Black Arts and Culture

Something In The Water

The Something In The Water Festival, organized by Virginia Beach native Pharrell Williams, brought tens of thousands of people to the Virginia Beach Oceanfront over the weekend. The artists crossed musical genres and included Virginia talent such as Pusha T, Chris Brown, Portsmouth native Missy Elliot, Rosalia, SZA, J. Balvin, A$AP Ferg, Snoop Dog, Charlie Wilson, and a surprise appearance by Jay-Z.

Something In The Water, Air and the 757

By Cashara Quinn

Special to the New Journal and Guide

The seven cities were brought closer than ever before for the first annual Something In The Water music festival in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Fans from all over gathered on to the oceanfront to witness legendary performers and unforgettable music. An array of special guests made an appearance on the stage as well during the weekend, including Lil Duval, Trey Songz, Jay-Z, Fabulous, Busta Rhymes and Coko from SWV. The energy in the crowds was like no other.

Friday Gets Washed Out—But On Saturday, Here Comes The Sun!

The first day of the festival was hit with an erratic thunderstorm that led to the Friday performances being cancelled as a whole. Due to the inconvenience, ticket holders were given 33% of their money back. However, this setback did not keep the festival from achieving everything that was planned.

Saturday brought up the Adidas Creator Park, Adidas Celebrity Basketball Game and Sony’s Exhibition Arena. Inside of the Adidas Creator Park, ticket holders were able to customize their own Adidas slides and tote bags, as well as dance to the dj’s music on the dance floor. In addition, a dance competition was held inside of the park, with the winning team having the opportunity to dance on the main stage.

The Adidas Basketball Court held a celebrity basketball game with stars like D.R.A.M. and Pusha T. Ticket holders had the option to sit inside of the court or stand outside of the court to watch the game.

The Sony Arena held performances of their own as well. Artists such as Destiny Rogers, Polo G, Leikeli47 and Vanjess were scheduled to perform on Sony’s stage. Performances were also held on another stage for the Pop Up Church Service which included Gospel artists Kirk Franklin, Mary Mary and Israel Houghton.

Inside of the Virginia Beach Convention Center, conversational panels took place on Friday and Saturday, with panelists including Pharrell, Pusha T, Timbaland, Teddy Riley and Chad Hugo for a panel titled Othertone. The panel discussions ranged from different topics, but Othertone was a smash hit because of the panelists who sat on stage.

Pharrell started off the panel by thanking everyone who came and how he wants to make Virginia Beach a better place for everyone, especially college kids who visit for College Beach Weekend and take “a much needed break from school,” according to Pharrell.

After the panel discussion was over, the floor opened up for questions and ticket holders took it as their time to pitch themselves to the panelists. Some started singing and others started rapping. One ticket holder took the mic and started to cry when she told Timbaland how hard she worked on producing the songs on her flashdrive and he took it from her and said he will listen to them for her. This led her to share that “I’m nervous, but this is my big break” as other ticket holders clapped and cheered for her.

An Abundance of Activities Filled The Weekend

The abundance of options of activities to do during this weekend were astounding. There was even a Pop Up Timberland Shop that pushed going green to ticket holders. By signing a pledge to Go Green, ticket holders received a free shirt. The energy alone on the oceanfront was like no other. It is very rare to see such a large amount of people gather in one area with nothing but peace and love for good music.

You could see how much time and effort was put into the festival by all of the details that were involved. Even the fabric of the wristbands for the festival itself and the Adidas park were exquisitely designed!

This event is something that will not be a one and done deal, but something that locals and people from all over will look forward to again.