Around this time every year for the past three years marks a historical day for hip hop and music in Philadelphia. The Legendary Roots Picnic…that’s right, only three years in and it’s that legendary. Aside from enjoying about 20 major artists perform in one place for only $50, you’re able to enjoy the presence of thousands of people while getting a tan. The price is definitely unbeatable as well as the experience. I was able to catch acts by Jay Electronica, Mayer Hawthorne, DJ Jazzy Jeff, THE LEGENDARY ROOTS, John Legend, and 1/1000th of the Wu-Tang Clan!!! We missed performances by Money Making Jam Boys, The Clipse, and Vampire Weekend.

Here’s Briana, one of the few friends I ran into before my disappearing act to backstage.

Visit Philly hooked me up with an extra ticket, a media pass, and access to their tent with all you can eat and drink. I gave it all away, except for the food and drink part .

I ran into Nikki in the tent. I’ve been running into her a lot lately and our conversations don’t go pass these famous cookies she makes that I keep hearing about. Maybe after I try it I can finally compliment her on my favorite track off of Lupe’s The Cool.


Asaad was well on his way to causing trouble backstage.


Phsh was DJing for the Money Making Jam Boys set. If you’re unfamiliar with the name, from what I hear it consists of Black Thought, Dice Raw, STS, Truck North, & P.O.R.N.

I thought about stealing this and my possibilities of getting away with it.

215 Magazine hand-selected a core group of 50 influential people within the Philadelphia area for the Vitamin Water bike tow to the Roots Picnic. In essence, it was the free agent summit. Although the full list wasn’t able to come out, I was very privileged to be able to connect with the batch that was able to enjoy the ride. This post should do at least 1 of 3 things: bring Vitamin Water an increase in revenue, annoy the crap out of you with subliminal ads, or get me a year supply of that purple stuff.

Edwin’s is a full-time foursquare addict, but when he is not doing that…he is the mayor of Uristocrat.

When Set Free isn’t blogging, he’s out on productive mode.


Tayyib, the orchestrator…needs no introduction.

Plain ol’ Gravy does the PBR thing and jumped the fence by repping a healthier beverage. I wonder what the higher ups have to say to that.

Sabina was riding with us too .

First Fridays are no strangers to us as we have made plenty of journeys to Philadelphia’s Old City in the past couple of years. This past Friday, McJawn and Phrequency presented the Made In America art show at the Trust Gallery with a portion of the sales going to a fund for Sabina Rose. The show featured a mixture of 40+ artists with pieces ranging from wood carvings to bottle cap art to traditional paintings.

This weekend I attended the infamous 40oz Bounce with some crazy Anmls and here’s some of the dope flicks of everything that jumped off that day. We were pretty much the first ones there, even before the DJ at 1pm. We kicked back, met a couple of new cool kids and drank the free 40oz’s they had on deck. My homegirls of the Black Kats had “Organic” brownies & cookies so you already know what the deal was with that. I also linked up with the coolest ninjah outchea, Chinelle, as well to chop it up about our future collab and on a dope project she’s been doing called Duces II. Check that out when you guys have the chance. Uptown was definitely the move that day, it was warm as hell so all the girls came out either look’n scandalous or extra cute, FTW either way. The homies came out with their dogs, not a big fan of that idea haha but it was all good. The grill was cook’n as well, my homie Reni had that on lock which made the area EXTRA hot lol but the breeze from the Hudson River made it tolerable. I was pretty drunk by 7pm so we dipped out to get ready for the after parties that night. All in all, it was a real good time. Great vibes with all the cool kids, and DRAMA FREE. Success.

Shoutout to Carter, Khalid, Frank and Jamar and Eric for coming thru and snapping pictures of the day. It’s not everyday that I get to kick it with my Philly peoples in NY. Also, shoutout to 40oz Van for another successful event, I heard they had a helicopter come to shut down the party! Hahaha that’s epic. Check out the rest of the pics HERE (Eric GeeKids Cave) on facebook, tag your friends! Check out some of the pics below

Rest In Paradise: Sabina Rose O’Donnell.

