my name. As we walked a little further, the aroma from a nearby shrimp vendor, realigned my sense of reality. I realized that, I was just hungry, and that I was simply sharing the anxieties of my cohorts.

Two shrimp baskets later, a clap of thunder made me look to the sky as Them Grown Folks were performing their underground hit, "The Swim". I remember thinking back to the last time I was at Metro Park for a photo shoot for one the scheduled acts, Ms. Lex. A smile came across my face as I remembered how we had to jump the gate and elude security just to get onto the stage. But my reason for doing that was because I wanted her to always think big when it came to this music grind. Never settle for being a small stage rapper, become a big stage lyricist because music will always be bigger than you, so give it your all.

As the rain began to fall and the cold winds began to blow a little harder, my head started to nod more consistently. I don't know if it was my body adjusting to the dropping temperature or my mind becoming more aware of the pulsating wave of devotion the other music lovers around me created. We all found ourselves nodding to a growing baseline, even when there was no one on stage.

Once the truth was unlocked in many of our minds that we were overdosing on the love of music, the crowd began to dwindle. Those of us left standing, drenched and shivering, made sure to make eye contact and sway with each of the remaining performers to hit the stage -knowing that for most of them, this was the biggest stage they have ever blessed. As for me personally, I wanted to see each of them be that "big stage lyricist" before concert promoters pulled the plug due to the severe lightning that we were all enduring.

It was no coincidence that the last full performance to grace the stage was that of Ms. Lex. As I made my way to the edge of the stage to record her performance, I noticed the look on her face. And I knew exactly what it meant and that my little camera would not be able to capture the true essence of what is to come next. Forgiving the relentless weather, she carefully and confidently walked out to the edge of the catwalk. The last song of her 5 song set seemed to resonate through the park as her tears entangled themselves in the rain.

As we sang the hook..."Sometimes.. this road gets tough. I'm at the point in my life... when my best ain't enough..." we knew, that despite all of the obstacles placed before those twenty some-odd lyricists that day, we will always devote our lives to overdosing on our love for hip-hop.