RoxFontaine.com is...

Thank you so very much to all of you who appreciate what I do here enough to have voted for me in the 2012 Black Weblog Awards! Your continued support is greatly appreciated. I absolutely could not have done this without you.

I almost skipped this years awards but thanks to the encouragement of a great friend, I decided to do it anyway. Here I am now, writing a thank you as the BEST music blog of 2012! That feels awesome.

I set a goal. I acted on it. I achieved.

I'm excited for the next steps of this journey. Two years ago, nobody had ever heard of this blog. Then, in 2011 I had 4 nominations and 0 wins. This year 3 nominations*, 1 win and 1 runner-up**. Not too shabby. It's definitely a step in the right direction and great encouragement to reach for bigger goals.

Again, thank you all for tuning in to RoxFontaine.com. Hip-Hop's Prospective Perspective.

* 2 categories from 2011 were folded into 1 for 2012.
** There were only two finalists in Best Photography in a Blog.

Motivation: Amazing Sign Guy

By appreciation, we make excellence in others our own property. - Voltaire


I happened to pass this amazing human being twice during New York Comic Con. The first time that I saw him, he was doing a cool spin with the sign, but it wasn't anything all that notable. I still appreciated that he could do it though because I had never seen anyone so enthusiastic about holding a sign.

After exploring Comic Con for the day, I passed him again on my home. This time, I stopped and asked him if I could grab a quick video of him doing the spin thing. I'm so glad that I did because he took it to the next level and went H.A.M.!

Check it out.... 

Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival 2012

"Busta Rhymes up in the place. True indeed."

The Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival was thrown into overdrive last year. The show was already a large success but when headliner Q-Tip brought Kanye West to the stage, it was immediately thrown into a new level of popularity. For 2012, the venue was moved to the more open and BEAUTIFUL Pier 3 and the masses came out for a hot day of music, dance, art and food.

If you happened to catch last years Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival main day, then you also witnessed Busta Rhymes' surprise performance during Q-Tip's set. You will also know that while Busta was as dope as ever, he was not in the best shape. He was winded and not as energetic as we all know he can be. He performed his verse from "Look At Me Now" and couldn't keep up with himself. This year as headliner himself, Busta showed why none of these new acts can hold a candle to him.

Busta was in incredible shape this time, well rehearsed and ON FIRE! He calmly walked out to front and center stage and only asked one question: "DON'T THIS $#!T MAKE MY PEOPLE WANNA....!?" Mayhem ensued and the mood was set. The show was supercharged energy from start to the event planners and NYPD shutting his mic off.

He went through hit, after hit, after hit in snippets and the crowd was crammed on top of each other trying to be as close as possible to the energy on stage. It was amazing to watch! If I wasn't so busy trying to capture photos and video for y'all, I would have cut a damn fool out there. If Busta's energy alone was not enough, he brought special guests, Smif N Wessun, Buckshot, J-Doe, Reek Da Villain, Phife Dawg, Q-Tip, the legendary Slick Rick (which was epic) and believe it or not....

After almost 19 years of doing his own thing.... Leaders of the New School!


While my video work sucks in unbelievable ways, I captured the moment for those of you who did not or could not make it. Brooklyn Bodega and the BK Hip-Hop Festival facilitated one of the greatest moments in Hip-Hop history! I'm so thankful that I was there to witness it first hand.

Check the video below (start with your volume low) and a few select photos from the day. Can't wait to see how this all plays out next year!

Acrylic Painting of Biggie on Canvas 

Artist @DanielleBKNYC live painting Jay-Z 

General Steele (l.) and friends. 

Busta Rhymes and Spliff Star interview with XXL. 

Buckshot  

Leaders of the New School. Charlie Brown (lc.), Dinco D (r.) 

BONUS: The next generation.