December 19, 2018

Knitting Factory: The Final Show (December 19, 2008)


Dec. 19, 2008: lowkey, this is a day in NY hip-hop history, people don’t talk about it much though. Remembering it on it's 10th Anniversary: It was snowing outside, my view was from the 2nd floor at 406 6th Avenue, better known as Fat Beats. It was our annual Christmas Party. Always a fun time with drinks and food, DJ sets and of course, more artists came through to show love if they got an invite. This night was extra special bc I was keeping an eye on the clock, knowing that it was the very last hip-hop show at Knitting Factory about 2 miles away. Peep the bill: Rakim, Black Thought, Souls of Mischief & you know every NY MC would touch that stage one final time. I was at every show - week day or weekend, I was in the building - so I wanted to roll through but it was getting late, snowing and I had some drinks in me, lol. I started to get texts about the show, who was killin it, who was backstage, etc etc. At some point, the texts went left bc of an incident I can’t really talk about, but suffice to say ...the final show was not without it’s drama outside the venue, unrelated to the music. I was tight about it too. Of course, I waited to see if Photo Rob would post photos of the show I never made - a big regret of mine - but I was amongst good friends and with Fat Beats closing years later, I’d probably regret it had I not been there too. Fortunately the good brother, Homeboy Sandman, was in the building to perform and shared some of the footage for us...