My Instagram followers must be sick of me posting photos and videos all weekend long, recalling every moment spent at Harlem Penthouse. Well, a little background is in order of course. Me and my boy Luck (casually referred to as Hanif by me) procured our friendship bonds back in the days when I worked in Morningside at Book Culture and my only source of mild entertainment was performing floetry (freestyle poetry) at Nuyorican Café’s open mic nights held every Monday evening. I already told the story of how me and him encountered one another (me a babbling fool, him killing it and strolling off the stage to the bar with a casual air that made me question if he was superhuman or just that good), but without him, there would be no Black Congolese. My featured interview, closed studio session and thorough album review gave me the creative jumpstart that I would forever model all of my posts subsequently after. Seeing him work harder than anyone I’d ever known – aside from my father, mother, Max from GOLDPYRMDZ, and my art manager Santana – Luck is one of those guys that you only meet once in your life and only get to develop friendships with every 5-10 years. So, him already having a studio at his spot Uptown, he invited me on Sunday to come through and chill, sit in on a session and watch him work on his newest project with the illest producer out West (we’re shooting a music video for his first single next week), eat and make Harlem cuisine, kick back, and get all neighborhood with one another on a Good Sunday.

Me being who I am, I couldn’t simply just take photos of our first few studio sessions with our artist, Rodney (@thernbeast). I realized that I had a TV Channel on YouTube I was seriously underutilizing for a blog with rich content, so I deleted all of my photos off my phone, pressed record, and let it (everything, and I mean everything) happen. What you see above is the final product. All footage shot on my iPhone 4s, edited in Adobe Premiere Pro CS6. The framing got super messed up because Adobe hates the video format I uploaded it in, but nonetheless, I think I did some justice with my editing skills I totally lend to my training at the Rutgers Film Bureau.

However, for my readers who are still lost in the dark about what Harlem Penthouse is and/or Uptown Hangsuite, here’s a short description (via Tumblr):

The establishment of our studios dates back to a critical time in the spring of 2014. Understanding the immediacy to revamp the music production and artist development scene in NYC, three creatives collaborated together and constructed what we now call Harlem Penthouse, a space dedicated to providing our local community in Uptown Manhattan with resources, skilled personnel, and other artists that transcend understanding of the fundamentals of sound engineering from personal and professional experience. Watch our short documentary series, Uptown Hangsuite, on EARFLOAT.TV

Uptown Hangsuite is set to release a short series of 5 episodes this month, as well as a music video for our latest project we’re working on into the summer.

For more information on Harlem Penthouse, visit the official page here. Episodes uploaded to EARFLOAT TV. Follow the journey on Instagram/Twitter at: @HARLEMPENTHOUSE | @LuckOne, @TheGoodSin, @EARFLOAT

Support your neighbors, build with your community, repeat.

Fun Facts/Ground Rules:

1. We are only opened on Sundays;
2. All sessions are closed to the public; invitation from a studio owner is critical to attend; and
3. We only do tracking – no mixing or mastering.

Come eat and make Uptown cuisine, lay back, vibe a bit, and enjoy a Good Sunday at Harlem Penthouse.

For all inquiries, please feel free to contact us at info@harlempenthouse.com