FO·MO
ˈfōmō/
noun
informal
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- anxiety that an exciting or interesting event may currently be happening elsewhere, often aroused by posts seen on a social media website.
- “I realized I was a lifelong sufferer of FOMO”
Urban dictionary definition: The fear that if you miss a party or event you will miss out on something great.
My definition: DON’T MISS THE EVENT.
Luckily, I’m here to provide you with all things you’ve missed, in this popping city of Los Angeles. My name is Shirley Ju, and I live, breathe, sleep Hip Hop. Coming from the Bay, I grew up to the hyphy movement. That being said, turning up is all I know. This will be a weekly recap of the dope events that I myself felt like I couldn’t miss, and you guys wish you were at.
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Tuesday, April 4
Happy Tuesday. This tweet from Kamaiyah had me crying.
Also my interview with The Cool Kids at SXSW finally went up. Shout out to V and James. Teamwork makes the dream work.
Tonight was a show you definitely did not want to miss, as evidenced by the seven people who hit me after I IG story-ed this photo, saying they were jealous. Alina Baraz at El Rey, one of the best venues in Los Angeles. I knew this show would be sold out in a heartbeat, no question. If you guys aren’t familiar with Alina, I’m about to put you on. Just listen to “Fantasy” and you’ll understand.
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Huge thanks to Dana allowing me to cover. Theystripped my plus one, which I predicted from the start. I’m starting to realize that just means the artist is super lit. Shout out to Humbert for the set times. I pull up to El Rey a little before 10 p.m. This was one of those nights where I contemplated just sleeping through the night. I literally fell asleep for 20 minutes and felt physically paralyzed. I had to mentally tell myself I could get up.
I would say Alina’s music is a combination of electronica and R&B. Pretty much an orgasm to your ears. She graced the stage to “Show Me,” and the crowd could not stop screaming. I was in the photo pit for the first three songs and was just mesmerized by her beauty. She has this blank stare in her face as she looks out into the crowd. It adds to her personality. She’s so mellow but has this angelic voice that could soothe any crying baby. I’ve seen her once before at a tiny bar in Silverlake, I want to say maybe two years ago. That show was so intimate. It was so beautiful to see her selling out the El Rey now.
“Pretty Thoughts,” “Make You Feel,” and then she performed a new song for us called “High.” My homie joked that she made that record for me. Shout out to Mark, he’s literally me, but in the non-Hip Hop world. Homeboy is going to Coachella both weekends lmao. Yeah, maybe worse than me. I was laughing because he literally compared her to like six different artists throughout the evening: Ariana Grande, Lana Del Rey, Erykah Badu, AlunaGeorge, the list goes on lmao.
She performed “Can I” and “Unfold” before thanking everyone in attendance tonight. She said she wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for all of us. “Drift” had me swaying side to side. And then. . . KHALID. I fucking knew it. I knew he was going to pop up. Sorry, I get excited about this lmao. They have this fire record called “Electric,” and he was definitely in town. He was posted at the ACLU Benefit Show last night at Staples with my peoples.
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She teased us that that was going to be her last song tonight. Her set was literally going on 40 minutes at this point. We were sad until we realized she doesn’t even have a full album out. That just means her career is about to take off. She came out to perform “Let’s Get Lost” acoustic, which is always the move with any artist that can sing. Closing out with “Fantasy” was exactly what I needed for the long day.
This makes me so happy haha. Shout out to Khalid and Alina for the RT. I really wanted Khalid to play “Location,” along with the people around us. Next time.
Wednesday, April 5
Tonight was special. I was invited to check out this artist by the name of Niia, who is signed to Atlantic Records. Huge thanks to Ted for the invite, me and my plus two were honored to attend this showcase. She was set to take the stage at 8 p.m. at The Peppermint Club in Weho. I’ve actually never been to this venue, so that’s always exciting.
