Music

On November 9, rapper and Live From The Front Porch creator Noochie hosted a live version of his performance series at Washington, DC’s venerable Kennedy Center. The event showcased acts like Noochie, The Blackbyrds, R&B singers Christopher Williams and Alex Vaughn, as well as DC legends DJ Kool, Stinky Dink, and “Queen of Go-Go” Ms. Kim performing with the backing of The Front Porch band—bringing the essence of his viral series to a live audience.

The event was originally scheduled for April 2025 but was delayed after President Donald Trump was controversially elected as Board Chair of the Kennedy Center. Many acts have since pulled out of programming at the venue, but as Noochie tells Rolling Stone, he felt compelled to see the show through. He tells us about planning the show, his favorite moments of the night, and what it means to him to have accomplished it.

It felt so “Black family reunion.” The stigma of all the shit around the Kennedy Center was not even a thought. I even said it on stage: “If this was the Sixties, they would call this a sit-in—if you’re somewhere you’re not welcome or supposed to be at.” Nah, we’re supposed to be everywhere we want to go. That’s how I look at it.

I was supposed to start planning the show in August ’24, but there were so many Front Porch shoots we were doing. I was like, with the date being announced in August but originally being April 4, 2025, I’ve got so much time. I’m like, “I’m going to shoot so many Front Porch episodes, it’s no telling who I’ll have relationships with by then who could be part of the show.” We had endless people in that window before I was even thinking about it. So I really wasn’t focused on what the show was going to be.

We got things going when the changing of the guard at the Kennedy Center happened. We ended up postponing the show from April 4 to November 9. We didn’t know what was going to happen. A lot of acts I reached out to weren’t trying to do it because they’re at a certain level and their brand could be impacted. But they also advised me, “You’re not at this established point where this should harm your brand. There’s a lot of opportunity in doing it.”

I didn’t do any social media on it. The show did all the numbers without us posting it. I definitely wanted to, but I saw all the comments the Kennedy Center was getting. I believe in the brand already. The show sold out originally, but we ended up pushing it back, so people returned their tickets and had to buy them again. But it was causing confusion where the audience was like, “Are they still doing the show?” I’d rather people just look it up and see if it’s happening versus me inviting this toxic conversation on my social media. People talking shit who aren’t even about to go to the show anyway. I’d rather just do the show, then get to the next one. That’s not what my page is about. I’m the type of nigga to stand up against something or stand for what we stand for. Sometimes everybody might not understand what you’re doing.

I just felt like this was something I had to do as a commitment. I used to go to the Kennedy Center and people would be like, “Man, you gotta bring The Front Porch to the Kennedy Center.” I’m like, “Just tell me who to talk to.” They pointed me in the right direction; I reached out to Simone Eccleston, and we made it happen. It felt like one of those contract negotiations where it’s like, “We’re trying to get it done, I fuck with you. I see what y’all are going through, but we’re going through shit because of this as well.” But we figured it out eventually. I was in there because the employees wanted it in there. And I also thought, man, we’re taking it from the mud to the most prestigious—supposed to be the most prestigious—spot at the time.

Now it’s somewhat of a stain, but it is what it is. Once we pushed it back, we ended up doing another show at Bethesda Theater last month that ended up being our first show, and this was a 500-seater. We had the same style of show, and my manager helped me put that one together from the ground up. That shit was dope and set the precedent of, “Alright, this is what our shows look like.” We’ve been booked for private events where we’ve curated stuff like this before, but these were the first ticketed events open to the public.

I always had an idea of how to run a show—almost similar to the BET Awards or something. I’d host it for a second, do a song, come back out, and it goes back to the other guests. That was always the format. And not telling the crowd who was coming out was always something I wanted to do too. We don’t tell people who we’re dropping for Live From The Front Porch YouTube episodes; we just drop and they take it how they get it. Most of the time that’s exciting to people, and at the live show it’s even more exciting. You’re part of it, and it’s the same thing you’re used to on the computer. The platform is nothing but curation—from the artist that’s on there, the songs they’re doing, the instruments that are up there, the aesthetic, whether it’s night or daytime—it’s all curation. So if you trust that curation, this is the same thing you’re used to.

