Out & About NYC Magazine was founded to offer the arts and lifestyle enthusiast a fresh new look at New York City. We will showcase the established and the emerging, the traditional and the trendy. And we will do it with élan, and panache with a dash of fun.

12/10/15 O&A NYC REVIEW: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater- Rennie Harris Exodus

By Walter Rutledge

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The real significance of Rennie Harris’ body of work has been his ability to transform hip-hop, a vernacular dance style created during the height of inner city urban blight of the 80’s, into the foundation for his abstract narrative art form. In early works such as Rome and Jewels (2000) Harris transforms the visceral hip-hop esthetic into 21st classicism. His latest work for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre Exodus infuses the hip-hop genre and modern dance with theatrical elements and strong choreographic structure. Continue reading

12/10/15 O&A NYC Throwback Thursday Holiday Greeting: Mariah Carey: All I Want For Christmas Is You … Plus Bonus Tracks

THROWBACK HOLIDAY

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Merry Christmas is the first Christmas album and the fourth studio album by Mariah Carey. Released by Columbia Records on November 7, 1994, the album features cover versions of popular Christmas tunes and original material. Out and About NYC Magazine highlights three songs from this album, All I Want For Christmas Is You, O Holy Night, and Miss You Most (At Christmas Time). Continue reading

12/9/15 O&A NYC Song Of The Day: Busta Rhymes – Gimme Some More

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Gimme Some More is the Grammy–nominated lead single by rapper Busta Rhymes from his third solo album E.L.E. (Extinction Level Event): The Final World Front. The song is often considered to be the very summit of Busta’s complex, breathless, high-speed rhyming delivery most prominent in his early work. Continue reading

12/9/15 O&A NYC Wildin Out Wednesday: The Niggar Family- Chappelle Show

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The Niggar Family, one of comedian Dave Chappelle’s most controversial skits, explores the question of what effect “the n-word” would have if it were just another name. The skit is filmed in black and white, with sets and costumes right out of Father Knows Best or Leave It to Beaver or, for a more recent reference, Pleasantville. We see a squeaky-clean family of aw-shucks pleasantness and golly-jeepers naïveté, a “typical American” (i.e., white) family named Niggar. Continue reading

12/8/15 O&A NYC Song Of The Day: Kendrick Lamar – Alright

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Alright by rapper Kendrick Lamar, is featured on his third album To Pimp a Butterfly (2015). Lyrically a festive song about hope, it features uncredited vocals from the song’s co-producer Pharrell Williams during the chorus. Alright  released to radio stations as the album’s fourth single, debuted on June 30, 2015. The song’s accompanying music video premiered on the same date. Alright received four nominations at the 58th Grammy Awards, including Song of the Year.  Continue reading

12/7/15 O&A NYC Inspirational Tuesday: Today Is Yours – The Game Time Anthem

Inspirational-Tuesday

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The thing about time is that it comes and goes. Tomorrow will make today a distant memory, and as quick as you are here… you are gone. What’s in front of you is the opportunity to make right now something you will never forget. Continue reading

12/7/15 O&A NYC Hollywood Monday: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

Hollywood Mondays

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Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is a Christmas television special produced in stop motion animation by Rankin/Bass Productions and distributed by DreamWorks Classics. It first aired Sunday, December 6, 1964, on the NBC television network in the United States. The special was based on the Johnny Marks song Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer which was itself based on the 1939 poem Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer written by Marks’ brother-in-law, Robert L. May.  Since 1972, the special has aired on CBS.  Continue reading

12/5/15 O&A NYC Gospel Sunday: Bishop Hezekiah Walker and the Love Fellowship Crusade Choir Second Chance led by Monique Walker

By Walter Rutledge

Gospel Sunday

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Bishop Hezekiah Walker and the Love Fellowship Crusade Choir singing Second Chance led by Monique Walker. This is from the BET Planet Groove Christmas Special in 1997. Continue reading

12/5/15 O&A NYC Saturday Morning Concert: Chris Rock-Bring The Pain

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Chris Rock: Bring the Pain is a 1996 HBO television special starring comedian Chris Rock. This was Rock’s second special for the network, following 1994’s Big Ass Jokes. Rock was already a well-known comedian, but Bring the Pain made him one of the most popular comedians in the United States. The special was taped at a tour stop at the Takoma Theatre in Washington, D.C. Continue reading