This frame was shot in May 2022 and shows the hip-hop producer Blockhead in front of the visuals of his show in a small Berlin venue. I attended this event at the end of a day trip to Berlin including visiting a camera shop to bring in a Pentax MX with a faulty lightmeter for repair, just to hear that it would cost me almost five times as much as the camera had. And that the repair guy was booked out for months. So by chance I had to bring this camera with me to the small venue, where the event took place.

The artist holds a special place for me. I first listened to his tracks after I found some music hidden on an unlabeled DVD from the older brother of one of my school mates. At that time I was around 17 years old and startet getting more and more into old school hip-hop when listening to Blockhead’s record Music by Cavelight for the first time. And I was instantly hooked—nice deep hip-hop beats without any rap really resonated with younger me. And until today I’m regularly listening to every new release, and the collection of Blockhead vinyls is growing. Because of him being based in New York and the more underground fame he has acclaimed, I never imagined myself seeing him playing live. Until today I’ve never met someone else who’s listening to his music, so the chances weren’t high. So you could be my number one. 😉

But one of the perks of living close to Berlin is that the chance of seeing international artists live is one of the highest in Germany. So here we are in 2022, visiting my second Blockhead show already. This time I got the chance to even chat with him for a few minutes before the show, while I was so nervous that my English skills went downwards into awkwardness. During the set I saw the opportunity to get this shot from within the dancing crowd, which couldn’t be more than 50 people including myself. I wasn’t comfortable pulling out the suspicious device but I took the chance and it really paid off.

The frame reminds me of this evening, the joy I felt and the once unimaginable things that will happen if you pursue the things which make you happy.