In a DC context, DMV stands for District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia, the three jurisdictions that make up the greater Washington metro area. The term is local shorthand for a region of roughly 6.4 million people, and it has nothing to do with the Department of Motor Vehicles.
In brief
In a DC context, DMV stands for District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia, the three jurisdictions that make up the greater Washington metro area. It is local shorthand for a region of roughly 6.4 million people, and it has nothing to do with the Department of Motor Vehicles.
The basic meaning
The National Capital Region portion of the Washington metropolitan area is colloquially known by the abbreviation "DMV," which stands for the "District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia." You'll hear it from news anchors doing the weather, real estate agents listing apartments, and local sports fans. It replaced clunky older labels like "greater Washington" or "the National Capital Region" for everyday use.
The term is not an official government designation. The Census Bureau classifies the region officially as the Washington, Arlington, Alexandria Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). The DMV label carries no legal boundary, it's a cultural one.
How big is the DMV?
The Washington area's population grew 1.4% between 2023 and 2024, per the Census Bureau. There were 6,436,489 people living in the DMV last year. The area includes all of the federal district and parts of the U.S. states of Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia.
The region's inner ring, Arlington, Alexandria, Bethesda, Silver Spring, is what most locals picture first. Some definitions of the DMV area also include parts of northern Virginia as far as Winchester, and parts of Maryland as far as Frederick.
Where did the term come from?
The DMV nickname did not come from a government office or a planning committee. Its roots are in local music culture. According to rapper 20Bello, he first heard the region called "DMV" from go-go musician Kibwe Galloway, who had been using the name for about three years while playing with Brothers Need Brothers and shouting it out over records he helped produce. Galloway said he was looking for a way to "try to break the little wall" between city dwellers and suburbanites.
By the time 20Bello heard the term in 2003, gentrification was pushing DC's hip-hop scene out of the city, with artists and fans alike moving into Maryland and Virginia. 20Bello and other early promoters saw "DMV" as a way to pull local rappers under a single umbrella.
The term spread through promotional fliers, mixtapes, and radio. DJ Rob has the distinction of being the first person to use it on national TV: he was on MTV's Sucka Free in 2006 and said he was representing "the DMV." When host DJ Cipha Sounds made a joke about long lines, DJ Rob corrected him: "Naw, D.C., Maryland, and V-A, get it right."
Rapper Wale took "DMV" national, thanks to his major-label deal and high profile, he was able to use the term in countless interviews and performances across the country, though his manager says he didn't coin it and doesn't claim to.
The nickname was originally promoted in the early 2000s to unify rap fans in the city with fans who had been pushed into nearby suburbs by gentrification. From there, it crossed over into mainstream local media and stuck.
What about the Department of Motor Vehicles?
Yes, the overlap is real and intentional irony for locals. The term took off with millennials, who were seemingly untroubled by the letters' associations for anyone who has registered a car at the Department of Motor Vehicles in the District or Virginia. In Maryland, the equivalent agency is actually the Motor Vehicle Administration, or MVA, so the DMV name doesn't even apply there in the government sense.
DC rapper and hip-hop promoter 20Bello says it "tickles" him to hear sportscasters and weather announcers sing out, "It's a nice day in the DMV!" The gap between the term's underground origins and its current mainstream ubiquity is exactly what he finds amusing.
Who gets to claim the DMV?
The DMV proved so popular that rappers who live as far away as Baltimore and Richmond claim to come from it. 20Bello says the DMV includes not only the entirety of the District of Columbia but the entire states of Maryland and Virginia as well. Dre All Day says it extends along I-95, reaching Baltimore, Richmond, and Norfolk. Neither definition is official. The argument goes on.
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CAN I KICK IT? screens New Jack City at the Sylvan Theater, Washington Monument, on Aug. 22. (Courtesy SHAOLIN JAZZ)
The live-cinema series CAN I KICK IT? returns to the National Mall this month with what its producers are calling the "Gangsters on the Mall" chapter of their free outdoor summer run. On Saturday, August 22, the SHAOLIN JAZZ production brings the 1991 crime classic New Jack City to the Sylvan Theater at the Washington Monument for a night of film, music, and community under the DC summer sky.
What sets the event apart is the sound. As the film plays, DJ 2-Tone Jones builds an original score in real time, reimagining one of the most iconic crime movies of the ’90s through hip-hop, soul, funk, and more. It is less a movie screening than a live performance built around the film.
The details:
Film: New Jack City (1991), with a live soundtrack by DJ 2-Tone Jones
When: Saturday, August 22 — seating opens at 7:30 p.m. (bring lawn chairs and blankets); film begins at 8:30 p.m.
Where: Sylvan Theater at the Washington Monument, Independence Ave SW & 15th St NW
A parking note from the organizers: expect road closures and restricted parking east of 14th Street NW due to a separate race event in the District. Roads west of 14th Street NW will be accessible and available for parking.
New Jack City is the second of three screenings in this year’s free CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series, which opened with Black Panther at Skyland Town Center and concludes with Scarface at the Lincoln Memorial on September 5. Produced by the Washington, DC-based multimedia arts company SHAOLIN JAZZ, the series has presented more than 150 live cinematic experiences at venues across the country, from Lincoln Center to SXSW.
"I wanted to be able to tell good stories with substance and remove the ‘ego’ out of the art," said Andrew Huang during a recent interview. Now, he’s building his career at the intersection of discipline, creativity and innovation.