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I got an email late in the day saying arrive by 7 p.m. because they were going to be over capacity. All of a sudden, she was lit lmao. Niia is a singer/songwriter from L.A. I wasn’t familiar with her music before the show, which is sometimes the best way to fall in love with an artist. We enter the dimly lit venue a little before 8 p.m., luckily, with no hassle at the door. Everyone was enjoying the non-complimentary drinks at the bar as we patiently waited for her set. This venue has definite Hotel Cafe vibes, screaming of class and elegance. You could just tell it was an invite-only show.
We were front and center as she graced the stage, and quickly mesmerized by her beauty. Seriously. You know when an artist just looks like an artist? She carries herself very well. I enjoyed hearing her sing “Last Night In Los Feliz” live, but what really had everyone going was her cover of Kevin Lyttle’s “Turn Me On.” We were all hyped and singing along. Great song covered by a great artist.
Her getting on the piano solidified her talent even more. It makes you wonder how someone can be so talented and can look so good too. Which also reminds me — she was backed by the most amazing band on stage. She actually said this was the first time performing with them, and they nailed it. We particularly loved the bassist, jamming his heart out with his shades on the entire time. Next, she performed “Body” and songs off her new album.
Closing out with “Sideline,” a record she dropped literally today, Niia undoubtedly left an imprint on everyone in the room. She sang her heart out into that mic. I actually just found out that she’s featured on Wyclef Jean’s “Sweetest Girl” with Lil Wayne and Akon (Thanks James). That song was the shit.
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Tonight was Jeezy’s The Trap or Die Tour at Belasco in downtown L.A. I don’t think I can put into words how excited I was for this. All day, it was my motivation. I remember his #TrapOrDie3 listening party was nothing short of a lituation. Jeezy is the OG. The Snowman.
After casually making our way over from Weho, we score on some street parking. Walking up to the venue had us feeling like we were in the streets of Atlanta. This was a shitshow, as expected from a sold-out Jeezy show. The next part wasn’t so expected, unfortunately. I had double checked to make sure we were good for tonight. I was on the list with a plus two. We get to the box office to find that Jeezy had taken all the comps for his friends and family. He didn’t give any fucks about it either.
This is the shit you don’t see on social media. The bullshit behind-the-scenes. We were lit so we had our own fun people watching, but shit got mad serious when bitches started swinging. The lady behind the box office window was literally filming on her phone. Talk about Worldstar. This shit was wild. We gave it a good run, but even with all the people I ran into (I’m talking Live Nation and ICM), we still had no juice.
I also completely missed Lil Durk’s set. Huge thanks to Janette with Live Nation who came back out to hand me a ticket. She’s the only reason I was able to get inside. It didn’t matter who you knew, you weren’t getting inside without a ticket. I felt so terrible going in without my people. They were extremely understanding and I couldn’t ask for better friends in this moment. I was, after all, there to get coverage. Le sigh.
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I literally walk in and French Montana graces the stage. I lost it. I love Frenchie, so much. “Going Crazy” is off his Trap or Die 3. I’m just going to say it, this show was ratchet. I literally push to the front and piss off a lot of people on the way. But man, Jeezy in the flesh. He would come to the corner of the stage right in front of us and it was just surreal. He has so much stage presence and his voice. . . it’s fucking Jeezy.
“Gangsta Party” started things his endless list of hits. This was my heaven. This was one of those shows where I literally had to record each song he performed because each one had me so damn hyped. The high school Shirley was thriving. Next, he played “Bottom of the Map,” “My Hood, “Dey Know” (RIP Shawty Lo), and “Geekd Up.” That last record turned the venue into a straight club.
“The streets love Jeezy, and I love them back.” This is a line from “My Hood,” which he played next. And then “Go Crazy,” his record with Hov. “All the dope boys go crazyyyy.” Holy shit, it was lit. And then “Trapstar.” I really probably could have just recorded the entire show, honestly. “J.E.E.Z.Y.” is my jam.
“SupaFreak” had the ladies trippin’. At this point, the DJ shouted out anybody who had more than five thousand in their savings. The broke ones remained silent lmao (me). And a record the ladies loved even more: “All We Do.” Next was “Leave Me Alone,” my personal favorite. Love me some R&B.
