This past weekend, the Broccoli City Festival, presented by Converse, was held at Audi Field in Washington, D.C., on Saturday, July 27, and Sunday, July 28.
Featuring headlining megastars Gunna, Megan Thee Stallion, Victoria Monét, PartyNextDoor, and Kaytranada, along with other familiar faces such as Amaraae, Sexyy Red, Baby Tate, Tanner Adell, and Jordan Ward- the festival has continued to provide a well-curated lineup that reflects what we’ve all been adding to our playlists.
Hosts Issa Rae, who brought her brands Viarae and Sienna Naturals along for the ride, Funny Marco, Bryson Tiller, and veteran hosts Mouse Jones and Little Bacon Bear rounded out the Broccoli City appearances with even an unexpected appearance from former Migos member Offset performing collab “Prada Dem” during Gunna’s finale set.
Issa Rae at Broccoli City Festival 2024
Photo by Brian Stukes/Getty Images for The Recording Academy
Most notably, Broccoli City switched up their venue and event date after previous years at the now defunct RFK Stadium and unlucky bouts of inclement weather during their scheduled festival weekend. In 2022, my friends and I made a pit stop at Target for jackets and raincoats just to survive the weekend.
In 2023, Broccoli City went viral for a video of Coco Jones performing her song “Double Back”, a flip of SWV’s song “Rain” while it showered. A magical feeling in the moment, but short-lived as the rain continued to pour, soaking the crowd.
But this year, moving to the Audi Field Stadium was a great choice for the festival. It took a few flights of stairs and a reminder that we all can’t have Megan’s knees to access an elevated VIP experience, including reserved seating, a lounge with built-in restrooms (no port-a-potty, yay!), a food bar, a patio overlooking the secondary City Stage with a backdrop of the Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge and the Anacostia river and an exclusive Converse activation with a free pair of Chucks to customize. And a big plus - there were areas to take cover under for everyone just in case the DMV sky changed its tune.
Megan Thee Stallion performing at Broccoli City 2024
Photo by Brian Stukes/Getty Images for The Recording Academy
However, whether you were looking to be up close and traditional with the Field Access General Admission or sitting pretty in the newly reserved seating options - every ticket granted you a gorgeous view of the open-air field and the main stage. It was a bummer that it was harder for different ticket holders to interact with each other within the stadium due to access restrictions, whereas at most music festivals, paths cross, and new friends are found no matter how you buy in.
As expected with settling into a new space and setup, Broccoli City did experience some growing pains with setbacks and technical difficulties with an upset Kaytranada exploding into back-to-back hit songs after being informed midway through his groovy set that his time had been cut short due to a large delay earlier in the day and a looming Sunday sound ordinance to abide by.
After the Grammy award-winning producer & DJ delivered what the people came for, he exited the stage with a few more biting comments to the BC staff. There were also additional complaints from attendees scattered across social media comment sections of subpar sound and mic issues, especially during the headliner sets.
Baby Tate performing at Broccoli City Festival 2024
Photo by Kaitlyn Morris/Getty Images
In previous years, Broccoli City stretched the time between sets with great activations and space to spread out before reconvening at the stage. With this new format, in-between activities were significantly reduced, which left attendees sometimes twiddling their thumbs between performance sets.
Even so, with 10 years of operation, Broccoli City is developing into a standout experience in the Live Nation Urban-powered rotation of city festivals that include Atlanta’s One Music Fest and its sister festival, the freshly minted Twogetherland in Dallas.
Overall, don’t sleep - attending Broccoli City is definitely a summer trip worth getting out the group chat.
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Feature image by Kaitlyn Morris/Getty Images
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Those myths that you keep telling yourself, and believe to be true may be what's holding you back, boo. Most of the time you're thinking these things on a subconscious level and may not even realize the damage that's being done. But once you gain clarity and call out your limiting beliefs for what they are, you'll finally be able to break free and reach new levels financially.
Let's dig into a few myths that have a direct impact on your money and are keeping you BROKE.
1. “Money is the root of all evil.”
Nah, this right here is a straight-up LIE! The truth is this: the LOVE OF MONEY is the root of all evil. When you think that money is the root of all evil, you're limiting yourself from keeping money, as well as receiving more of it. Without even knowing it, you might be scared of going after opportunities that will get you to the money.
Think about it. How can money be evil? Money is simply a resource that we control. Instead of believing and saying that money is the root of all evil, replace it with this supporting belief instead:
"Money is a resource and a means to do good and live well."
2. "I'm broke."
Broke is a mindset, boo. Your financial situation is shaped by how you think about money, which influences how you manage your money. Guess what? If you keep crying that you're broke, you're going to remain that way. All you are doing is reinforcing that limiting belief into the universe and your actions aren't gonna line up with what you need to do in order to get ahead.
It's imperative that you get a grip on this way of thinking and behaving, or else you'll never be able to break the cycle. I challenge you to think more in terms of abundance and believing that you can be wealthy. Are you up for the challenge?
3. "I can afford it."
You say that you can afford that pair of shoes and then turn around and realize that you don't even have enough money for gas the morning after. You can't just look at your checking account balance in the moment and think that everything is all good. Trust me, I've been there. This is where having a clear-cut, written budget comes in handy.
A budget is really just a spending/savings plan. It's a strategic system that lets you know how much money is coming in and going out every month. In reality, a budget can:
- Help you understand your financial situation and whether you can really afford something or not.
- Help you save for the things you want and do more of what you enjoy.
- Help you avoid getting caught short by bills you can't pay.
- Help you escape the paycheck-to-paycheck life.
4. "I deserve to treat myself."
GiphyHow many "treats" do you need, sis? If you really sit down and keep it 100 with yourself, do you really deserve those so-called treats? Are you taking care of your responsibilities like you should be? Instead of buying things that you don't need (with money you don't have) and labeling them as a "treat," you should be treating yourself by investing in your future and saving some coins.
If you spend all of the money that you earn instead of saving and investing it, you will never create the financial abundance that you do desire to have.
Here's a tip: Try putting both your short-term and long-term savings on auto-pilot so you don't even notice the money that you could be missing. When you don't have to look at it, you aren't tempted by any "excess" that you might have.
5. "I need to make more money and then I'll be better with my finances."
If you can't manage the little that you have now, what makes you think that you're gonna be able to manage more money? The more money you make, the more you're gonna spend if you don't get those habits in check early on. You're going to go right back to complaining about your finances and crying that you're still broke and in need of even more money. You'll never be satisfied. There will never be enough money. Remember, there are former millionaires who are struggling out here in these streets because they wanted to live a "fake fancy" lifestyle and ball out of control.
Start by being content with the income that you currently have and handling it with better care. Learn the ins and outs of sound financial management now, so that when you're finally blessed with more, you'll be able to manage it with ease.
I challenge you to start thinking better, which will ultimately lead to you doing better. It's time to prioritize your finances in a way that you haven't done before if you want to level up this year. It's time to activate your discipline. It's time to finally do something different.
Make the commitment to yourself and decide that absolutely nothing's gonna stand in your way of breaking that broke mentality.
What’s better than being in love? Building an empire while doing it. Watch Making Cents to see how real couples turn their money dreams into money moves.
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Originally published on January 5, 2018