Wednesday night Ray and I headed to New York City to see Chance the Rapper perform at S.O.B.S for his Social Experiment Tour. It was pretty epic. I liked a lot of the songs on Acid Rap, and last week after Ray showed me a youtube video of Chance performing I was so excited. He has so much energy and passion on stage and the crowd is just as much a part of the performance as the trumpet, keyboard and drums. And when we saw him live, it was even better. We got on the long line early enough to get a good spot on the side of the stage, by the sound board and where Chance would be entering and exiting the stage. We had the perfect view. Soon the room was packed and it was time for him to hit the stage. It was electrifying. There was awesome lighting, and smoke effects, and visuals. There was an amazing energy in the air. He makes good music and can not wait to see how far Chance goes. He’s unique, talented and wants to continue to connect with the people that connect with his music. Ray was able to dap him up a couple times, and we stood next to one of his biggest fans that poured over him.

Last Thursday, September 19 talented teen, Avery Thompson performed his impressions, original music and more at a sold out show, Dream Big! at South Orange Performing Arts Center! Unfortunately I was unable to make it because of work but I was able to get some feedback from Molly Rose Kaufman, who is also his cousin, and biggest fan!

My 16-year-old cousin Avery has been performing for us since before he could walk.  Here he is doing impressions at the Molly Rose Show in 2008.  Over the years his act has grown and these days he impersonates everyone from President Obama to Sean Connery to Biggie.  He writes songs like Balla Can’t Ball (which you should totally download on itunes), raps and sings.  On September 19th Avery performed it all at his Dream Big concert at the sold-out South Orange Performing Arts Center.  He was backed by the world class Dream Big Band that included his proud papa Joshua Thompson on guitar.  Guest performers included Joe (for real Joe), Amanda Barise (watch out for her! she can sing) and my niece Chrissy (who learned her dance that afternoon after driving all the way from Atlanta).  Jamie Fox was the big surprise and it was amazing to see him impersonate Bill Cosby to Avery’s Obama.  But the best part was to be in a theater full of so much love and joy and see my cousin up there doing what he was born to do and bringing down the house. -Molly

The concert was an amazing experience! To see so many people show up just to see me was an incredible feeling and I had a lot of fun giving them a night to remember. From rnb legend Joe all the way to Jamie Foxx, it was jam packed with unbelievable talent. It was a great night and I can’t wait for the next one.