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“Way Too Gone,” “ Who Dat,” and “My Nigga,” at which point I was really hoping YG would pop out. Nope. “RIP” followed by “Put On,” “Soul Survivor,” “I Luv It” and “And Then What.” Game over.
This was a moment. He said “motherfuck a Grammy and motherfuck a BET.” As he’s got three or four extremely expensive chains around his neck. Jeezy’s energy was so on tonight. Literally, couldn’t have put on a better show.
“Lose My Mind” with Plies though. I hope reading this brings you nostalgia. If I could rate this show, I’d give it an A+. Minus the bullshit at the door. He closed out with “All There” featuring Bankroll Fresh. RIP.
Thursday, April 6
Happy Thursday. Stay up everyone. Life has a crazy way to testing you when you least expect it. I think a strong group of friends makes all the difference. They’re there to pick you up, and tell you when you fuck up also. They’re there for you to vent and cry to. I wouldn’t be me without my friends. Y’all know who you are.
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Tonight was a lituation. It’s 2:30 a.m. and I just got home. Going to hate life tomorrow but that’s okay lmao. First on the agenda: an Adidas NMD launch party at Shiekh Shoes. Man, I’m there lmao. I’ve literally been eyeing NMD’s since they blew up. The salmon ones in particular. We’ve been striking out in copping those. Shout out to my girl Monica (@thundercup) for the invite. I love her and finally got to see her lmao. She’s been too lit for me.
Shout out to my homeboy Corey for swooping me. This Shiekh shop was right downtown on Broadway. The best part of the night: pulling up to a parking spot that had the “No Parking Anytime” sign, and saying fuck it and flipping the sign to face other direction lmao. That was comedy. This Shiekh party was dumb lit: slaps by a dope female DJ named Sosupersam, unlimited liquor, and unlimited edible goodies from Bottega Louie. I’m talking the cutest arrangement of macaroons and cupcakes. It smelled just as dank as it looked lmao.
The evening came with many, many photo opps lmao. I hated how pale this photo booth made us but hey. Squad. Asian squad lmao. I love them. My other favorite part of the night was the Adidas tote bag we all got. It was so dope- they were literally making them fresh off the press with a machine next to the photo booth. There were three different designs that was stamped on physically by an employee. I copped the one with the sneaker on it. Tried to finesse another one with the huge adidas logo and failed lmao. One per person.
Fell in love with these shoes tonight lmao. Circa what, 1996? It was battle between disconnecting my Internet service (just got the bill) or copping these for $130. I decided I could do better. I love fashion. We had a nice little walk-thru of what was on display. I super don’t fuck with the new Fenty collection with the bows though lmao. Love Rih, but pass.
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Literally, lituation. I was amped to see all my peoples in the building. Chris is such a pimp lmao. We stayed until the lights came on at 10 p.m. Lituation over.
The night wasn’t over though. It was on to the next one: Destructo’s RENEGADE EP release party at Sound Nightclub. I pick up V around midnight and we were on our way. EDM events mean pull up after midnight lmao. Unless you’re trying to catch the opener. Walking into this venue brought back so many memories. This was crackin’ on Thursday nights. Tonight was so no exception. I literally got stuck lmao.
Huge shout out to my bae Charlotte for hooking us up with backstage wristbands the moment we arrived. She said she literally left all her friends to go cop them for us. That’s love. We have a special bond lmao <3.
Destructo was literally going off. I was so turnt. I love him the most because he blends Hip Hop with his EDM. He’s 46 and still making music. You could just tell how much he loves it. I was stoked to see him tonight, along with Wax Motif. Hearing “All Nite” reminded me of the track’s lit release party with Too Short. We were all definitely in attendance for that one.
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So crazy, I also ran into the homie Will who works at Sound, and another homie is a barback. I love it. By the way, this club doesn’t close until 3 or 4 a.m. So crazy. It’s a school night lmao. So lit though. The venue has the cutest decorations inside, which includes a shark-shaped disco ball.