Andrew Huang, founder of New Place Studios. (Courtesy photo)
As a Chinese American, Huang was reared with a deep respect for hard work, consistency and excellence. He describes his childhood as "not so affluent" and later attended college to hone his passion for videography. "In college I tried to do something I loved, which was video, but along the way I knew that I had to find a job. And so I thought, ‘what was the low hanging fruit to get to that stable 9 to 5 job?,’" he stated.
Later in life, Huang found himself working for corporations where his creativity was often limited, eventually leading to burnout. "I worked in a corporation for a long time and there were a lot of missing pieces. I wanted to fill in gaps missing in corporate video production," said Huang.
He later described how his upbringing and a mindset of "survival" led him toward a corporate career. However, his desire for balance and authentic storytelling ultimately pushed him to take the entrepreneurial leap.
"I founded a new place where you can create video and film with ‘substance and style,’" said Huang. His desire for work-life balance and passion for storytelling naturally evolved into a small business based in Virginia. With the launch of New Place Studios, the entrepreneur quickly found himself reconnecting with the values that would become the foundation of everything he creates behind the camera.
Huang said being a business owner has allowed him to first embrace himself. While others may see video as simply capturing moments, he sees it as a way to preserve stories that inspire, connect and leave a lasting imprint.
By combining cinematic visuals with cutting-edge production techniques and a keen understanding of branding, Huang helps organizations and individuals communicate their vision with purpose. He said understanding a client’s "why" serves as the compass for delivering the services they need.
One benefit of working with a small business, he said, is that clients get to see the production process unfold through a micro lens while working with the same faces throughout the entire project. "The work feels personal," said Huang.
Huang does not regret leaving behind the flash-over-substance mentality and corporate hustle culture. That does not mean the Asian American entrepreneur has been without challenges in the industry. "It’s relatively hard to find other Asian American creatives or people who would want to work with me in the DMV," said Huang.
He identifies the industry culture in which everyone is trying to blend in, creatives may fear displaying their Asian identity and some feel pressure to adopt an American corporate persona. He also points to what he describes as a level of gatekeeping within the industry. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 2024 statistics, Asian American and Pacific Islander entrepreneurs own more than 3 million businesses and employ 5.2 million people in the United States.
After tapping into organizations such as SCORE, which offers free small business mentorship, New Place Studios has become a trusted creative partner throughout the DMV (Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia). The company produces a range of creative services, including commercials, corporate branding, documentaries, film, 2D animation, motion graphics and photography.
For Huang, entrepreneurship has become more than a departure from corporate life. It has given him the freedom to create with intention, build meaningful connections and tell stories that go beyond the surface.
The 2026 CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series. Poster courtesy of SHAOLIN JAZZ.
For three Saturdays this summer, some of Washington’s most familiar public spaces will do something they rarely do after dark: fill up with blankets, lawn chairs, and the sound of a movie being scored live, in real time. CAN I KICK IT?, the traveling “live cinema” series produced by the DC-based multimedia arts company SHAOLIN JAZZ, is bringing a free outdoor run to the city — pairing three era-defining films with an original soundtrack performed on the spot by DJ 2-Tone Jones.
The premise is what sets it apart from a normal screening in the park. Rather than simply pressing play, 2-Tone Jones builds a score as the film unfolds, pulling from hip-hop, soul, funk, jazz, rock, electronic music, and sounds from around the world. The result, the organizers say, is less a movie night than a one-time performance — the same film you know, wired to a soundtrack you have never heard and will not hear again. Guest DJs warm up the crowd starting at 7:30 PM before each 8:30 PM screening.
The 2026 outdoor schedule
All three events are free and open to the public.
Saturday, August 8 — Black Panther at Skyland Town Center. A pop-up marketplace and community activities kick off the evening; guest DJs at 7:30 PM, film at 8:30 PM. Marvel’s superhero epic gets a one-night-only live score in Southeast DC.
Saturday, August 22 — New Jack City at the Sylvan Theater, Washington Monument. Seating begins at 7:30 PM; the film starts at 8:30 PM. The 1991 crime drama plays out at the foot of one of the country’s most recognizable landmarks.
Saturday, September 5 — Scarface at the Lincoln Memorial. Seating at 7:30 PM; film at 8:30 PM. The series closes with Brian De Palma’s crime saga against the backdrop of the Memorial, scored live from start to finish.
First up: Black Panther at Skyland Town Center on August 8. Poster courtesy of SHAOLIN JAZZ.
A DC company with a national footprint
SHAOLIN JAZZ describes itself as a Washington-based arts company working at the intersection of music, film, art, and culture, and CAN I KICK IT? is its signature production. According to the organizers, the series has staged more than 150 live cinematic experiences around the country — at performing arts centers, museums, festivals, and cultural institutions including Lincoln Center in New York, SXSW, the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Republic Square in Austin, the Tacoma Armory, and The Cary Theater.
“CAN I KICK IT? has always been about creating a shared experience,” said Gerald Watson, co-founder of SHAOLIN JAZZ. “When you combine iconic films with live music in public spaces, something special happens. People aren’t just watching a movie — they’re experiencing it together. That’s what makes these nights so memorable.”
Cinema as a community event
The DC run lands as cities across the country look for new ways to activate public space through arts and culture — and this series is a straightforward pitch for how to do it: take a landmark everyone already knows, add a film everyone has an opinion about, and let a live soundtrack turn the evening into something neighbors experience shoulder to shoulder. Families, film buffs, and music fans are all invited, and admission won’t cost a thing.
The CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series runs August 8, August 22, and September 5. All events are free; check SHAOLIN JAZZ (shaolinjazz.com) for the latest details and any weather updates before heading out.
