Hip-hop finds a home

NORFOLK

Almost as soon as the shots rang out inside Granby Theater during a hip-hop party in March 2007, some people were certain that a backlash against hip-hop music and culture was on the way.

Reactions to the shooting, which left one patron severely wounded, came swiftly. The city revoked a special permit that allowed the theater to serve alcohol and offer entertainment. The theater wasn't used for months, and its marquee carried a "For Sale" sign. Nightspots in Norfolk posted signs reinforcing dress codes that seemed aimed a certain clientele. Granby Theater eventually reopened, but its operators said they'd no longer host hip-hop parties.

Many people complained, loudly, that the city of Norfolk was conspiring to keep hip-hop music and culture out of downtown, but a few months later a spot called Posh Dolche opened several blocks down Granby Street.

The ground-level restaurant opened its doors just after Labor Day weekend, offering food, drinks and plenty of hip-hop music - often to the dismay of people who arrived too late to get into the packed house on weekends. Giddy shock was one reaction: How in the world did this place open when hip-hop had clearly been ruled Public Enemy No. 1?

One year later, Posh Dolche is still going strong. Its owners seem reluctant to place any symbolism on the business' survival.

"It's just people having a good time, eating and drinking," said Bobby Fields, one of the owners.

Posh, a name co-owner Jorvelle Leary chose because he likes the mood it suggests, is open seven days a week from 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. for food and drinks, with a menu that merges the ordinary (fries) with the high end (steak and lobster). On Fridays and Saturdays, Posh transforms from little bistro into a party place that caters to, by and large, a young black clientele. A DJ spins primarily hip-hop and R&B, and there's always a line of people decked out in heels and bling waiting to get in.

Both Fields and Leary said the city has been accommodating, working with them in every way to help their business succeed.

"A lot of people said, 'They're not going to let a 'black' establishment there,' " Fields said, "or 'They don't want us down there.' I said, 'You'll see.' Everyone has been helpful from the top to the bottom. People who think that are just wrong."

Both owners are graduates of Norfolk State University, where they met. Fields studied business management, and Leary electrical engineering. Both have professional backgrounds that have proved valuable: Fields took over as manager at the club Broadway on Virginia Beach Blvd. after his father 's death in 2002 and ran it until about four years ago; Leary was a manager at the Ford plant before it closed in 2007. (There is a third owner, Omonte Ward, whom Fields has known since sixth grade.)

"I come from a corporate background," Leary says, "so a lot of it is knowing how to be proactive instead of reactive. I keep a good relationship with the City Council and the police that patrol the street."

They say they haven't had any violent episodes, which are sometimes assumed to be common at hip-hop venues. "Honestly, most of the people that come here know one of us. They're our friends. They respect us, and the business."

Cynthia Hall, deputy city attorney, says that Posh Dolche has had a "few" issues relating to overcrowding and compliance with a special exceptions permit - "that's what happens when you have a popular spot," Fields said - but that the owners have been cooperative and indicated a willingness to remedy problems.

Bobby Wright, who runs Granby Theater and is the landlord of the space Posh occupies, said that there is still a stigma surrounding hip-hop music and that a few "bad apples" can ruin a scene for everybody.

Hip-hop represents such a wide and diverse musical culture - not only in its own right but through its influence on all pop music, from Justin Timberlake to Young Jeezy - it's nearly impossible to avoid in a venue catering to young people looking to party. Wright said that despite a few complaints, Posh serves a niche well.

"The credit goes not so much to the music that they play, but to the operators," said Wright, adding that he and Leary are in regular contact. "He actually cares."

Posh Dolche, they say, is not really a club; there is no dancing, and the emphasis is on the food, available all night. The chef is Darrell Stokes, a retired petty officer second class who cooked in the White House under Bill Clinton and the elder George Bush.

It's not just a hip-hop spot, either.

"People of all walks of life come here," Leary said. "We cater to everyone."

Mondays are martini and jazz nights (unless Monday Night Football is on); Tuesdays, open mic/poetry; Thursdays, all R&B. Posh has hosted four voter registration events and a fund raiser for the local group Youth Against Drugs and Diseases. "We are a part of the community," Leary said.

Fields' and Leary's roots in Norfolk run deeper than they even knew. After befriending each other in college, they discovered that their fathers, both deceased, were longtime buddies in their Berkley neighborhood.

"The only thing I regret," says Fields, "is my father not being here to see how successful we are."

Malcolm Venable, (757) 446-2662, malcolm.venable@pilotonline.com