so ~~almost two~~ five months ago now, i went to see two members of the foreign exchange fam: zo! & sy smith. the show was amazing, as one would expect from these two (and it was FREE!) they performed a mix of songs from zo!’s latest projects, sunstorm & …just visiting, three as well as some of sy’s classics and highlights from her new project fast and curious.

hey, girls, hey!

also, @elledub_1920 was in town visiting, so i got to hang out with her & a couple other friends, so a great night was had by all!

there were several openers… but i apparently chose to reserve my photos for later.

1) we won’t talk about the extremely short guy (no shade) who was rapping over himself – well, when he wasn’t rapping over classic hip hop songs (shade).

2) but i don’t mind talking about the nerdy cute host, @GY312! he’s so bubbly & nerdy & cute. (hey, boy, hey!)

3) there was also this hip hop duo whose name i don’t remember because the show was forever ago (i know, i’m pitiful; blame school & surgery). they were definitely on point (and also cute!)

wait for it…

4) my fave opener was this jawn named obi soulstar. let me tell you… this man did a cover of me’shell’s love you down that was fantastic! he performed barefoot, showing off his fancy black nail polish. i fully supported this, despite my hatred for feet.

bwah yew luk gud won’tcha back dat azz up!

i gotta admit: he was cute, but a lil scary. like, he’d fuck yo’ mental AWLAWAY up. no sir!

but his sounds were nice & i enjoyed the view!

and i appreciate that he took us ‘home’ w/ a song dedicated to nigeria.

and then the main show started! let me just tell y’all:

I. LOVE. ZO!

this man’s production skills & talent on [insert ridiculous number of instruments] are one of a kind. i can spot a zo! project almost immediately as the song begins. and then he’s just the kindest, most humble person, so what’s not to love?* the show was about a week after i got hit by that truck, so yeah, i was hella glad to be there.

</gushing>

yeah, sheFAHN, too.**

#confession: i had been sleeping on sy smith until late 2011. i’d seen her w/ FE+ when they came to baltimore for the authenticity tour. and i saw her when she opened for n’dambi at uhall in dc. and i was like, “oh, she’s hot!” i’m not entirely sure what the hell happened (i was probably broke & then caught up in a bout of senility), but after my trusty FE+ pandora station called me out, i finally got with the program, lol. at any rate, i feel so rude for missing out on sy’s music for so long! Of course now, she stays in heavy rotation. ^_^

anyhoo, when zo & sy took the stage they promptly took me to another place (the telltale sign of great music). naturally, i took a ton of photos. i also took a few videos, but i used the evo & that just turned out terribly. so, since i’ve been writing this post for a few months now, i’ll just let y’all enjoy the gallery. 🙂

before you go, please support good music (and an impoverished grad student): buy zo! & sy’s music using the links provided here: zo! ♦ sy smith ♦ the foreign exchange. of course, they’re also available on iTunes: zo! ♦ sy smith ♦ the foreign exchange.