So Raphael Saadiq was in the Bull City last week, opening for John Legend at the new Durham Performing Arts Center, downtown. I didn't get to catch the show, but my homegirl Julie Pitts (check her out: myspace.com/juelz336 - she's incredibly dope!!!) designed a T-shirt for for him, so she was able to land herself 3 tickets to the show, plus backstage passes. Fast forward about 3 hours, Julez, her two friends and Raphael are looking for a place to kick it after the show. They heard there was going to be an after party at Symposium (at American Tobacco), but they didn't know how to get there so Julie called me to escort them. We got there, had a drink, it was LAME.

Meanwhile, right up the street, Eric and Pete were playing a gig at George's Garage with their incredibly talented 13-piece salsa band, Orquesta Gardel (check them out: myspace.com/orquestagardel). So, in honor of John Legend, (and to quote Andre 3000) I turn to Julie and Raphael and say: "let's blow this lame nicca factory". I told them about Orquesta Gardel, and Raphael Saadiq responds: "as soon as I finish my drink, we're OUT". We load up in the whip, and roll to George's where we found a $20 cover and a stingy bouncer. Luckily, Pete put us on the list - and even though I was wearing jeans and sneakers - he reluctantly let us in. This was, of course, AFTER I told him that I was with an artist who was up for 3 Grammy's this year. It's crazy what a little stunting will get you.

Anyways, we get into the club, and there's close to 250 people of all ages, ethnicities and denominations, breaking it DOWN. Seriously, it was like we stepped into some night spot in Havana, Cuba - I had never seen anything like it! Everyone was spinning, getting dipped, moving their hips, dropping it like it was hot - you name it! I later found out that people came from as far as Virginia and DC to be a part of this "Second Saturday's" Salsa night at George's. Who knew? And as we're on the dance floor, trying to keep up with the professionals.. who do we run into, but Julie's parents. Apparently Salsa is one of their hobbies, and the recession won't let $40 keep the Pitts family between them and a good time. So Rapahel scoops up Julie's MOM and starts dancing. Meanwhile, Juelz is flipping out, next thing I know, I'm dancing with her mom - breaking out moves that I didn't even know were within me. We danced, like, SERIOUSLY for like.. 1 and a half, 2 hours strait. Then finally, at about 3am - I dropped Raphael, Juelz and her friends back at American Tobacco where Julie's car was parked.

Always the opportunist, I took the last moments before I released Raphael Saadiq from my custody - to interview him for my blog, Blackademics. Here's the interview (note The Beast CD hand-off at the end):