IT REALLY WENT DOWN! A3C is THAT EVENT. Something I will never miss ever again if I can help it. It's hip hoppaz Heaven and I swear I had an amazing time. But first, I went out to Atlanta a day early to have our official SXSW Atlanta Industry Mixer and A3C Kick Off Party. Big ups to the fine folks at A3C for connecting us with the fine spot Noni's, and for coming out and kicking it just 15 hours or so before their own festival kicked off.
Noni's is the bomb and we packed the place with cool, young Atlanta music folks (And a few Texans). Great food, strong drinks, Yuengling, etc. I walked in and they were playing rap music complete with cuss words blasting and I knew I was in the right place. Classy spot but they ain't trippin'. Which is the kind of spot I like.
Nice group of folks.
Including my man, the late Esbe da Bully. I know you heard the news. It pains me so bad, thinking of my man. We kicked it JUST LAST WEEK IN ATLANTA. He came to the party, we had a talk, we had some drinks, went to some spots, and he and the League of Extraordinary G'z RIPPED their show to shreds, and one week later, and my brother has passed on to a better place. Its a real tragedy for all of us left behind. WE LOVE DA BULLY and he will always be with us. Seriously yo, last week, we kicked it. I saw a bright future for he and all the LOEGz and now, here we sit. Still bright but slightly cloudy with a chance of depression.
Matt D. Proprietor of Noni's. A total gentleman with a fine establishment.
Max Burgundy in the house. Saw him at Pop Montreal, A3C and now he's at CMJ. DOING IT.
Me and Mike Walbert kicking it. Mike is one of the main dudes at A3C along with Brian. They have a great staff and have created and ESSENTIAL event. So fun every second of it.
BLUNT FANG CAME DOWN AND SHINED LIKE DIDDY!
A Day and A Dream. Man. Brandon told me that I inspired him to blog and I don't think that he knows that I live for that sort of thing, so thanks so much brother.
4Ize in the house! First met at the Ozone Awards in Houston with Wendy Day, was great to reunite.
MY OLD SCHOOL PARTNERS! CJ of Konsole Kingz and Maurice Garland. The man.
MY OTHER OLD SCHOOL PARTNERS! Fort Knox and Senor Kaos seen here with a friend. Man, I met Fort Knox in 2003 at SXSW with the man Ishues. Dude still has CRAZY ENERGY.
My man Greg Schick from World Hip Hop Market is already formulating a killer SXSW International Hip-Hop Showcase with some great partners. Get ready for it.
FORT KNOX (is Atlanta)
League of Extraordinary G'z were in the house.
Putting in work and gaining new fans in Atlanta. Seen here Mr. Greezo, S. Dot and Lowkey
My man HashBrown in the hizzy!
MS RIVERCITY CAME THROUGH OMG!
Kunal repping TX
Lana from A3C and friend came through. Big ups to Lana for looking out the whole fest!
Me and Scotty
Young Scolla is on to some big things for sure.
ATX REALEST. Blaxsmith and Sertified in the alley
The man we miss so much, Esbe, Reggie, Chino and Sertified.
Anyway, the party really went down. On to the fest....
WAIT NO NOT YET! That night me and super publicist Cherelle Renee tried to organize a posse and see Count Bass D and Master Blazter at this spot called The Drunken Unicorn, but alas we were the only ones keeping it real enough to see this insane show.
CountBassD STRAIGHT WRECKED! I've known him for 15 years or some shit.
Nashvilles finest.
Master Blazter blew my mind. Dam Funk, Computer Jay and a drummer who is on straight up fire.
Great kick off to the week. Drunken Unicorn is one of those places that is so underground, it doesn't have a sign and is even in a basement. I was feeling that. Also Yuengling.
Hit up this clothes spot for an in store.
Wish
And saw Brandon, Cherell and T. Piper in the street. #HTOWN
And the LOEGz of course, hitting every spot in the city #ATX
Was shocked to get to the festival and first person I see on a stage is HeadKrak from Dallas! Friend of mine for YEARS! He hosted the first night of the Jagermeister stage.
And he and his group the Bodega Brovaz came out and wrecked! Does Dallas have Bodegaz? I know you have to buy beer in weird lil stores that are all on the same street, but not sure if they have bodegas.
Lyric was one of the first artists I saw and she killed it. As did the girl above in the radical outfit. Need to know her name.
Mos from Crew 54 was in the place getting footage, thanks to him for all the great footage of our man Esbe.
Always so happy to see Boog Brown come out and kill it. She is amazing.
#Detroit
MAN! Diamond D spun a whole set of breaks on 45s and WOWSERS!
El da Sensei came out and wrecked some Artifacts tracks.
I told him about the first time I ever saw the Artifacts which was in 1993 at a memorial for Subroc. I went out there with Will Strickland and we saw Artifacts, Beatnuts, Hard 2 Obtain, Pete Nice, Kurious, man it was SERIOUS!
RIP Subroc, another tragic passing in hip-hop.
Marz Lovejoy was super dope too.
Can't front, A3C may be THE ONLY hip-hop festival that has the respect to book a lot of female MCs. I mean seriously. RESPECT FOR THAT.
Cuz I hate dudes.
Except Killer Mike.
I love Killer Mike, can't wait to see him in Austin with Immortal Technique REAL SOON!
My brother Homeboy Sandman put on one of the most energetic hip-hop sets I have ever seen.
I love this dude.
Cuz he is not pop. Which is IMPORTANT to me.
Freeway also wrecked it
And the Ying Yang Twinz had a song about skinny jeans and I think said the word faggot 45 times in 3 minutes at the end of their set. THIS is what stuck with me about the Ying Yang Twinz set. Whatever.
The next day was super dope as well. So glad to be able to see my girl Wendy Day and my man Kelly G from BET.
This was after hanging all day with Dante Ross and eating BBQ. What a day.
The Media Panel
The gear area.
DJ Burn One manned the decks on the big stage on this day and just killed it. Jam after jam after jam.
That being said he had a guitar player playing along to the songs he was playing. Which I have mixed feelings about. In concept I think its cool. In reality, I just don't know. Also just so you know I think that the DJ / Drummer combo is the corniest and most annoying thing in the musical world. THATS JUST MY OPINION THO.
Good good friend Fiona Bloom and Soul Khan. Excited to see Khan at FunFunFunFest SOON!
MAN. The bittersweet memory of the League Of Extraordinary G'z show. Dudes wrecked, was an amazing thing to see. I felt like a proud uncle. And I mean, well, you already know how I feel about all this. RIP Esbe. His last show was a FESTIVAL. At least we can say that....
My fuckin' dudes.
Sertified!
Finally got to see the ReMINDers from Colorado and YES they are all that.
Seriously.
Always great to see Dee 1 from NOLA as well.
ETERNIA came out and killed it too. One of my favorite performers in hip hop.
Again with the serious energy and straight up heart
My current favorite group from Texas, Dallas's ADd+ KILLED IT!
Only got 2 photos because it was so packed in there I couldn't get close.
My lil bro Lido Lido came all the way from Norway.
He's really on the verge for real.
And of course, my sister, Jean Grae killed it too. I love seeing her perform more than almost anyone.
Sadly thats the end of the photos. I didn't take any of Big KRIT cuz it was so packed I couldn't get close. And I missed the final day cuz I had to fly home on a 6:30 am flight. Hate that I missed Action Bronson too but oh well, I'ma see all these folks soon enough, at SXSW at the latest. Look for A3C to come official with us at SXSW next year and well, stay tuned for updates right here. I'm back ta bloggin.
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