A lot of people come to Atlanta for Magic City, I mean twerk sessions with some A1 badunk-a-dunk are hard to resist, but if you don’t do it for the ratchets, the strippers or the heuxs.. you probably want to check Atlanta out for it’s annual A3C Hip-Hop music festival. Or just go there for the hospitality at the waffle house. It’s really on you. Word to Gladys Knight.
Really tho. Gladys Knight got a chicken and waffle house in the A, believe it or not, just like Roscoe. The candied yams there are on some vanilla ice cream ish, but anyway… back to A3C… (meaning A.ll 3 C.oasts in case you forgot) Consisting of 3 days of music from the most indie of independent artists all the way up to some of the biggest heavyweights in the game, A3C caters to almost all aspects of hip hop. Baleedat. You could tell just walking through the merch section that heads came to get busy. Check out Rhymes X Designs, or Sweet 16’s, a phone ap which helps organize the bars you write on your cellie.
In fact, Slowbucks even put together it’s own show on one of the main stages at the Masquerade, the iHipHop Distribution Stage. If you aren’t familiar with Slowbucks… it’s a street wear company that features a cashed out snail signifying for the brand like Mickey Mouse does for Disney. Familiarize yourself with it cuz they are doing big things, like putting together this showcase at A3C.
Things started off with M.O.N.E. followed shortly by one of Los Angeles’ own. You may know him as Richard Nixon due to his collaboration with the Cali Rej3ctz, but Mickey Monday can stand on his own two as he introduced the deep south to his take on American Beauty. Slowbucks also brought out LEP Bogus Boyz and Fred the Godson on their stage, but the highlight of the exposition had to be one of the most infamous heads from out of Queensbridge. You know Prodigy had to do it for all the killers and the hundred dollar billers. Running through his catalogue of classics, P had the crowd wilding out and jumping around like a House of Pain song. If he don’t break bread, he breaks ribs, and his performance was definitely thoroughbred.
The H.N.I.C. ended out the Slowbucks‘ showcase, but the iHipHop Distribution Stage at the Masquerade kept rocking on. One thing about A3C you gotta understand is that there is a lot going on at one time. You gotta pick and choose carefully what shows you catch and which stages you hit. Cuz while Chino XL, Torae, Freeway and more were killing it at the Masquerade, The Dungeon Family was holding it down at the Star Bar across town. Also former 517 W. Queen resident Thurz, along side Vado and El Prez were rocking at the same damn time at the 5 Spot. See what I’m saying. A3C is active.
And on Day 2, one cat I saw get hella active on the mic was JD Era. He was holding it down for Canucks everywhere at the Canadian Blast showcase on the Jakprints stage. JD Era never needed no handouts, and for damn sure you better pay him in cash. If you value bars… check the guy out. JD Era, his raps are cold as ice water. Word is bond. Check out the jewels Era had to share behind the scenes in Atlanta…
ISM: They call you Era because it’s your time… what are you here to do with your time G?
JD Era: Aww man… just here to spread the message to the people, you know? I’ve been working hard. I just put out the mixtape. I’ve been shooting videos and what not. Nah’mean? I’ve been blessed enough to come out here and have my own show. I had the Canadian Blast earlier. Now me and Rae get to do something, you know what I mean? I got to hype Rae’s set. That’s always a blessing. He kinda hit me with it last minute, you know… so I came out to show some love man.
ISM: The title of your mixtape is “No Handouts”… so what’s the best way for cats to earn their own stripes?
JD Era: Fuck man…stay humble, stay hungry. Ya’mean? For me it’s always been about work, work, work. Like before I met Rae, it was all work. Now that I’ve connected with the god, it’s like still the same thing. It’s all work. He doesn’t stress me to take it to another level, so the whole “No Handouts” thing is perfect. You know what I mean? Regardless of my co-signs, or who is kinda guiding my wheel right now… it’s still the same shit.
ISM: Master of your own destiny. Like if you ain’t got your own ship, you’re gonna be in troubled waters.
JD Era: Always, always.
ISM: So to reach that higher level in the studio, what needs to be going right in your day to make your best music?
