“Homecoming season births MeccaFest.”
Before Kanye West became Yeezus he was just a College Dropout. Before Notorious, Biggie was “All About the Benjamins.” And before Jay Z was wearing Tom Ford, all three emcees shared one thing in common: they all made appearances at Howard University Homecoming’s Yardfest. Unfortunately this year’s Yardfest was canceled, with HU Homecoming organizers stating “it will not include live music due to crowd control”. Fortunately for all the people who traveled to D.C. this past weekend, another event filled the void: the MeccaFest Music & Arts Festival.
Providing both a platform for upcoming artists and top billers, MeccaFest is an independent open-air festival created by four Howard graduates known as The Culture Collective. This year’s line-up included performances by Wale, Future, Teyana Taylor, Jeremih, Elle Varner, and DMV’s own MC Black Cobain and the Backyard Band. Varner sparkled with her voice, very reminiscent of a Generation Y Teena Marie. One of the highlights of the festival, however, was a memorable go-go remix of Young Thug’s song “Lifestyle” by the Backyard Band. They also performed their hit “Pretty Girls,” which has become widely known after Wale sampled the track for his single of the same name. MeccaFest also provided a venue for MCs like Black Cobain to try out new material from his upcoming mixtape. When interviewed about what MeccaFest means to him, Black Cobain stated “I just want to have a memorable mark on the game and be one of the best MCs the DMV has had”.
Although MeccaFest is billed as a music and arts festival, fashion and beauty also played a big part in the event. Boutiques selling hemp butter and organic, cruelty-free vegan hair products were being sold in the open-air market full of fashion vendors.
MeccaFest goers also had their pick of various designer taco trucks lined up and down the street. The one that was most in demand was the Nutella taco (for obvious reasons). MeccaFest definitely lived up to its namesake and proved to be a Mecca of hip hop and hipster fashion. See more photos from the event after the jump.
-Michele Amira @nicejewishswag
