There are few artists who embody New York swagger as intensely as Ja Rule. Think back to the puffer flight jackets and bandanas and you can easily see the Queens rapper pantomiming under a bucket hat with his rough grunt, gutturally shouting “Livin’ It Up.” Celebrating Ja Rule in 2018 is well warranted. The Def Jam apprentice turned professional is synonymous with the early 2000s, and who doesn’t love a good nostalgia kick? One can only hope his set includes a generation’s favorite hits: “Mesmerize,” “Put It On Me,” and “Always On Time.” As a bonus gift of the nostalgia gods, Ashanti will join him onstage in Massachusetts this month. If she can do it there, she can surely do it in D.C. Here’s hoping all appearances go a bit more smoothly than Ja Rule’s cosigned Fyre Festival. Read more>>> Ja Rule performs at 8 p.m. at the Fillmore Silver Spring, 8656 Colesville Road, Silver Spring. $25. (301) 960-9999. fillmoresilverspring.com. (Jordan-Marie Smith)

EAT THIS

Try a three-course menu at nopa Kitchen + Bar showcasing dishes said to bring good luck in the New Year. The “Southern Good Luck” menu is available now through Jan. 31 during dinner service and it costs $50 per person before tax and tip. Sample dishes include local cornmeal mezzaluna pasta filled with braised pork and collard greens; crispy Berkshire pork shank with Sea Island red pea hoppin’ John, Tasso ham, and mustard greens; and banana pudding and bourbon pound cake with vanilla wafers and  brûléed bananas. nopa Kitchen + Bar, 800 F St. NW, (202) 347-4667, nopadc.com. (Laura Hayes)

OH AND ALSO

Maine indie rock trio Weakened Friends performs at DC9. 8 p.m. at 1940 9th St. NW. $10–$12. 

New Orleans trombone player and leader of the Treme Funktet funk group Corey Henry performs on the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage. 6 p.m. at 2700 F St. NW. Free. 

Author and literary editor at The Atlantic Ann Hulbert chats about her latest book, Off the Charts: The Hidden Lives and Lessons of American Child Prodigies, an illumination of the phenomenon of gifted children, at Politics and Prose. 7 p.m. at 5015 Connecticut Ave. NW. Free. 

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