JD Era: You know… A little bit of Kush. Nah’mean? Just to get the mind right. And I just like to focus man. When I’m in the studio, I just have a good time. One thing about rap, rap is just fun. Yaddamean? I think that people get caught up in it too much, you know what I mean… sometimes. But me, I just have a good time with the music and just keep it real. Know what I mean? Keep it as honest as possible.
ISM: You got to go on tour this year… what was your most memorable show moment?
JD Era: Aww fuck… me and Rae, I got to do like 40 something dates with Rae. We went all across North America. So I’d say, the most memorable, probably for me was coming out with him in New York at B.B. King’s. Or even I got to do a show with him and Ghost in Toronto. That’s my city and shit so I got to come out at Dundas Square in the heart of the city with Rae and Ghost. So that shit was crazy!
ISM: So for heads who haven’t been to Toronto, why should they come? What’s the ILLest part of the city to you?
JD Era: Aww man… there’s beautiful women, there’s good food. Know what I mean? Everyone is good people. It’s a clean place. Toronto’s just… and don’t get me wrong, we got our hoods in Toronto and what not…But for me, I just enjoy all of the positives in the city. It’s definitely just beautiful. That’s the best way to describe it.
ISM: I had the inside track and heard some of your new joints, you say pay ’em in cash, pay you in cash… so did you have a bad incident where they tried not to pay you in cash?
JD Era: Yo man you know how that goes.
ISM: Funny style.
JD Era: Any nigga hustling knows how that goes.
ISM: You gotta count the cream man. They’ll pay you back later right?
JD Era: C’mon man, this is cash rules. I’m under a different school. You gotta pay me in cash.
ISM: So what’s next for the god?
JD Era: Just new music. I got a couple of videos coming out. I just released “Mount Olympus”, “Greatest” with Rae, I got “Hate Me Later” coming out featuring Mac Miller. Know what I’m saying? Videos man, I’m on my video shit right now. I’m trying to be Era Tarantino right now, know what I’m saying?
ISM: That’s the best way for people to see what you got going on with a visual aspect.
JD Era: I’m just trying to step up to visual game right now while working on this new album. You know?
ISM: Where can people buy the music when it comes out?
JD Era: It’s available on iTunes right now. I just did some shit with Nike Canada. Nah’mean… I got a commercial with Nike Canada playing right now. All of this shit is on iTunes. Just search JD Era… boom. Get the mixtape. Get the deluxe version. I just put out the feature with Gunplay, “Smoking Good Remix”. Know what I mean?
ISM: It’s on the blogs.
JD Era: It’s everywhere. I’m out here working.
True that. Era was out there throwing the gauntlet down, and like I was saying. A3C is active..There were a lot of heads up in the kitchen getting down with their original recipes, but if you were really going to chef the impossible, you were likely to catch Shallah Raekwon blessing the microphone and moving the crowd on the iHipHop Distribution Stage outside of the Masquerade. Wu Tang is forever so you know heads were flying their Iron Flags high and throwing the W up. He rocked “Glaciers of Ice” and shouted out all his “Incarcerated Scarfaces.” He dropped some of the finest bars from Cuban Linx, including verses from Nas and Ghost on “Verbal Intercourse” and then brought out surprise guest the GZA who shadowboxed with the audience for a quick second before dipping out cross town to his own show with Killer Mike at Terminal West.
Of course there was a tribute moment for ODB. No Wu Tang show would be complete without a moment for Dirt McGirt. And Dirty would definitely still be having a ball today if he was alive and well and could make an appearance in the Dirty South for A3C. He definitely would have to look out in Cobb county though, the locals say it stands for C.ount O.n B.eing B.usted. So yeah, back to the festival. Day 2 wound up with the Chef splashing blood on his apron and then hitting the A for some quality after hours get downs. Word ’em up… stay tuned for ILLsociety’s exclusive interview with Raekwon coming up soon, and yes, the day 3 feature is on deck as well.
Word up… you know ya man’s Drop Jewelz.
Photos by Eric Soul and Cali Grindz
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