and explore diverse habitats for signs of awakening wildlife! Come enjoy the spirit of spring. Runs 4/25/20164/29/2016 (M-F) priweb.org/naturecenter Tarot Salon Ithaca | 7:30 PM-, 4/25 Monday | Sacred Root Kava Lounge & Tea Bar, 139 W State St, Ithaca | Tarot Salon Ithaca is a co-manifested space for all who are drawn to, enchanted by, and create with Tarot. Come share your insights, engage in discussion, exchange readings, and explore Tarot in a supportive community setting. Every last Monday of the month, beginning March 28, 2016.
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Rap legends hit up Ithaca by Christopher J. Harrington Blackalicious, Friday, April 22, 8:00 p.m., The Haunt Forging an unmistakable combination of deft and multisyllabic raps with artfully sufficed beats, the rap duo Blackalicious, consisting of rapper/ lyricist Gift of Gab and DJ/Producer Chief Xcel, have created some of hip hop’s greatest and most memorable songs. Since their debut record Nia in 2000, the group have weaved imaginatively sanguine rap-forms that have varied heavily from their contemporaries. Blackalicious was instrumental in paving the way for an alternative form of hiphop. They fused an inspiring salad of modernism that burst with bright and soulful funk, hard-hitting experimental beats, and raps that showcased an unheralded syntax, flow, and dizzying hue. The roots of Blackalicious come from familiar zones though. The groundwork, the inner-soul, and the foundation of everything they ever created, was, and always has been, based on the straight up essence of rap: battling MC’s and representing one’s turf. “I’ve been rapping since I was 12 years old,” Gift of Gab told me on a recent morning. “Rapping was always about the cultural aspect, the battling aspect. I wanted to be the best MC in my building,
Meetings Rental Housing Advisory Commission (RHAC) | 5:15 PM, 4/20 Wednesday | Ithaca City Hall, 108 E Green St, Ithaca | RHAC recommends to Common Council new steps to be taken to improve the accessibility, affordability, and quality of rental housing in the City of Ithaca. City of Ithaca Board of Public Works | 4:45 PM-, 4/25 Monday | Common Council Chambers - Ithaca City Hall, 108 E Green St, Ithaca | Planning and Development Board | 6:00 PM-10:00 PM, 4/26 Tuesday | Common Council Chambers - Ithaca City Hall, 108 E Green St, Ithaca | The Board reviews Site Plan Review applications, proposed Subdivision applications, proposed City ordinance revisions, zoning appeals, and other matters it is charged with reviewing. Town of Ithaca Planning Board | 7:00 PM-, 4/26 Tuesday | Town Of Ithaca, 215 N Tioga St, Ithaca |
in time from 1976 to a life of slavery in antebellum Maryland. Club participation is available online and in-person. For more information or to register, contact Adult Services Librarian Teresa Vadakin at (607) 272-4557 extension 272 or tvadakin@ tcpl.org.
Books Ithaca College New Voices Literary Festival | 5:30 PM-, 4/20 Wednesday | Buffalo Street Books, 215 N Cayuga St, Ithaca | Featuring authors Austin Bunn, Angelina Mirabella, Kristen-Paige Madonia, Ladan Osman, SJ Naude, Aisha Sabotini Sloan, and Anna Ziegler who will all do micro readings from their work. ithacanewvoicesfestival. com Kindred: 4 Seasons Book Club Discussion | 6:30 PM-7:30 PM, 4/21 Thursday | BorgWarner Room, 101 E Green St, Ithaca | This riveting best-seller combines elements of memoir, fantasy and historical fiction to tell the story of Dana, an African American woman who is transported
then my block, and then my city. This was the payment: to be respected in the community, and to be the best rapper out there.” Many years removed from his beginnings, the colorful rapper has left a trail through the rap lexicon that’s influenced innumerable artists; detailing the subtlety of an ever-evolving mind that’s always stayed true to the essentials of hip hop: humor, punk, competition, abstraction, and the merging of diverse musical forms. Rap can be about anything: the streets, gangsta-life, ice-cream cones, drugs, inequality, relationships; you name it. As long as it stays true to an artist’s inner construction and it’s real, the essence of the jams will shine through. “I would say Blackalicious is positive, but I hate to pin our form against another form; like say gangstarap, because this is not the case,” Gift of Gab mused. “My belief is that art is about being honest; telling your side of the story the way you see it. If you don’t live a gangsta-style life but you rap about it, it’ll come through that way in the music. Art’s not about right or wrong, it’s about being honest.” After a ten-year hiatus in between recordings, Blackalicious released Imani Vol. 1, in September of 2015. Per usual, the album crushes it. The duo hasn’t lost a step, introducing contemporary electronic influences, hard hitting slams, social and political musings, and wideranging variations; all the while still fronting that classic Blackalicious sound. There were some different angles this time around though: something Gift of Gab confessed was a slight change to their usual approach. “We’re older and wiser now,” he
museum.cornell.edu Jay Hart and Patty Porter: Geographic Contrasts: Extensive and Intimate | 4:00 PM-6:00 PM, 4/21 Thursday | Ithaca Bakery, Triphammer Marker Place, Ithaca | Meet the artist reception on the eve of Earth Day. Jay Hart and Patty Porter explore different perspectives of the earth’s surface. Jay is exhibiting metal prints that use geographic data to show broad sweeps of the earth. Patty’s oil paintings show an up-close and intimate interpretation of landscapes. Patty L. Porter, plporter4@gmail.com, Jay Hart, jhart@ lightlink.com
Art Andy Warhol’s Photography | 5:15 PM, 4/21 Thursday | Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell, Ithaca | Author William Ganis, Indiana State University, will discuss why Andy Warhol made and hoarded collections of tens of thousands of his own photographs, and share insights into Warhol’s anticipation of today’s ubiquitous digital photography. The Museum is open tonight until 8PM. Free. 607-255-6464.