One of the first acts I thought of was The Blackbyrds. They’re just DC. That was one of my favorite episodes, which I felt was underrated. I appreciate them, and I feel like they appreciate the platform. I reached out to Keith Kilgo and The Blackbyrds, and he said he was down. And then Christopher Williams was here, and we shot his episode a while ago, but we just dropped it a couple weeks ago and it did crazy numbers immediately. I’m like, alright, let’s see if we can get Chris on here too. He’s killing it—he sounds like he just started. So to bring that energy would be dope.

I did about three or four songs. It felt dope to align with stuff that’s already classic and not feel like the opening act—to not have people walking out during the parts they may not be familiar with versus this popular-ass song they’ve known all their life.

The Front Porch band is the musician community in the DMV. I try to keep it local so if Front Porch guests are intrigued by these musicians and want to work with them, they can. For this show, I used the same band that I just shot a Front Porch guest with last week. So the goal is to make it so these people on The Front Porch can branch out. I want to be that vessel for the musicians and for the artists.

My bro, Reginald “Reggie” Grier, is production manager. I pretty much ran point with him on this one. I worked with my guy Will Benitez on the screen, but I pretty much gave direction to everybody. I didn’t say, “Draw this and do that,” but it was like, “Let’s do this type of music. Let’s bring out Stinky Dink on this part, let’s do DJ Kool, let’s bring out Christopher Williams, Blackbyrds—that’s me.” My crew from the video series weren’t required to do much. It wasn’t a production day for them; they could come and enjoy the show. But a lot of the camera crew shot the event. Some of my audio techs were working with their audio techs. Even with the screen, our guys were working with their guys on the screen, so maybe six in total participated.

Watching the crowd from backstage, the venue was empty and then seeing that shit fill up—they had a camera on the crowd and I’m like, “This shit happened.” Even though I could see the tickets sold out before, to see it happen, it’s like, “Damn, okay, they showed up for you.”

After we played the intro video, people appreciated that. And me talking about, “It’s a family reunion,” I’m damn near doing comedy between the sets, just talking. I’m having conversations with the crowd, I’m doing “Tell your neighbor something.” I’m saying, “God is good all the time.” I’m like, “Okay, this is a Black crowd—we good.” The crowd was majority women, but it was so many different age groups. It was like, alright, they all appreciate it. There was so much different shit we gave them. You could see everybody appreciate something different. We ended with a go-go set. By the time we got to that part, everybody was up. Even if they thought it was about to be over, this shit turned back up, and I had Stinky Dink come out. He’s got a DC classic track called “One Track Mind,” and when he came out and hit that with the band, it was like a switch got flipped.

For me, completing this show means, “You got the keys, bro. If you want to get shit done, you can do it. As long as your intent stays pure, why shouldn’t it happen?” I don’t want evil to happen; I just want me and everybody around me to prosper. Everybody is of the culture.

There were a lot of people in that crowd. There were a lot of colors in that crowd. I just had a conversation with an upcoming Front Porch guest, and they called me “enterprise-minded,” and that’s how I feel. This shit’s only happening because you kept coming out here rapping on your porch while it was cold, while it was hot, while people were walking up the street. You’re sitting out here looking like you’re crazy—it was like, this shit’s going to lead to something. Something’s going to happen.

For the DMV, it lets you know we aren’t just a stop for people to come through, get a bag, and roll out. It’s a hub. It’s an entertainment hub, a music hub, it’s a Black hub. So I feel like this put a magnifying glass on our culture and what we can do and how innovative the DMV is—and DC specifically, because that’s what people are gonna say. I ask every guest, “What made you want to come do The Front Porch?” They say, “I just saw it and wanted to do it.” I was like, bro, that was my goal. I want artists to see this shit and want to come do it.

I’m happy that we passed the controversy now because I feel like we proved something. Through the adversity and the economy, we were still able to have a successful show and a hell of a turnout for this product we built on the porch. I wouldn’t necessarily want to touch the Kennedy Center again. My goal would be to do bigger shows or a Front Porch festival. Sell out Capital One Arena. Take this shit to that level. Make sure that we elevate.