JUSTIN STRONG FOUNDED THE SHADOW LOUNGE IN EAST LIBERTY BACK IN 2000. TODAY’S GENERATION GAVE HIM HIS FLOWERS DURING AN EVENT IN FEBRUARY HONORING THE “SHADOW LOUNGE ERA.”
Today’s generation appreciates Justin Strong, legacy that Shadow Lounge created
Friday night, Feb. 23, 2024, was the date. The Blumcraft Building on Melwood Avenue in Oakland was the location.
Inside, there were performances. Art being created. Dancing. Overall, a good time.
Just like the old Shadow Lounge.
About 150 people came out to pay tribute to the “Shadow Lounge Era,” proof that, even 11 years after its closing, no one who experienced the Shadow Lounge in East Liberty from 2000-2013 will ever forget it. The event was sponsored by Pop Channy Productions as part of its Black History Month Black Art Expo Pop Up.
“The vibe was very chill, very laid back, very creative, spontaneous,” said Chief Ikhana of the old Shadow Lounge, who was a constant at the Shadow Lounge, 5972 Baum Boulevard, taking photos and videos. “Creative dancing, creative DJing, creative poets. I had my 30th birthday party at the Shadow Lounge. It was an amazing space…when I ride past there, it’s always going to be the Shadow Lounge.”
THIS PHOTO WAS TAKEN ON THE FINAL DAY OF THE SHADOW LOUNGE — MARCH 30, 2013.
A simple YouTube check tells you all you need to know about the Shadow Lounge’s legacy. In 2009, legendary Hip-Hop artist KRS-One took over the Shadow Lounge with an epic performance that’s still talked about 15 years later. The lounge was more than standing-room-only when KRS-One navigated through the crowd to get to the stage. Hip-Hop legend Paradise Gray was right there by his side on the stage, too.
It’s also the place where Wiz Khalifa showcased his talents as a youngster; same with Mac Miller, whose first album release party was held at the Shadow Lounge. Emmai Alaquiva, the Emmy-Award winning filmmaker, opened Ya Momz House above the Shadow Lounge in 2001.
“He was my first doorman,” recalled Justin Strong, the founder of the Shadow Lounge, of Alaquiva in an exclusive interview with the New Pittsburgh Courier.
Strong, following his hosting of parties and open-mics at his residence on Meyran Avenue while a student at Pitt, opened the Shadow Lounge on June 24, 2000, just a few hours before his 21st birthday on June 25.
“In general, I was always ‘different’ and wanted the opposite of what mainstream had to offer,” Strong told the Courier. “I really couldn’t find what I was looking for, even at Pitt, and that’s why I created it. It was really for me, and if you dig it, join up with us.”
Strong, who grew up in Point Breeze and graduated from Allderdice High School in 1996, started playing the drums at age 8, found himself in marching bands and said he was “always on the creative side of things.”
The Shadow Lounge evolved into becoming a space that attracted people from all sides of the city and from all ethnicities. Jasiri X, founder and CEO of 1 Hood Media, told the Courier the Shadow Lounge proved to the public that African Americans could party in East Liberty without problems. He said East Liberty’s old “E-Fest” block party from the late ’90s was canceled due in part to altercations at the event.
The Shadow Lounge also proved to the public that East Liberty could once again be a mecca of entertainment and prosperity, like it was in the ’60s and ’70s.
“The Shadow Lounge should take the credit for the East Liberty transformation,” Jasiri X told the Courier.
As the years went on, Strong opened sister lounges AVA and Blue Room, steps from the original Shadow Lounge. However, as East Liberty began to get more businesses wanting to make the neighborhood home, Strong recalled the “complaints” and the “pressure” from those who, in effect, wanted him and his lounges out of East Liberty.
From 2010 or so until 2013, Strong was looking for different locations to move, as all of a sudden, the cost of his lease was rising and the pressure was mounting with new developers making old buildings into market-rate apartments, like the Walnut on Highland apartment building that sits across from where the Shadow Lounge used to be.
When pressed by the Courier on exactly what happened that caused the Shadow Lounge to ultimately close on March 30, 2013, Strong diplomatically said: “There was a lot of development that started in East Liberty, which we were a big fan of and was anticipating to take advantage of it, and there was some outside pressure coming in to kind of guide us otherwise, (as well as) a different understanding with the landlord.”
MAKALA MCGINNIS, AYANA SADE, DIARRA IMANI, WITH CHANTEL PETERSON, SEATED. A TRIBUTE TO THE “SHADOW LOUNGE ERA” WAS HELD, FEB. 23, IN OAKLAND. (PHOTOS BY ROB TAYLOR JR.)
Chantel Peterson, leader of Pop Channy Productions, founded The Black Art Expo in 2018 to give a platform to “unapologetic Black creatives and lovers of Black art,” she told the Courier. Celebrities like Queen Latifah, Erika Alexander, Lauren London and Sleepy Brown have engaged with the group, according to Peterson.
The Feb. 23 event was created so that Peterson’s generation of artists and creatives, some of whom never had the opportunity to step foot in the Shadow Lounge, could “pay homage to…the culture (the Shadow Lounge) created in Pittsburgh, and the artists who helped pave the way for us.”
ARTIST LAUREN YVETTE
Artists like Lauren Yvette and Camerin “Camo” Nesbitt showed off their painting skills at the event, poetry was performed by Avana Sade, Makala and Diarra Imani, Hotep The Artist did a mime performance with her poetry, and Brotha Mans did a rap/vocal performance. DJ QRX was the DJ for the night.
MAN-E, CHIEF IKHANA
Near the conclusion of the event, Strong was recognized by Peterson and presented with a special portrait of an emcee rapping, created by Nesbitt.
Among those who came out to the Shadow Lounge Era tribute was Pittsburgh City Councilman Khari Mosley, whose connection with the Shadow Lounge and 1 Hood Media goes back years.
PITTSBURGH CITY COUNCILMAN KHARI MOSLEY, 1 HOOD MEDIA’S JASIRI X.
“This transformation that’s happening in Pittsburgh politically, the Shadow Lounge was one of those places that really birthed that 20 years ago from a cultural standpoint,” Mosley told the Courier. “What people don’t really understand about politics and cities transforming is that culture leads the way. The Shadow Lounge was one of those places that brought so many people together, and a lot of people who are involved in politics and leadership and institutions and the corporate level now, a lot of those folks came through the Shadow Lounge either as college students or young professionals, and it really became a campfire that people were able to come around.”
Alaquiva, the four-time Emmy-Award winning filmmaker, said being a part of the Shadow Lounge era “has proved to be one of the most catalytic intersections of my life. From being the doorman that was given a test to take mail upstairs that was accidentally delivered to the Shadow Lounge, it allowed me to look into a six-inch mail slot to discover a 300-square-foot room where dreams could come true.”
Alaquiva, who now serves as the Vice Chair of the Pa. Council On The Arts, said Strong was an “impellent influence” on him, along with the Shadow Lounge community.
And as for Jasiri X, who graduated from Gateway High School in 2000 and began performing at the Shadow Lounge shortly thereafter, he said his Shadow Lounge performances gave him the confidence to perform nationally. “I was able to try new things, creative and inventive, so when I performed nationally, I already knew what the crowd would be feeling and not feeling,” he said. “From Wiz, Mac, Formula 412, all these dope artists, Hip-Hop had a home (in Pittsburgh).”
Jasiri X added: “I wouldn’t be the artist I am today if not for the Shadow Lounge.”
