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.
Ending the Day at @CafeIntermezzo @CafeIntermezzoP @CafeIntermezzo1 #A3C2013
When the jazz band had finished playing on the rooftop at The Reserve, I walked back down to Noni’s Village and caught the shuttle back to the Melia Hotel, intending to head to the Quad, which was trending. But A$AP Ferg was performing there, and 2 Chains had tweeted that he intended to perform there, despite not being on the schedule, and the crowds that showed up resulted in hundreds of people milling around the Spring and 4th Complex entrance, and six Atlanta police cars parked out front as well. So I changed my mind and drove to Cafe Intermezzo for a late night cup of coffee and slice of dessert. With the weather so pleasant, I was able to sit out on the sidewalk promenade, and one of the improvements at the new location is the extensive amount of front outdoor seating. There’s really no better way to end a day in Atlanta.
Ending Day 1 of @A3C At the @ApacheCafe Jam Session
Too Short was supposed to be performing at the Quad, but the venue proved to be far too crowded for me, so I walked around the corner to the Apache Cafe. On Wednesday night, it wasn’t an official A3C venue, but there was a jam session going on on the inside stage, and on the back patio, a drummer and trumpet player were playing along to the DJ out there. Really cool.