{"id":51673,"date":"2025-11-12T23:40:26","date_gmt":"2025-11-12T23:40:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/12\/noochie-brings-live-from-the-front-porch-to-the-kennedy-center\/"},"modified":"2025-11-12T23:40:26","modified_gmt":"2025-11-12T23:40:26","slug":"noochie-brings-live-from-the-front-porch-to-the-kennedy-center","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/12\/noochie-brings-live-from-the-front-porch-to-the-kennedy-center\/","title":{"rendered":"Noochie Brings \u2018Live From the Front Porch\u2019 to the Kennedy Center"},"content":{"rendered":"


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\n\tOn November 9, rapper and Live From The Front Porch<\/a> creator Noochie<\/a> hosted a live version of his performance series at Washington, DC\u2019s venerable Kennedy Center. The event showcased acts like Noochie, The Blackbyrds, R&B singers Christopher Williams and Alex Vaughn, as well as DC legends DJ Kool, Stinky Dink, and \u201cQueen of Go-Go\u201d Ms. Kim performing with the backing of The Front Porch band\u2014bringing the essence of his viral series to a live audience.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n\tThe event was originally scheduled for April 2025 but was delayed after President Donald Trump was controversially elected as Board Chair of the Kennedy Center. Many acts have since pulled out of programming at the venue, but as Noochie tells Rolling Stone, he felt compelled to see the show through. He tells us about planning the show, his favorite moments of the night, and what it means to him to have accomplished it.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n\tIt felt so \u201cBlack family reunion.\u201d The stigma of all the shit around the Kennedy Center was not even a thought. I even said it on stage: \u201cIf this was the Sixties, they would call this a sit-in\u2014if you\u2019re somewhere you\u2019re not welcome or supposed to be at.\u201d Nah, we\u2019re supposed to be everywhere we want to go. That\u2019s how I look at it.<\/p>\n

\n\tI was supposed to start planning the show in August \u201924, but there were so many Front Porch<\/em> shoots we were doing. I was like, with the date being announced in August but originally being April 4, 2025, I\u2019ve got so much time. I\u2019m like, \u201cI\u2019m going to shoot so many Front Porch<\/em> episodes, it\u2019s no telling who I\u2019ll have relationships with by then who could be part of the show.\u201d We had endless people in that window before I was even thinking about it. So I really wasn\u2019t focused on what the show was going to be.<\/p>\n

\n\tWe got things going when the changing of the guard at the Kennedy Center happened. We ended up postponing the show from April 4 to November 9. We didn\u2019t know what was going to happen. A lot of acts I reached out to weren\u2019t trying to do it because they\u2019re at a certain level and their brand could be impacted. But they also advised me, \u201cYou\u2019re not at this established point where this should harm your brand. There\u2019s a lot of opportunity in doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\t\tEditor\u2019s picks<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n

\n\tI didn\u2019t do any social media on it. The show did all the numbers without us posting it. I definitely wanted to, but I saw all the comments the Kennedy Center was getting. I believe in the brand already. The show sold out originally, but we ended up pushing it back, so people returned their tickets and had to buy them again. But it was causing confusion where the audience was like, \u201cAre they still doing the show?\u201d I\u2019d rather people just look it up and see if it\u2019s happening versus me inviting this toxic conversation on my social media. People talking shit who aren\u2019t even about to go to the show anyway. I\u2019d rather just do the show, then get to the next one. That\u2019s not what my page is about. I\u2019m the type of nigga to stand up against something or stand for what we stand for. Sometimes everybody might not understand what you\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n

\n\tI just felt like this was something I had to do as a commitment. I used to go to the Kennedy Center and people would be like, \u201cMan, you gotta bring The Front Porch<\/em> to the Kennedy Center.\u201d I\u2019m like, \u201cJust tell me who to talk to.\u201d They pointed me in the right direction; I reached out to Simone Eccleston, and we made it happen. It felt like one of those contract negotiations where it\u2019s like, \u201cWe\u2019re trying to get it done, I fuck with you. I see what y\u2019all are going through, but we\u2019re going through shit because of this as well.\u201d But we figured it out eventually. I was in there because the employees wanted it in there. And I also thought, man, we\u2019re taking it from the mud to the most prestigious\u2014supposed to be the most prestigious\u2014spot at the time.<\/p>\n

\n\tNow it\u2019s somewhat of a stain, but it is what it is. Once we pushed it back, we ended up doing another show at Bethesda Theater last month that ended up being our first show, and this was a 500-seater. We had the same style of show, and my manager helped me put that one together from the ground up. That shit was dope and set the precedent of, \u201cAlright, this is what our shows look like.\u201d We\u2019ve been booked for private events where we\u2019ve curated stuff like this before, but these were the first ticketed events open to the public.<\/p>\n

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\t\tRelated Content<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n

\n\tI always had an idea of how to run a show\u2014almost similar to the BET Awards or something. I\u2019d host it for a second, do a song, come back out, and it goes back to the other guests. That was always the format. And not telling the crowd who was coming out was always something I wanted to do too. We don\u2019t tell people who we\u2019re dropping for Live From The Front Porch<\/a><\/em> YouTube episodes; we just drop and they take it how they get it. Most of the time that\u2019s exciting to people, and at the live show it\u2019s even more exciting. You\u2019re part of it, and it\u2019s the same thing you\u2019re used to on the computer. The platform is nothing but curation\u2014from the artist that\u2019s on there, the songs they\u2019re doing, the instruments that are up there, the aesthetic, whether it\u2019s night or daytime\u2014it\u2019s all curation. So if you trust that curation, this is the same thing you\u2019re used to.<\/p>\n

