Knocturnal's anniversary party; free hip-hop show

Knocturnal - Snug Harbor's weekly hip-hop night - celebrates its first anniversary Monday with a free show featuring acclaimed national headliner Homeboy Sandman. Open Mike Eagle and Random also perform.

Homeboy Sandman is a former Queens, NY public school teacher whose smart lyricism and easy-on-the-ear tunes have garnered accolades from "The Source," "XXL," NPR, and Pitchfork. He's also got a video in rotation on MTV. I dig that I can actually let my kids watch his videos and post one on this blog since they aren't littered with profanity and misogyny and half the words aren't bleeped out so you can't really hear the song in the first place (finding PG videos for the Hot Concerts column can be tough some weeks). .

Monday's show - like all Knocturnals - is also free for those 21 and over; $5 for 18 and up.

Knocturnal is a weekly party featuring bboys, MCs, and deejays demonstrating their skills for a crowd that's more like a party than an audience. I stumbled on the first Knocturnal last year and have since attended a few more. What I found cool about it is there wasn't an exclusive vibe. My husband and I could hang in the back or at the bar watching a circle of people trade breakdancing moves on the cardboard sheets on the dancefloor. There are both male and female dancers too, which is cool to see. 

DJ Justin Aswell of the Mount Holly hip-hop duo Mr. Invisible spins during the bboy cipher as he will between 9 and 10 p.m. Monday as well as during the after-party. They sometimes have open-mic style ciphers where emcees take turns freestyle rapping. I'm particularly interested in what gems the Knocturnal crowd will hurl at the CMPD about Friday's fatal shooting, but that may be saved for another week considering the national anniversary lineup.

Doors open at 9 p.m. Snug Harbor is located in the heart of Plaza-Midwood (1228 Gordon St.) behind Twenty-Two. Performances are from 10 p.m. to 12 a.m. and Swan Mega will be spinning trip house, deep house, and experimental on the back patio.