A Broccoli City Story: God’s Sense of Humor, or a Message?
Last weekend I attended the Broccoli City Festival in Southeast DC. Shit was awesome to say the least, even though it rained most of the day. The music was amazing, the vibes were good, and for the sake of the music we stayed out in the freezing rain until we couldn’t feel our toes anymore. But this story actually isn’t about how awesome it was. It’s more so about something so ironically strange that I’m not completely sure of what to make of it.
I talk to the Universe everyday, and I’m happy to say that it indeed talks back to me. You call it God, but I don’t feel right personifying such a powerful entity, but know that for me God and Universe are one in the same. Now, leading up to Broccoli City I knew one thing and one thing only, I wanted to perform at that motha fucka. I talked to as many people as I could about working my way on the bill, even to the guy who put the whole thing together, but nothing came out of it. Two days before the event, I went into a meditative state and was informed that this year was not my time to perform, as something bigger is in store for me...I didn’t want to hear that shit though.
Walking into the festival, I was secretly determined to find my way to the stage. Whether it was the main stage or the smaller One Love Massive stage, I was going to shine in front of everyone somehow. So at some point, while standing in the crowd of the main stage I realize that I have to pee, and the rain wasn’t making it any better, so I started walking over to the porter potties. The closer I got to the stalls, the harder the rain began to pour. All of a sudden I hear this enormous eruption of cheering coming from the One Love Massive stage. I walk over and make my way to the front.
Initially, I wasn’t sure if it was a “go up on stage” thing or if it was the entourage of one of the performers. As an MC I saw it as an opportunity and in a sense, went for it. I got the attention of one of the niggas on stage and asked him if it was an open cypher. Without saying a word, he pulled me up on stage and told me to grab a mic. At that moment, there was a dude currently rapping and another guy who was going to go after him. So when the guy rapping finished, he passed me his mic as the dude who was next to him took to the middle of the stage.
His first bar was something ear shattering to me. It went something like, “Thank you everybody for rocking out with us in this shitty weather!!! But we’ve gotta shut down the stage due to the rain!!”
Yeah, this guy was the host!! I was standing there with a microphone in my hand ready to do my Godboy rap thing as the guy running things began thanking all of the performers. The guy who pulled me up on stage slapped me on the shoulder. “So close, bruh,” he said to me, looking genuinely sympathetic to my situation.
I hopped off stage and the rain began to let up a little bit, and please believe it was POURING when I had the mic in my hand. I started laughing. It was all I could do. Even after I tried to force my hand against the Universe, it still managed to show me, publicly this time, that everything happens it’s supposed to. Whether it’s when I want it to happen or not. When it’s right, it’s right. Not sure if it was a message, or the Universe simply pulling a prank...but I smiled regardless. The day went on, and so did the music.