\n\tOne of the first acts I thought of was The Blackbyrds. They\u2019re just DC. That was one of my favorite episodes, which I felt was underrated. I appreciate them, and I feel like they appreciate the platform. I reached out to Keith Kilgo and The Blackbyrds, and he said he was down. And then Christopher Williams was here, and we shot his episode a while ago, but we just dropped it a couple weeks ago and it did crazy numbers immediately. I\u2019m like, alright, let\u2019s see if we can get Chris on here too. He\u2019s killing it\u2014he sounds like he just started. So to bring that energy would be dope.<\/p>\n

\n\tI did about three or four songs. It felt dope to align with stuff that\u2019s already classic and not feel like the opening act\u2014to not have people walking out during the parts they may not be familiar with versus this popular-ass song they\u2019ve known all their life.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Front Porch band is the musician community in the DMV<\/a>. I try to keep it local so if Front Porch<\/em> guests are intrigued by these musicians and want to work with them, they can. For this show, I used the same band that I just shot a Front Porch<\/em> guest with last week. So the goal is to make it so these people on The Front Porch<\/em> can branch out. I want to be that vessel for the musicians and for the artists.<\/p>\n

\n\tMy bro, Reginald \u201cReggie\u201d Grier, is production manager. I pretty much ran point with him on this one. I worked with my guy Will Benitez on the screen, but I pretty much gave direction to everybody. I didn\u2019t say, \u201cDraw this and do that,\u201d but it was like, \u201cLet\u2019s do this type of music. Let\u2019s bring out Stinky Dink on this part, let\u2019s do DJ Kool, let\u2019s bring out Christopher Williams, Blackbyrds\u2014that\u2019s me.\u201d My crew from the video series weren\u2019t required to do much. It wasn\u2019t a production day for them; they could come and enjoy the show. But a lot of the camera crew shot the event. Some of my audio techs were working with their audio techs. Even with the screen, our guys were working with their guys on the screen, so maybe six in total participated.<\/p>\n

\n\tWatching the crowd from backstage, the venue was empty and then seeing that shit fill up\u2014they had a camera on the crowd and I\u2019m like, \u201cThis shit happened.\u201d Even though I could see the tickets sold out before, to see it happen, it\u2019s like, \u201cDamn, okay, they showed up for you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAfter we played the intro video, people appreciated that. And me talking about, \u201cIt\u2019s a family reunion,\u201d I\u2019m damn near doing comedy between the sets, just talking. I\u2019m having conversations with the crowd, I\u2019m doing \u201cTell your neighbor something.\u201d I\u2019m saying, \u201cGod is good all the time.\u201d I\u2019m like, \u201cOkay, this is a Black crowd\u2014we good.\u201d The crowd was majority women, but it was so many different age groups. It was like, alright, they all appreciate it. There was so much different shit we gave them. You could see everybody appreciate something different. We ended with a go-go set. By the time we got to that part, everybody was up. Even if they thought it was about to be over, this shit turned back up, and I had Stinky Dink come out. He\u2019s got a DC classic track called \u201cOne Track Mind,\u201d and when he came out and hit that with the band, it was like a switch got flipped.<\/p>\n

\n\tFor me, completing this show means, \u201cYou got the keys, bro. If you want to get shit done, you can do it. As long as your intent stays pure, why shouldn\u2019t it happen?\u201d I don\u2019t want evil to happen; I just want me and everybody around me to prosper. Everybody is of the culture.<\/p>\n

\n\tThere were a lot of people in that crowd. There were a lot of colors in that crowd. I just had a conversation with an upcoming Front Porch<\/em> guest, and they called me \u201centerprise-minded,\u201d and that\u2019s how I feel. This shit\u2019s only happening because you kept coming out here rapping on your porch while it was cold, while it was hot, while people were walking up the street. You\u2019re sitting out here looking like you\u2019re crazy\u2014it was like, this shit\u2019s going to lead to something. Something\u2019s going to happen.<\/p>\n

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\t\tTrending Stories<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n

\n\tFor the DMV, it lets you know we aren\u2019t just a stop for people to come through, get a bag, and roll out. It\u2019s a hub. It\u2019s an entertainment hub, a music hub, it\u2019s a Black hub. So I feel like this put a magnifying glass on our culture and what we can do and how innovative the DMV is\u2014and DC specifically, because that\u2019s what people are gonna say. I ask every guest, \u201cWhat made you want to come do The Front Porch<\/em>?\u201d They say, \u201cI just saw it and wanted to do it.\u201d I was like, bro, that was my goal. I want artists to see this shit and want to come do it.<\/p>\n

\n\tI\u2019m happy that we passed the controversy now because I feel like we proved something. Through the adversity and the economy, we were still able to have a successful show and a hell of a turnout for this product we built on the porch. I wouldn\u2019t necessarily want to touch the Kennedy Center again. My goal would be to do bigger shows or a Front Porch<\/em> festival. Sell out Capital One Arena. Take this shit to that level. Make sure that we elevate.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n


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