E-DUBB ON THE OUTSIDE, CONT. Continued from page 20 made manic, glossy country rap in the No Limit tradition, and had a string of local hits like “Robbery” and “Everyday Allday” (both from their 2004 album “Think It’s a Game”). He released a self-titled solo album in 2008, and made a handful of free mixtapes in the interim, all the while shooting videos for singles like “Turn It Down,” famous in the streets of Arkansas, if hardly known at all anywhere else. “Back then, I figured I already had local fame so I wasn’t even going to worry about it,” he says. “I was hustling and
I had the money, so I really wasn’t as focused on the music as I should’ve been. Plus, a lot of decisions I was making back then, I was high all the time. Now I’m sober. I’m a different person. I was arrogant before, now I’m humble.” He worries that picking up his career where he left off might not be as easy as he’d hoped. “To be honest, I think it’s going to be kind of tough,” he says. “Because the bar is set so high for me right now. I’m feeling like Andre 3000, scared to do another album. You ain’t got no beats in the penitentiary, and your imagination only goes so far. The expec-
tations are so high, I just don’t want to fail the town.” In a move that helped build Westbrook’s confidence considerably, 607 invited him to contribute a verse to a remix of the latter’s song “Block Monster,” one of last year’s biggest local hits. “I wanted him to have something to come home to,” says 607, who visited Westbrook regularly in prison. “Everybody in the penitentiary was singing ‘Block Monster,’” Westbrook says proudly. “So now they’re probably singing the remix.” Westbrook’s “Block Monster” verse is the first thing he’s written since com-
ing home, and right away you get the sense that readjusting won’t be as difficult as he thinks. He lunges onto the track, his voice as compelling and as iconic as it ever was. And he’s already planning upcoming releases, with two albums of unreleased material and a handful of new collaborations on the way. He’s gotten so many requests for guest verses, he says he’s already had to raise his price. It’s an encouraging sign for the artist who still calls himself the “King of Little Rock.” “They just let me out of jail,” as he raps on the “Block Monster” remix. “So you know I ain’t free.”
AFTER DARK, CONT.
18 whole hogs! 18 chefs! live music! SAtuRDAy, mAy 3RD Argenta Farmers Market Plaza 6th & Main St., Downtown North Little Rock (across from Mug’s Café)
S CHEDULE
— 5 p.m. —
— 6:30 —
Doors Open
Public Serving Time
BEER & WINE GARDEN
Gated festival area selling beer & wine ($5 each) h e a d l i n e r
GhoSt toWN BluES BAND TickeT supply limiTed!
Dine on 18 pit roasted, whole,
PuRChase NoW aT
rain or ArkTimes.com/ shine HeriTAgeHogroAsT
heritage breed hogs from Scott Heritage Farms Saturday, May 3rd. Doors open at 5p.m. with
+ RuNAWAy plANEt & thE SAlty DoGS
craft beers and wine available.
CaChe ResTauRaNT
Café 42
The fold
Maddie’s PlaCe
The RooT
30
MARCH 27, 2014
Café Bossa Nova
MidToWN BilliaRds
The sChlafly souTheRN TaP RooM gouRMasiaN
ARKANSAS TIMES
CheeRs
NaTChez souTh oN MaiN
all-iNClusive TiCkeTs - $25 ($30 day-of) Includes roast hog, sides and live music MusiC-oNly TiCkeTs - $10 (Admission after 8p.m.)
CRegeeN’s iRish PuB ReNo’s aRgeNTa Café
TaCo MaMa
CRush WiNe BaR RisToRaNTe CaPeo
Whole hog
March. 318-2787. GALLERY CENTRAL, 800 Central Ave.: Work by Houston Llew, Amy Hill-Imler, Gloria Garrison, James Hayes and others. 318-4278. JUSTUS FINE ART, 827 Central Ave.: Abstract paintings, mixed media and sculpture by Robyn Horn, Dan Thornhill, V. Noe and others, through March. 501-321-2335.
ONGOING MUSEUM EXHIBITS
CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL MUSEUM VISITOR CENTER, Bates and Park: Exhibits on the 1957 desegregation of Central and the civil rights movement. 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. daily. 374-1957. CLINTON PRESIDENTIAL CENTER, 1200 President Clinton Ave.: “Spies, Traitors and Saboteurs: Fear and Freedom in America,” from the International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C., through April 27; permanent exhibits on the Clinton administration. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.Sat., 1-5 p.m. Sun. $7 adults; $5 college students, seniors, retired military; $3 ages 6-17. 370-8000. ESSE, 1510 S. Main St.: “What’s Inside: A Century of Women and Handbags (1900-1999),” purses from the collection of Anita Davis, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Tue.-Sun., $10-$8. 916-9022. HISTORIC ARKANSAS MUSEUM, 200 E. 3rd St.: “Ciara Long: A Different Perspective,” sketches, through May 4; Mid-Southern Watercolorists “44th Annual Juried Exhibition,” through April 6; “A Sure Defense: The Bowie Knife in America,” through June 22; “Arkansas Made,” ongoing. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Sat., 1-5 p.m. Sun. 324-9351. MacARTHUR MUSEUM OF ARKANSAS M I L I TA R Y H I S T O R Y , M a c A r t h u r Park: “American Posters of World War I”; permanent exhibits. 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Mon.-Sat., 1-4 p.m. Sun. 376-4602. MOSAIC TEMPLARS CULTURAL CENTER, 501 W. 9th St.: “Repurposed Wonders: The Sculpture of Danny Campbell,” permanent and changing exhibits on black entrepreneurship in Arkansas. 683-3593. MUSEUM OF DISCOVERY, 500 President Clinton Ave.: “Wiggle Worms,” science program for pre-K children 10 a.m.-10:30 a.m. every Tue., 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Tue.-Sat., 1-5 p.m. Sun., $10 ages 13 and older, $8 ages 1-12, free to members and children under 1. 396-7050. OLD STATE HOUSE MUSEUM, 300 W. Markham: “Lights! Camera! Arkansas!”, the state’s ties to Hollywood, including costumes, scripts, film footage, photographs and more, through March 1, 2015; “Things You Need to Hear: Memories of Growing Up in Arkansas from 1890 to 1980,” oral histories about community, family, work, school and leisure, through March. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Sat., 1-5 p.m. Sun. 324-9685.