Thursday Nights and Other News

Hey there people of Dallas. I know that getting you to try something different for your Hipster Does Dallas routine is difficult sometimes. You've got your "scene," and your "friends," and your "rock n' roll" that all the kids listen to. But let me ask you a question. When was the last time you had a really fun Thursday night?

I know what you're going to say. "I have a lot of fun going down to Expo Park every Thursday and listening to assholes sing dumb songs at karaoke." To which I say, "what are you, an idiot?"

Now that we have all that cleared up, let me ask you another question. Do you like late 80's/early 90's hip hop? If you answered no, grab your mouse, point it up to the top right hand corner of this screen and kindly leave my website. You can come back when you stop being dumb. But for those that do appreciate what is truly the golden age of hip hop, you might want to think about heading over to the Slip Inn next Thursday night for a taste of the old school.

And I know what you're thinking. Many of you probably know that Old School Hip Hop night is nothing new, and has in fact been happening at the Slip Inn for the past couple of years. Thats cool, because like our friend over at Themepark Experience said today, sometimes you just miss the boat. But last night was the first time we had attended, and let me tell you: we decided that it will be our new Thursday night hang out spot just about a minute after we walked through the door.

And I bet some of you are also thinking that nothing could be worse than a bunch of dorky hipsters dancing to JJ Fad. Well theres no need to worry, because Thursday nights at the Slip Inn are hipster free (and JJ Fad free), and goddamn did we need a break (not from JJ Fad). Yes, going to Old School Hip Hop night will require you to be around some different people. A few of them might even go to SMU (gasp!), and others might even be, get this, not white. But if you can get past your 80's retro xenophobia for one evening, you'll discover that the Slip Inn is the best thing going on Thursdays.

Here was our experience last night: we walk to the door and witness the tail end of a fight between bouncers and some jackass (which was kind of exciting), and then walk inside to a packed house dancing to a Leaders of the New School Song, which was immediately followed by a Black Sheep song (not the movie). Then some dude came up to us and said that he had bought four beers at once because he didn't want to go up to the bar again, and that since he now had to leave, he wanted to give us two of them. We said yes. Just about this time, two strangers started a conversation with us about matching socks and that episode of Seinfeld where George does the opposite of everything, at which point a song by Notorious B.I.G. came on. Then we danced.

As we kept drinking and dancing, we heard songs by Arrested Development, Chubb Rock, Digable Planets, Wu Tang Clan, and a bunch of other really cool shit that we had either heard long ago and forgotten about, or had never heard before at all. And it wasn't "ironic" or kitschy or whatever, it was just fun. Drinks were spilled, good looking people danced, bad looking people danced, and we didn't hear a single note of that krunk bullshit that has rendered American Hip Hop virtually dead to us. The mix was fantastic, and the people were nice. We stayed until closing, and were left wanting more. No skinny ties, no bad attitudes, and no bad music. Thats the kind of thing we need on Thursdays, and if you're adventurous enough to try the Slip Inn next Thursday, you'll realize that it is the kind of thing that you need too. Bele dat.

(oh, and check the Compact Disk logo on the Rob Base cover. Why don't they use that these days? And also, later today you will see the first post by a new writer on We Shot J.R. This person will be contributing from time to time because 1) the person is a good writer that you will like, and 2) we can't be everywhere at once every single night, and we thought this would help expand our coverage a little bit. Tell us what you think. And we'll tally up the We Shot J.R. Award votes this weekend, even though we didn't get as many votes as we wanted. We'll post those some time today or tomorrow as well.)