Honestly, this was one of the best/craziest days of my life. I knew it was going to be up there, but I didn't know how legendary it was actually going to be until it happened.
The night of my mixtape release party. This one night changed the game for me completely & let me tell you how.
It was Summer, I was gearing up to release my new mixtape at the time that I worked so hard on and I knew I wanted to do something different.
All my friends that were gone out of state for school & such were back home in New York again like every other Summer so I knew whatever I did had to be BIG.
So I planned a release party. I wanted everybody I knew to come, get lit, turn up with me & the squad, and catch me perform songs off my mixtape that was dropping.
I found & rented a huge, dope loft in Harlem for the special night. Free food AND liquor was provided to all my guests (Courtesy of me & da homies, even my mom cooked something last minute to support!). A couple of my DJ friends came to help set the vibes & everything was all good to go!
Me & my friends started promoting weeks in advance so ticket sales started coming in s l o w l y. Then the day before & the day of, ticket sales just shot up! Guess everybody knew this was the place to be that night lol.
Along with the advanced tix sales & the sales at the door, there was an estimated 130+ people that came through for the vibes & to see me perform. ONE HUNDRED THIRTY.
WILD
The place was packed!!! & Everybody was there to see me. All my people & more in one place.
The energy is something I'll never forget.
Another reason this night was so important to me is because I made it happen independently.
No label, no extra artists on the bill to perform, no "promoters", just me & my people!
I was able to see my hard work really paying off, especially since, when I first started years before, it was tough to even get 10 people to come to a show...
But I never gave up, just knew I had more work to do.
That night was one of the first times I was really able to see the strength of my team up close & personal.
Even people that lived out of state came through that night to support.
That hit differentttt
I'd be lying if I said the night was perfect though...
At some point, the cops had come to the door and threatened to shut the whole thing down for no reason.
They were trying to pressure me & said if they come and see x, y, & z then they would arrest me.
I was soo stressed, upset, and scared because what started out as the perfect event had become a real risky situation for me & I hadn't even performed yet!
There was no way I was going to let this night be ruined, so I kept it rocking regardless knowing what the risk was...
I popped a bottle of moscato and told my guys I was ready to perform.
My bro Nikai grabbed the mic, got the crowd ready & introduced me. Thats when I pulled up.
Had everybody in the spot chanting my name "WHOISARIEL, WHOISARIEL, WHOISARIEL"
And in that moment, everything became real to me.
I performed and I was filled up with so much excitement, energy & adrenaline.
The feeling in the loft that night was unlike anything I ever experienced, especially with all the attention on me.
I wish we could have caught more footage, but I did collect all the Snapchat stories that I could and compiled it into one big Super Story.
Also grabbed my DSLR camera after the performance towards the end of the event and grabbed some footage.
Although the time has passed, you can still experience this legendary night through these recap videos. Hope you enjoy!
When 100+ People Chant Your Name