A Posh night out with Kev.O & Wayna - By: Raven Ekundayo Pictures By: Quill Wordsmith

I'm always down for supporting great artists and getting my network on, so when EYM was invited to cover an event at Posh in DC with Wayna and my good friend Kev.O I was up for it no questions asked. Quill And I showed up and I wasn't sure how I felt about the place as we walked in. I get turned off by clubs where Black folks don't like speaking to you if they don't know you and hang around in clicks all night. Thankfully that wasn't the issue at Posh. Everyone from the folks that greet you as you walk in to the bouncers were all chill.

Quill and I were lead upstairs to the VIP area and once beyond the velvet rope introduced ourselves to DJ Huck Fin who was spinning a great mix of 90's music with hits from folks like Mary J. Blige, Faith Evans and Carl Thomas. The energy in the place had a nice amount of laid back and eXcitement without either ever truly taking over. While waiting for the show to start I bumped into Green Tea, Beny Blaq and my brother from another Sol Edler. All had come out to show their love. Kev.O came out from the artists area and we talked for awhile, he introduced me to Wayna and I gave a big hug to his manager Kimberly Douglas. Then it was time for the show to start. It was hosted by Antonio The Cuban Cigar Smoker, a radio personality in the DC area. He did a great job of pumping the audience up and lead Kev.O in with a great introduction by letting folks know that this was an artist they would see a lot more of.



Kev.O started his set off with Purple Haze by Jimi Hendrix, putting a nice soulful twist on a classic. What I appreciate about my friends who are artists is that we're always very honest with each other, as a journalist I never have to worry about them being angry if I give a bad review as they won't hesitate to tell me if they don't like any of my work....thankfully this wasn't the case tonight. Kev.O brought his A game and with his background singers put on one hell of a show while covering songs like John Legends "Green Light" and giving the audience a taste of some of his own music like "See you when I get there" and a personal favorite of mine "Falling". At one point a sister by the name of April (Who would take the stage later to sing during a free for all moment for singers in the audience) came and sat at Kev.O's feet while he sang happy bday to her. The audience was into it but at times seemed more interested in their drinks than any performance going on that night. The most hoots and hollars came at the most obvious moments, which was why it was so beautiful to see one sister with a glass of wine in her hand having a blast to every note Kev.O hit. Now THERE'S a music lover. His set came to an end and those who had been sleeping on Kev.O before he took the stage were sure not to be sleeping after wards.



Then it was time for Wayna to take the stage. I was pretty much done after a sister named Teapot (Don't ask) took the stage and scatted and sang her butt off. Leaving all of us wondering why on earth was she one of the random audience members and not someone on the bill. Lol. But Wayna proved why she was who she was quickly with her cover of "Loving You" giving it a nice uptempo spin. Her soaring falsetto made my mouth drop.



She then told the story of an eXperience she had in Texas when she was arrested for carrying a billy club, a prop used while performing. This lead to a song of the same name which talks about police brutality. I love songs where you have to listen to the words or you could miss the meaning altogether.



She closed the set out with the songs "Mr. Duracell" and a cover of Prince's song "Mountains". By this time Quill and I had started making our way out the door after saying our goodbyes to everyone as "Mountains" was coming to an end, but then Wayna caught everyone off guard.



She pulled Antonio The Cuban Cigar Smokers card by asking why music like hers isn't played on any of the major urban radio stations. What a great question to end the night on. When will the major urban radio stations realize that they dictate the airwaves and most people listening are followers. You tell them what's hot and they'll follow....good music will find a way. Thankfully we have artists like Kev.O and Wayna out there pushing a little bit of Zion into the matriX. Freeing Minds ain't easy.