The weekend of Apr. 26 -28 was by FAR one of the most EXCITING and AWESOME weekends I have been blessed to experience! Pharrell William’s SOMETHING IN THE WATER Music Festival took over Virginia Beach and absolutely turned it out! Concerts – star studded. Creator Park – inspiring. Pop Up Church – Halleluyah! It was just great vibes, people, and atmosphere all around.

To be honest though, this was way bigger than music (and this big ass chair I’m in). This was about bringing a community back to life, and bringing life back in to the people, specifically the Black people, of the Virginia Beach community. Pharrell said so himself in one of his many Sunday interviews.

We SO needed this! We needed to see people who look like us have faith in us. We needed to be able to have faith in them back. We needed to see that overall we can accomplish ANYTHING we set our minds too…ESPECIALLY when we set out to accomplish it together.

At the end of his Pharrell and Friends set, he took a look over the whole crowd and said “Look at my DNA.” I know those 4 words hit deep in the heart of every one of us in that crowd who knew exactly what he meant. Its no secret that this weekend, its greatness, its love and generosity was for US. Of course it’s inclusive…but it was for US.

I’m still at a loss for words. Still stuck on a high! Next year it will be a new level (the city of Virginia Beach signed the festival on for 4 more years!) and a new experience. It will never be like the first one though. I’m so proud to be a SITW OG and I can’t wait to see how the energy of this year’s event trickles out into the community while we wait for Something In The Water 2020!