Day two of One Music Fest took place Sunday, Oct. 29 and featured two of Atlanta’s veteran musical acts: Goodie Mob and Killer Mike. Performing on the Sprite 50 Hip Hop stage, both came out to huge crowds and played melodies of both new and old music. The results were the same though, the music lead the way.
Prior to Goodie Mob taking the stage, Atlanta-based DJ Knotts, who wore an Atlanta Hawks jersey during his set, warmed up the crowd with a mix of Atlanta classics like Rich Boy’s “Throw Some D’s”, Young Joc’s “It’s Going Down” and “Damn!” by the rap duo Youngbloodz. Radio and television personality Big Tigger, a native New Yorker who is popular in Atlanta for his work on the airwaves and as an in-game announcer with the Atlanta Hawks got the crowd hype, screaming into his microphone, “If you’re ready to represent and celebrate some real Atlanta hip-hop make some noise.”
That’s exactly what took place during the next two hours as Goodie Mobb (Khujo, T-Mo, Big Gipp and CeeLo Green), Killer Mike (Michale Render) and DJ Greg Street (Gregory Polk) did their best to further solidify what has been known for nearly half of the 50 years that hip-hop has been in existence: The south indeed has something to say.
Photo by Kerri Phox/The Atlanta Voice
Goodie Mob opened with “See You When I See You”, “Get Rich To This” and then Khujo asked the fans if “Ya’ll don’t mind if we go to our theme sing next?” The beat for “Dirty South” came blasting through the speakers.
“The Ghetto”, “Soul Food” and Outkast’s “Mainstream” were next and brought an already standing, dancing and singing crowd to its feet. The set was packed with hit sing after song, including “Cell Therapy” and the closing song, “They Don’t Dance No Mo.”
After Goodie Mob left the stage and following a half-hour intermission, DJ Greg Street, who is credited by many Atlanta artists for breaking their records before and right after they were signed, began his set. Rico Wade, one of the founding members of production team Organized Noize and The Dungeon Family introduced Killer Mike moments later
Dressed in all white, Killer Mike came on stage with his four-member “choir”, Midnight Revival, who he gave an opportunity to musically introduce themselves before he performed a combination of songs from his recently released album, “Michael” and others verses from popular hits.
Wade said “Killer Mike is representing Atlanta really hard right now” and asked “How many of ya’ll got that new Killer Mike album?” By the sound of the crowd singing along with Killer Mike throughout his 20 minutes on stage it feels like many have.
Closing his time on stage with his verse from Big Boi’s “Kill Jill” and Bone Crusher’s “I Ain’t Never Scared” was a stroke of genius. Killer Mike’s vocals could barely be heard over the crowd singing along with him on both sings.
Atlanta and the south has always had something to say about hip-hop and if you have never heard the city speak then Sunday’s performances from Goodie Mob and Killer Mike would have been a perfect introduction.