Before I begin my tale, I just wanted to say thanks to Eric and the other two gentlemen (who's names I didn't catch). Good 
looking out... I'll be checking for your handy work on Mos' album.

On Saturday, April 17th, I went to Charlottesville, VA for the Outkast/Black Star show at the
 University of Virginia. I had a crumby seat, in the nose-bleed section, with an obstructed view, 
and terrible acoustics, but I figured it would be fine since it wasn't too often that I got to 
see Black Star perform. After sitting through some opening group and the Infectious Organisms (a 

Richmond VA band that's on the move) I was ready for some Black Star. Some fifteen minutes later, 
someone came over the sound system and said that Black Star was having a hard time getting there 
and that they weren't sure if they were going to make it for the show or not, so Outkast was 
coming on next. It made a lot of people happy that they didn't have to wait for Outkast any 
longer, but I was crushed. I had received an email the day before the show from J Rawls who said 
he had spoken to Kweli, and Kwa didn't mention the show. I figured they wouldn't show up after 
all and it wasn't worth waiting around to find out (I live about an hour from UVa) so I decided 
to hit the road just as Outkst got on stage. I stopped for some coffee for the trip back, then 
headed into the Amoco gas station on my way out of town for some gas. As I pulled in and around 
the pumps, there was Mos Def chillin' by the van he had driven down in! I got out and introduced 
myself, and I was pleased when he said he recognized me and thought that we had met before- we 
talked about the show he did in Petersburg, VA and the after party where I met him for the first 
time. I told him how I had just left the show and was on my way out of town since I heard that he 

and Kweli weren't performing. He told me how they (he and some friends) had just gotten into town 
after an eight hour drive from NYC and that Kwa and Hi-Tek had driven separately, coming from 
Cincinatti. Mos tried to make some phone calls to clear up the confusion as his buddies were 
still getting themselves together after the long drive. They had hopes of hitting the 

hotel before the show, but as soon as I told them Outkast had just gone on as I left, they 
decided there was no time. They didn't have directions to University Hall, the basketball stadium 
where the show was, so they followed me there. I got in back stage with them and there were 
Hi-Tek and Kweli waiting. I got to enjoy the rest of the Outkast set from backstage and figured I 
was going to be lucky enough to see Black Star from back stage. Outkast came off and Black Star 
was ready to go on, but the soundman thought the show was over and had cut all the mics and amps 
and speakers. Instead of just doing his job, dude was power tripping, saying that the show was 
over. I swear I thought that Mos, who had just spent the last eight hours in a little van with 
three other guys, was going to rip the soundman's head off and piss down his neck and there 
wouldn't be a show after all. Cooler heads prevailed and after lots of bureaucratic bullshit 
Black Star took the stage, and invited me on stage with them! I couldn't have been more excited! 
I enjoyed myself up there, just rockin shit, having a good ol' time! I was fortunate enough to 
have my camera so I took some 24 shots from the stage... The best part of the whole experience 
for me was having Mos and Eric and the other fellows thanking me as much as they did. I felt so 
much love from them. It was lucky of me to have found the guys at the gas station, otherwise 
there might not have been a show. I call it luck, some have been calling it fate. Again, I want 
to say a big thanks to Eric and the guys for looking out for me.


Salaam. 
R.I.A. 
r_alam@hotmail.com