It’s still very difficult for me to actually acknowledge that you’re gone. Known by many to be a petite girl with a giant heart, she was always sweet and always dancing whenever she wasn’t working. I could never imagine a person such as her could die so violently, in the blink of an eye. But in the end, I think she would would be amazed how many people cared about her. How many people are supporting her family and sending her prayers. Philadelphia’s reaction to your death is astounding, and a heartbreaking reality check. Death always finds a way to bring people together. I’d like to think it’s because it makes us realize how fragile we really are. I wish we could’ve gotten closer but I cherish the fun times we had party’n and of course chill’n in The Piazza. You will be missed, kiddo.

There is a movement in Philly to bring her killer to justice. Tommy Up; Owner of the PYT Restaurant & Bar where she worked, has started a Sabina Rose O’Donnell Fund. If you would like to make a cash, check or paypal donation, e-mail him at pytphilly@gmail.com. Also, everyone is dedicating their parties to Sabina this week and giving all proceeds to the fund. So party on friends! This is how you can help out. Mo Money No Problems at Silk, Mojito (Dance For Sabina) at Octo, Locals Only at PYT and even The Roots Picnic will have tables set-up for donations. So come out this week, chill out with good folks and celebrate her life. Also, remember to be safe in these streets! Summer is here and ignorant monsters don’t know how to act.

Big things on the rise for Gilbere Forte, hold’n Philly down with his new upcoming project, 87 Dreams. Stay tuned for the mixtape drop later this month.

Read! Read! Read! New issue features the homie Quan Luv and co. with his new collective art group, Visions.18 among many others. You can view the magazine HERE at their website. Peep game!

So you guys should already know the deal! We’re doing a Ticket Giveaway for the Nas & Damian Marley concert at the House Of Blues in Atlantic City for July 29th. The first person to comment on this blog wins 2 Tickets to see them that will be held at the “Will Call” counter the day of the show. Write your name, your email/twitter url on the comment box and I will contact you if you won. Comment quick! These contests go fast! And make sure to be on the lookout for more Ticket Giveaways in the upcoming weeks by checking the AnmlHse on Facebook.com/AnmlHse Twitter.com/AnmlHse or this very Blog!

By the way, we got another surprise Ticket Giveaway coming up next week. Stay tuned!

Last night I took a trip out to our FreshFest event at Silk City. It was a great blend of independent hip hop acts from the Philadelphia area. Surprisingly, it was a great crowd for a Tuesday night and Philly definitely showed love. Below are shots of Sela, The Paxtons, Has-Lo, and Legacy doing a grand job on stage.

Tomorrow, Thursday May 27 is The New World Classic, brought to you by our friends at SWRV with a collaborative effort brought to you by Foreign Unity. Part 1 of this event will be in NYC at Studio 205, be there if you’re in town. If not, part 2 of their event will be held in Philly as well so don’t worry. More info on the event below.

“SWRV [Philadelphia / Los Angeles] and Foreign Unity [Los Angeles / NYC], present to you this New World Classic. Inspired by Steve Power’s A Love Letter For You mural series found throughout West Philadelphia, a new classic scene is set – vibrant and unafraid to become a fresh standard of style.

Styled by both SWRV and Foreign Unity, each look and location was handpicked to bring the dream of a new world into a reality, and placed into a look book which will hit the SWRV website at the start of June. Physical copies will also be available via the site. To celebrate to release of this collaboration, they both will host a multi-city exhibition entitled The New World Classic; featuring the photos from the lookbook, a jewlery exhibition of a new Foreign Unity collection, and music performances from choice producers and DJ’s from the east and west coast.

Artists will include Los Angeles’ P.U.D.G.E and J-Heart, NYC’s DJ Bonnie Danger, Philly’s DJ PHSH, and more. Area urban artists, designers, musicians, and creators all invited to attend.”