By DCist contributor Brett Gellman The Maryland Terrapins (2-2, 0-1 ACC) are coming off one of the most disappointing losses of the Friedgen era after surrendering a 21-point lead in the second half of last Saturday’s game at Wake Forest. Late in the third quarter with Maryland up 21-3, Terps QB Jordan Steffy threw a red zone pass which was intercepted by Wake CB Alphonso Smith and subsequently returned for a school record 100 yard…

By DCist contributor Elisabeth Grant D.C. can be an expensive place to eat lunch. A meal from Cosi will set you back $8, any sit-down place is at least twice as much that, and even if you’re just going for coffee, a grande pumpkin spice latte (the most delicious beverage on the planet) will put you out over $4. While many of the folks who work on or around the Hill, like those with expense…

By DCist contributor Valerie Paschall The members of Syracuse chamber pop act Ra Ra Riot are no strangers to high profile performances. In fact, it was their impressive showings at the two music industry behemoth festivals, CMJ and SXSW, which put them on the map as a band to watch. They have since opened for Bow Wow Wow, Art Brut and actually came through D.C. last month with Tokyo Police Club. They should be well-prepared…

By DCist contributor Valerie Paschall By the way, Virgin Fest starts tomorrow. Just to clarify, in case you missed the all the advertisements and press about the lineup full of buzz-worthy artists and a few artists that probably would’ve been a lot more fun to see in a previous decade. You guys got all that, right? It’s safe to say, Virgin Fest has likely gone under no one’s radar. But except to the most…

By DCist contributor John Harlow Created and organized by artist and curator Mark Tribe, the Port Huron Project is a series of reenactments of protest speeches from the New Left movements of the 1960s and ’70s, conducted at their original locations by paid performers. Previous PHP events have featured enactments of speeches originally delivered by Coretta Scott King and Howard Zinn in New York and Boston respectively. Tomorrow at 6 p.m., the National Mall will…

By DCist contributor W Jacarl Melton When Mos Def dropped the mic à la Randy Watson in Coming to America at the conclusion of Saturday’s 9:30 Club show, it was hard to tell if he was just being playful or if it was indicative of sentiments he harbored. A name like Mos Def, when announced to hip-hop heads or general music aficionados, is bound to create some buzz. This night was no different as…

By DCist contributor W Jacarl Melton Femi Kuti performs tonight at the 9:30 Club. Doors at 9 p.m. $25 Following in your father’s footsteps isn’t easy because there will be the inevitable comparisons, especially if your dad was a musical vanguard. Femi Kuti can’t avoid the path his father, Fela, blazed so he’s decided to embrace it and further his family’s legacy in Afrobeat. It goes without saying that Fela Kuti was one of those…

By DCist contributor W. Jacarl Melton “Tell the truth, James Brown was old ‘Til Eric and Rakim came out with ‘I Got Soul’. Rap brings back old R&B; And if we would not, people could’ve forgot.” —Stetsasonic’s “Talkin’ All That Jazz” That quote captures how RAMP went from 1970s R&B/soul/funk jazz obscurity to having one of the most sought-after albums in the history of hip-hop sampling. If you’re not familiar with the group, you’re more…

By DCist contributor W Jacarl Melton The hip-hop industry is a cruel and fickle creature. It’s built up many an emcee based on one nice record only to devour them during their next Soundscan. Very few artists have been able to recover from missteps. However, if there’s a poster boy for career resurgence, Nas might be him. It’s hard to find a hip-hop writer who’d ridicule Nas’ first solo album, Illmatic (this writer included). The…

By DCist contributor W Jacarl Melton At the time when Jaguar Wright’s 2002 album, Denials, Delusions and Decisions, was released, the industry term du jour, “neo-soul,” was used to describe any singer who presented themselves as part of the vanguard who shunned the trappings of mainstream urban music. But the Philadelphia-based Wright resisted this categorization, and wound up standing out from those who were being viewed as artistic oddballs. Tonight she’ll be supported by the…