YUP! I made it to the exciting city of New Orleans once again, and this time I FINALLY got to bask in the good times of the Essence Music Festival!
to have gone to school in Baton Rouge, LA you would have thought that with New Orleans being just an hour away, I would have been many times, but NOPE, I hadn't been. So I was SUPER amped!
This event, some people plan a year in advance for, it's that serious. And now I see why. It's a weekend full of concerts, good food, great vendors, celebrity appearances, seminars, contests, tons of free goodie bags & just a damn good time!
My FAVORITE, Ms. Taraji P. Henson, she was there (LOVE HER) along with her co-star, Ms. Letoya Luckett. They will be starring in a movie called, "In The Rough" about a female HBCU (historically black college or university) golf coach, who takes her team to the championships...looks like it's gonna be good! I fell in love with Taraji's blouse, so colorful & fun and Letoya was workin' those shoes baby...LOVED THEM, and they both looked so good in their Summer white jeans!
The Convention Center, where all the festivities were held
Fantasia was AWESOME! She came out and gave us a show, kicked her shoes off of course (honestly I don't think she even came out with shoes on in the first place lol)...she got really emotional when she sang "Even Angels", gave me goosebumps, so down to Earth. Jennifer Hudson came on after, and she was boring, I left. And Usher came on later that night, LATE night, and I heard he was trying to imitate Michael Jackson, doing a lot of dancing, but no singing...he couldn't multi-task *shrugs*
1st night at the concert
Regina King was there, all smiles, and I actually saw an episode of her show Southland...
it was pretty good
This is ONE THING you WILL get the best of in New Orleans...FOOD!
One of the food vendors, LCD Catering, made my DAY & my stomach happy.
Pictured above, it was crab & corn bisque in a bread bowl, served with potato salad & two pieces of friend catfish...DELICIOUS!
LisaRaye...was in ALL WHITE of course, her signature color .... and she's GORGEOUS
Shaunie from the Basketball Wives came through, lookin' like Charlie's Angels with Tami & Evelyn. They all looked really pretty, but I could only get a good pic of Shaunie.
So, as the women from Basketball Wives are being swarmed by tons of people...I see Ms. Shaunie's FINE ASS model boyfriend, Marlon Yates. No one really cared about taking a pic with him, but I said "Oh I GOTTA get a pic with him!" ... and I DID : )
Tank, who I must say I didn't even recognize, cause he's SO SHORT in person, was walking through Harrah's casino, STILL so handsome...and I saw The Braxton sisters, minus Toni I think, but I had to get a good picture of my FAVE Braxton...TAMAR! pretty.com lol
If y'all watch The Real Housewives of Atlanta, you know EXACTLY who this sassy thang is...Atlanta hairstylist Ms. Derick J *TWO SNAPS* you couldn't tell him he didn't look good!
Saturday night...2nd concert, MUCH BETTER than Friday!
The LineUp:
El Debarge, Chaka Khan, JILL SCOTT & KANYE WEST!
Jill Scott is one of my absolute FAVORITES!
I literally ALMOST lost my breath when she came out, it was THAT serious lol
Her positive attitude inside and out, her BEAUTIFULLY AMAZING voice *sigh*
The way she smiles when she performs, for the WHOLE performance, it's just GREATNESS!
(in the picture above, Anthony Hamilton came out and joined her for their song "So Blessed")
KANYE....there were NO WORDS for his performance
3 ACTS of pure musical GENIUS!
He came out hugging people, shaking hands, just really mingling with the people.
He made my night...I was a happy camper!
SIDE NOTE: I will be back next year....TRUST ME!
