Fundraiser Party for Jorge “PopMaster Fabel” Pabone
Big Bar
East Village, Manhattan
Dec. 20, 2023
Lower Manhattan’s Big Bar is a place well known for the being a center of good times and great tunes, but rarely has the joint seen a night as warm, bumping, and joyous as it did on Wednesday night. On a slow night the establishment is one of the coziest spots in town; once the place begins to fill the true specialness of the place reveals itself: It’s all rubbed elbows and patted backs, shaken hands and shared jokes. No one looking at their phones unless it’s to Shazam the jams the DJ is spinning. Even then, though, someone in the bar knows the tune. It’s why they came.
Big was jammed up with all the aforementioned Wednesday, with something else added to the mix. The profits from this evening of cavorting raucously and dancing to deep cuts were all going to one place: the recovery fund for hip-hop and break legend Jorge “PopMaster Fabel” Pabone.
As is the case in any tight-knit community, when someone needs help, everyone shows up to pull some weight. In the case of Fabel’s injuries — while biking, he was near fatally injured after being mowed down in a hit-and-run uptown — the weight that the community has shown up to pull is historic in its heft.
To say PopMaster Fabel is simply a pioneer in the realm of hip-hop would be a gross underestimation. Fabel is a legendary dancer, graffiti expert, and, now after years of doing the thing in the real world, a professor of hip-hop’s history, particularly as it relates to dance, at NYU. If you’re a fan of the music, of the culture at large, then you’re a fan of PopMaster Fabel, whether you know the name or not.
Among a list of legends too long to ledger here, DJs Raw Q, Administer, Golder Child, Dax, P‑100, Supremo Massiv, Doug Warner, Polarity, I‑Truth, and Money Mike all showed up to support their comrade and mentor. The tunes were a wild mix of boom-bap, house, out jazz fusion, rediscovered disco, and the hippest sundries only known chronic crate diggers.
Many of the folks to hit the decks were regulars at Big Bar, some of whom have their own nights to spin until close. The crew at the center of it all was the stalwart Wednesday night gang, Donuts, named for their penchant for mixing singles recorded on 45s.
All to say of the bar and this community, true zealots for this sort of thing, are increasingly hard to find. They’ve found their home in the East Village. If you’ve not yet added Big Bar to your late-night rounds, let this be the sign to do so.
Just before midnight the man of the hour arrived, walking with a cane and greeted with applause. The good humor on his face was proof positive enough of how special this place was to him and to everyone who knows it. A homecoming that all of us had been holding our breath for, and it finally happened.
The first thing Fabel did upon entry, after the applause settled, was crack a joke and bust the best he could manage. It was a simple grin and shift. Therein the heart of a man who’s never gonna stop dancing.
Fabel’s family is still collecting for his hospital bill fund. Peep it here. Give if you can. See y’all at the spot.