ongoing Community School of Music and Arts | 330 E.State / MLK Street, Ithaca, NY 14850 | A Sense of Place: Exploring Ithaca’s Built Environment. Over 30
Dark and speedy grind plus some wicked hardcore menace is what pushes Providence, R.I.’s F***ing Invincible to the edge and beyond. Smashing depths and pummeling arrangements will have eating your lungs for dessert as the band pursues a new meaning to the word aggressive. Also on the bill are Ithaca doom pursuers Twin Lords, Binghamton grinders Street Feet, and Moravia metal punkers Rabid. Bring your best head-banging gear and rage the Chanti-Loft Saturday night. It’s going to rule!!!
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artists address the meaning of “a sense of place,” relationships between old and new, and how built spaces identify and shape our experiences of this city. Awards presentation at 6:30 PM. | www.csma-ithaca.org Creative Space Gallery | (215 The Commons) | Extrapolate: Student work from Ithaca College that centers around the concept of abstracted landscapes. With different mediums, we will focus on the idea of looking at places familiar to us in different perspectives, as well as a collaborative sculpture created by Ithaca College students and faculty that is also within the theme. Eye Gallery | (126 The Commons Fl. 2) | A Futuristic Landscape | Award-winning British fantasy realist John Harris’s pastel world is stark, where ecological printmaker Lindsey Glover’s universe is lush. The synergy between the two is unexpected yet
“Alphabet Aerobics”: probably the most difficult and amazing rap song ever written. A little while back the song was actually recited live on the Tonight Show by Daniel Radcliffe. On youtube there’s over 57 million hits on the video—very weird— but not surprising. “Yeah that came out of nowhere,” Gift of Gab told me. “Questlove (Roots drummer) actually texted me and told me to watch The Tonight Show that night. It was pretty awesome you know. Much respect to Daniel Radcliffe; it’s only been a positive thing.” Powerful art is universal. The essence of its sacredness is eternal. Blackalicious reign hard, and always will. •
undeniable. Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University | Central Ave., Ithaca | Revealed: WPA Murals from Roosevelt Island - January 30-May 29 | The fire is gone but we have the light: Rirkrit Tiravanija and Korakrit Arunanondchai - January 23-May 29 | Tradition, Transmission, and Transformation in East Asian Art January 23-June 12 | Works from the Johnson’s collection explore how Chinese cultural images and artistic styles were adopted and adapted in Korea and Japan. | www.museu cornell.edu The Ink Shop | 330 E.State / MLK Street, Ithaca, NY 14850 | I See You, IC/ CU: The Ink Shop is pleased to host the first joint show of prints by faculty and students of two strong printmaking programs at Ithaca College and Cornell University. These works are richly
diverse with unique approaches using traditional methods, ranging from beginner to advanced practitioners | 607-277-3884 | www.ink-shop.org Ithaca Bakery | Triphammer Market Place, 2255 N Triphammer Rd, Ithaca | Jay Hart and Patty Porter. “Geographic Contrasts: Extensive and Intimate.” Jay is exhibiting metal prints that use geographic data to show broad sweeps of the earth. Patty’s oil paintings show an up-close and intimate interpretation of landscapes.
Got Submissions? Send your events items – band gigs, benefits, meet-ups, whatever – to arts@ithacatimes.com.
Cascadilla Duck Race,
The Chanticleer Loft, Saturday, April 23, 7:00 p.m.
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relayed. “It’s cool to have some other people writing some sections and collaborating with us now, but it’s Blackalicious, so no one will ever write my verses.” One of the songs on the new album “The Sun” features the musician Imani Copploa on it. It’s one of the album’s highlights: stunningly original, visionary, and so damn uplifting, you’ll be jamming it all day long. “Imani wrote the hook on that song, and it’s great. I think we’re more open for people to come into the fold now; the different energy is something unique.” It’s pretty freaking awesome the group is coming to Ithaca this Friday. I mean these are the guys that wrote
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Cooperative Extension Education Center, Sunday, April 24, 10:00 a.m. Tompkins County 4-H along with CCETC Compost Fair prepare for the 16th Annual Cascadilla Duck Race and Color Splash Run Race. Walkers, runners, strollers, and kids are all welcome to participate. It’s a chance to grab the whole family and stretch the old legs out and do something positive for yourself. It’s going to be a great day!!
ThisWeek
F****ING INvincible,
Blackalicious: On left in background, Gift of Gab. Front foreground, DJ Chief Xcel (Photos Provided)