Three days, $33 and close to 300 artists—this year’s A3C Hip Hop Festival, an underground hip-hop showcase, had all the makings of a rapper’s melting pot. From the Bay Area to Midwest to North Avenue of Atlanta, artists flew, drove and walked just to get their 10 minutes of shine on any of the festival’s five stages. Sadly, festival-goers were mostly press, other artists and volunteers. Still, anyone in attendance at the festival, which began on Thursday, Oct. 7, and lasted until Saturday, Oct. 9, had the chance to hear the diversity in hip-hop that most media outlets tend to withhold on a regular basis.
The Masquerade was an appropriate venue to host the annual urban gathering, providing that rough and jagged environment that most raw underground rappers are used to rocking a crowd in. The nice weather that’s been missing returned just in time to allow for the events provided outside of the venue to flourish: a VIP patio area, two performance stages, a merchandise area and an unfortunately mundane food court. With showcases presented by the top hip-hop blogs in the country (2dopeboyz, Kevin Nottingham, www.AllHipHop.com and www.DJbooth.net), there was a truly varied slew of hip-hop from all over the U.S. (and even some hailing from other countries) hitting the stage and rocking the mic.
Now in its sixth year, A3C has grown to bring out the old and the new, signed and unsigned, major and minor of every hip-hop generation. An attendee tweeted, “#A3C, it’s like [hip-hop] Christmas where you get what you always wanted.” It was good music, good fun and an opportunity to really be yourself around like-minded folks.
THURSDAY
A3C’s kickoff introduced the newest festival content—onstage interviews with performers. A representative from the Red Bull Music Academy interviewed DJ and hip-hop soul producer 9th Wonder before his evening show, which featured live music from New York emcee Jean Grae and dread-headed lyricist Murs.
In the venue’s downstairs area, the West Coast was taking over Fadia Kader’s Perfect Attendance stage with the condiment king, Tiron (originator of Ketchup and Mustard mixtapes), Southern Calif. duo Pacific Division and Los Angeles up-and-comer Shawn Chrystopher.
Some of the most lyrical women in hip-hop performed outside, where they could be heard from blocks away. Day one ended and closed with SMKA’s Stargazing showcase, which featured the Kanye co-sign GLC and Baltimore artist Wordsmith.
FRIDAY
The second day of the festival was more packed with events than the previous, as the edutainment side of the festival started with industry panels that informed the artists and interested the public with updates in the entertainment field. There were also several workshops and sessions for attendees to visit that discussed the breakdown of instrumentation, the newest equipment and other production essentials.
The night began with crowds forming at turntables on the dance floor for a battle between DJ Diamond D, DJ Evil D, DJ Scratch and DJ Rhettmatic. Each DJ had their own spin—literally—to the music that blasted out of the speakers. When it came to their turn on the ‘45s, they made the fans move like crazy.
Right below them, the Perfect Attendance stage continued with a more Southern vibe, with performances from quirky Grand Hustler Wil May and Tenn.’s young mic-rocker, Skewby. Across the way, more SMKA stars in the Stargazing showcase performed. Outside, Detroit’s Young Scolla and Rapper Big Pooh took the stage to a crowd as winded as the air. Day two was a solid transition into what was going to take place the last day of the festival.
SATURDAY
In the afternoon, a classic hip-hop characteristic was revived with a one-on-one B-girl and B-boy battle on the dance floor. Unfortunately, this is when the venue really started showing its age: As the beat flowed through into the panels, several tremendous, awkward pauses and even breaks within the forums ensued. At night, A3C headliners EPMD’s Erick Sermon, international duo Camp Lo and Chicago rapper Rhymefest slayed the stage and really shut the festival down after their performances that relived ‘90s hip-hop. The Perfect Attendance stage closed out with DC’s Phil Ade, gifted eye candy DJ Jasmine Solano, S.C. boy Warren Jae and New Orleans rapper Nesby Phips. Meanwhile, Atlanta rapper Donnis and the prophetic Killer Mike represented on the Jagermeister stage into the early morning.
