Behind the Scenes of 'Master of the Mix' Season 2 Filming In Charlotte

Smirnoff brought its Master of the Mix crew to Charlotte last Monday for the filming of an episode of season two of the DJ competition/reality television show that airs on BET Centric.

UPDATE 8/17/11

I was happy to tell you a little about my experience from that night at RE:PUBLIC nightclub, and even shared some behind-the-scenes footage. But I've been contacted by an agency representing the show and have been asked to take down the blog post I'd written to ensure they "maintain the integrity of the show and an element of surprise before the November premiere." I certainly can respect that so I've obliged (and guess I should've actually read the confidentiality agreement I signed...doh!).

I think Master of the Mix season two will be worth your while to watch, especially if you love hip-hop, the art of DJing, and like watching competition. Perhaps I'll be able to share a little more insight closer to the show's premiere.

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Lil Wayne Skates Through Charlotte

Lil Wayne had a busy day, night, and early morning in Charlotte. He brought his "I Am Still Music Tour" to Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre Sunday, with guest acts Lloyd, Far East Movement, Keri Hilson, and Rick Ross. I was fortunate enough to attend the concert and, despite the heat, it was a great show. Weezy has built up a deep catalog so he kept the hits coming Sunday night, and had several members of his YMCMB team join him on stage including Birdman, Mack Maine, Jae Millz, Gudda Gudda, Cory Gunz, and Shanell (she sang vocals on several of his songs similar to his recent MTV Unplugged show).

After the concert, Lil Wayne and crew headed to his official after-party at 5th Element nightclub in Uptown. I didn't go but I hear it was a packed house. You would've thought after the party, Lil Wayne would've gone back to his hotel (he stayed at The Ritz-Carlton). Instead he made a trip to Soul Ride SkatePark in Concord at 3 a.m. He rented out the place for him and a few friends to ride their skateboards for a couple of hours. At 5:30 a.m., he posted this tweet: "Just left Soul Ride sk8park. Awesome sesh!! Props to little Adam Z. jr and his homies for shreddin with me!! Bedtime." Below are a couple of photos of Wayne's visit that Soul Ride posted on Facebook.

If you scroll down Lil Wayne's Twitter page (@LilTunechi), you'll see that it's becoming a routine of his to go skateboarding in cities before or after his concerts. In fact, a video posted a few days ago of him at Skatepark of Tampa has gone viral. You see Wayne do a few moves, but it's mostly funny scenes of his homey Marley busting his arse. See that video below.

And apparently, Lil Wayne was loving Charlotte so much he stayed a second night and didn't fly out until this afternoon (Tuesday). His tour had an off day yesterday, so I guess he took some time to relax at The Ritz. He also had a repeat of his previous late night/early morning by going skateboarding again at a nearby skatepark. Shortly before 5 a.m. today, he posted this status on Twitter: "Just left Boardroom sk8park...shredded! Punked out on drop'n in on the 7 and a quarter ramp but I did land a fakie ollie up a ramp! Bedtime!" He's referring to The Board Room SkatePark in the Lake Norman area in Cornelius. The Board Room has posted a short video of Wayne recapping his visit to the skatepark on Facebook (click here to see it), and this photo below:

Now, back to the concert. Here's a 10-minute video I captured at Sunday's concert of Lil Wayne's intro into his 90-minute set.

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'Museums on Us' this Weekend

I think a lot of people are unaware of Bank of America's great Museums on Us program. Here's how it works: By presenting your Bank of America or Merrill Lynch debit or credit card, you're admitted for free into more than 150 participating museums nationwide during the first full weekend of every month. So the next one is this Saturday and Sunday, August 6 and 7.

There are six museums in Charlotte where you'll be admitted for free (each one below links to that museum's website):

• Bechtler Museum of Modern Art
• Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture
• Levine Museum of the New South
• Mint Museum Randolph
• Mint Museum Uptown
• NASCAR Hall of Fame

All of these museums, except for the Mint Museum Randolph, are in Uptown so you can easily visit more than one of them in an afternoon. Make a day of it! Charlotte has such a rich offering of museums and cultural arts venues, and more people should visit them. If you're a BofA customer, take advantage of this free weekend and go see Niki de Saint Phalle: Creation of a New Mythology at Bechtler; Live and In Stereo(type) at Gantt; COURAGE at Levine Museum; Attitude and Alchemy: The Metalwork of Gary Lee Noffke at Mint Uptown; and The Great Hall at NASCAR HOF.

The remaining Museums on Us weekends for 2011 are: September 3 and 4, October 1 and 2, November 5 and 6, and December 3 and 4. For more details, visit museums.bankofamerica.com.

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Keisha Hughes Is 'Born To Dance'

Famed choreographer Laurieann Gibson's new show, Born To Dance, premiered on BET last night. Twenty female dancers have been selected from thousands who auditioned around the country, and over the next several weeks, in one-hour episodes, we'll see them compete while learning from Laurieann. In the end, one winner will be chosen and she'll receive $50,000 and become a professional dancer as part of Team BoomKack. One of the 20 young ladies competing on Born To Dance is Keisha "Sparkle" Hughes, a 21-year-old native of Queens, New York, who currently lives in Charlotte and is a student at UNC Charlotte.

According to her bio, Keisha is traditionally trained in ballet and Martha Graham Technique, and has also trained and studied in the styles of contemporary modern, pointe, jazz, African, salsa, and ballroom. She attended Frank Sinatra School of the Arts in Long Island City, New York and has received multiple scholarships to study at the Martha Graham Contemporary School of Dance. She says she has a passion for hip-hop dance, and she's a member of the Charlotte-based Elektrik Dance Crew.

If you missed last night's premiere of Born To Dance, you can watch it below.

Born To Dance airs Tuesdays at 10 p.m. on BET, where you can watch to see how far Keisha makes it. You can also keep up with her by liking her Facebook page, following her on Twitter @SparkleDaStar, or checking out her dance videos on YouTube.

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Rick Hendrick Is a Hero

Great news today from an announcement by Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. In recent months, I'd talked to several community leaders and educators who were concerned about how Charlotte youth would be negatively impacted if middle school sports were eliminated due to budget cuts. "Kids in well-to-do families will make up for it by playing in rec leagues. But kids in working class or low-income families can't afford that or their parents, many of them single parents, won't be able to shuttle them around to practices," a school representative told me one day a couple of months ago. I also had a conversation about how after-school sports help keep kids off the street. Now, thanks to the generosity of Charlotte businessman and NASCAR team owner Rick Hendrick, CMS' middle school sports will not be cut this school year.

Read an excerpt of the CMS news release below.

A $250,000 sponsorship agreement with Hendrick Automotive Group will allow Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools to offer a complete program of middle school sports for the 2011-12 academic year.

Due to budget cuts, CMS had expected to reduce the number of middle school sports offered in previous years. The Hendrick sponsorship, combined with a contribution from an unidentified donor, provides the remaining amount necessary to fund the full lineup of 13 sports at all 32 middle schools for more than 6,500 students participating in athletics across the district.

The agreement gives the company naming rights of statistics announced during breaks at high school athletic events; recognition as a title partner in announcements at the end of high school events; and signage that will be displayed at middle and high school athletic events.

CMS will use the sponsorship money to help pay coaching stipends, fees for officials and transportation costs for middle school athletics. Students must still pay some sports-participation fees, introduced by CMS for all middle and high school student-athletes last year.

“As someone who participated in sports growing up and has kids who played, I understand the impact those experiences can have on young people,” said Rick Hendrick, chairman of Hendrick Automotive Group.

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