This week in the Baltimore City Paper, I have a piece about the Baltimore Believe Tour. I think it came out as one of my best articles to date, partly because it's not strictly about music and gets into a little of the social and political issues of the Believe campaign. The tour is in its fourth year, and I first checked out a couple shows last summer. When I wrote a Gov't Names post about it last year, I came off kind of flippant and cynical, and one of the commenters rightfully took me to task for my disrespect of the work people put into it. Talking to Richard Burton, you really do get a sense of his vision about all this, and I hope that he gets to keep doing this tour in the future, whether or not O'Malley is still the mayor. It's a really fun, unique event, and one of the best ways to see Baltimore hip hop live. I also got to talk to D.O.G. about the fact that he'd kind of dissed it as "the Baltimore Police Tour" on his freestyle over "Welcome To Jamrock" last year, but had a change of heart and is performing on the tour this year, so that's interesting. Here's the specifics on this weekend's stop on the Believe Tour:

Mayor Martin O'Malley, Baltimore Housing, and 92Q Jams present
Big Phat Believe Festnic
Believing in our Families
$5 Donation ($5 general admission and $10 VIP seating)
Donation goes to helping needy families in Baltimore city
for vendor info, contact Richard Burton at 443 984 3156

July 29th-30th
Frederick Douglass High School
Outdoor Arena
12 Noon - 8PM Rain Or Shine

Hosted by 92Q Saturday
Hosted by Heaven 600AM 95.9FM Sunday

Carnival Rides
Games
Food
Moon Bounce
Crab Raffle
Baltimore's Idol Talent Search

Featuring:
The Stylistics
Harold Melvin's Bluenotes, featuring Sharon Paige

Also...
DJ K-Swift & Squirrel Wyde
Choir Boys
Cooli Hi
C.R.
D.O.G.
Eriq J'Mar
Morgan State Universy Choir
and Shadina

For ticket information, call: 443 984 3156

Labels: 92Q, Baltimore City Paper, Baltimore club, Cooli Hi, D.O.G., K-Swift, magazines/newspapers