Event

Celebrating The Legacy of Black Moon, the Boot Camp Click and More at the @DuckDownMusic Bar-B-Que at @A3C @JarrenBenton @YoungRoddy @Smif-N-Wessun

entertainment, Event, Hip Hop, music, Music Conferences, rap

015 A3C Main Stage016 A3C Main Stage017 SAE Institute018 A3C Main Stage019 A3C Main Stage020 Flip Boutique021 A3C Main Stage022 Hot 107.9023 Reebok024 Reebok025 A3C Main StageJPG026 A3C Main Stage028 DuckDown Bar-B-Que029 DuckDown Bar-B-Que030 DuckDown Bar-B-Que031 DuckDown Bar-B-Que032 DuckDown Bar-B-Que033 DuckDown Bar-B-Que041 Jarren Benton042 Jarren Benton043 Jarren Benton044 Jarren Benton045 Jarren Benton046 Jarren Benton047 Jarren Benton048 Jarren Benton049 Jarren Benton050 Jarren Benton051 Jarren Benton052 Jarren Benton053 Jarren Benton055 Jarren Benton057 DuckDown Bar-B-Que058 Jarren Benton059 Jarren Benton060 Jarren Benton061 Jarren Benton062 Jarren Benton064 Kicks N Kush065 DuckDown Bar-B-Que066 DuckDown Bar-B-Que067 DuckDown Bar-B-Que068 DuckDown Bar-B-Que857 A3C Main Stage069 Young Roddy070 Young Roddy071 Young Roddy072 Young Roddy073 Young Roddy859 DuckDown Bar-B-Que862 Jarren Benton076 Smif-N-Wessun077 Smif-N-Wessun078 Smif-N-Wessun079 Smif-N-Wessun080 Smif-N-Wessun081 Smif-N-Wessun082 Smif-N-Wessun083 Smif-N-Wessun084 Smif-N-Wessun086 Smif-N-Wessun087 DuckDown Bar-B-Que088 Smif-N-Wessun865 Young Roddy089 Smif-N-Wessun090 Smif-N-Wessun093 DuckDown Bar-B-Que094 DuckDown Bar-B-Que103 DuckDown Bar-B-Que104 DuckDown Bar-B-Que105 DuckDown Bar-B-Que106 DuckDown Bar-B-Que107 DuckDown Bar-B-Que108 Duckdown Bar-B-Que109 DuckDown Bar-B-Que110 DuckDown Bar-B-Que113 A3C Main Stage114 A3C Main Stage115 A3C Main Stage866 Smif-N-Wessun
The Saturday afternoon event on A3C’s main stage was billed as the DuckDown Bar-B-Que, which provoked a fair amount of consternation, as there wasn’t any bar-b-que, only the usual food trucks. But it was sponsored by DuckDown Music, and was basically a concert, at which Jarren Benton, someone from Louisiana named Young Roddy, and Smif-N-Wessun performed. Jarren Benton I had seen before, a couple of years ago at SXSW, but I was far more impressed with him at this performance. He is quite lyrical and satirical, and at times is reminiscent of early Eminem. Young Roddy I was not at all familiar with (and I usually try to keep up with Louisiana artists), but I thought he was a decent performer. Obviously it was Smif-N-Wessun that most people came to hear, and when they started doing Black Moon material, I was especially thrilled, as I hadn’t expected that, and as Black Moon was one of my favorite rap groups and albums of all time. Hearing such gems as “Enter the Stage” and “Shit Is Real” made my day.

Opening Day of @A3C Hip-Hop Festival in Atlanta

entertainment, Event, Hip Hop, music, Music Conferences, Night Clubs, rap, venues

001 A3C002 A3C003 A3C004 A3C781 A3C005 Nate006 Nate007 Torch008 Torch009 Torch010 Torch011 Torch012 Torch013 Erosol014 Voice of the People015 Torch016 Boulevard Street017 The Sound Table018 A3C019 Space 2787 Nate788 Torch791 Voice of the People020 The Music Room021 The Music Room022 A3C023 A3C024 A3C025 A3C026 Money Makin Nique027 Money Makin Nique028 Money Makin Nique029 Money Makin Nique030 Money Makin Nique031 Money Makin Nique032 Money Makin Nique033 Money Makin Nique034 Money Makin Nique035 Money Makin Nique036 Money Makin Nique037 Money Makin Nique038 Money Makin Nique039 A3C040 The Music Room042 The Music Room792 A3C795 Money Makin Nique043 Yac-Yan Da Biznessman044 Yac-Yan Da Biznessman045 Club Enclave046 Club Enclave047 Club Enclave048 Cash Out049 Cash Out798 The Music Room050 Cash Out051 Cash Out052 The Quad799 Cash Out053 Fort Knox054 A3C790 Voice of the People
When I got to Atlanta, I went immediately to the Crowne Plaza Hotel, which last year had been the Melia Hotel, and registered for the A3C conference. Although it was only the first day of the event, the hotel was already crowded with rap artists, industry people and fans. After getting checked in at my hotel, and eating dinner, I headed down to the Edgewood Avenue area to attend showcases, ending up first at the upstairs stage of a building called Erosol or the Department Store, where an artist named Nate was on stage. He was soon followed by a Maybach Music Group artist named Torch, but the venue was extremely crowded, so I walked down Edgewood to the Music Room, where the Atlanta rapper Money Makin Nique was on stage. I had heard him first several years ago, but I was extremely impressed with the new material he performed this year, and spent some time talking with his manager on the sidewalk outside. But my homeboy Fort Knox was emceeing an event at Enclave, a club on Spring Street not far from the conference hotel, so I got the car and drove back over to the hotel, but ended up going into the Quad instead of the Enclave, and saw the rapper Cash Out on stage with his entourage. I realized that Fort Knox wasn’t hosting that event, and decided to go around the corner and into Enclave, but by then, the latter venue was closing and wouldn’t let me in. I got a brief chance to speak with Knox before he headed out, and I rode back to my hotel as well.