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The Dungeon Family Showed Up and Out at Atlanta's 8th Annual One Musicfest
We are Family
Family reunions can be both beautiful and bothersome. Some folks show up that weren’t invited and some folks don’t show up at all. Songs get sung, dances get done, hands and shade sometimes get thrown. Sometimes the potato salad is crunchy. In addition to all of this, reunions are a reminder of who you are by showing you who you once were. In all of your beautiful imperfections and complimentary contradictions, reunions remind you where you’ve been and sometimes where you can go. The past meets the future and something new can come out.
The 8th Annual One Music Fest in Atlanta, GA at the Lakewood Amphitheater was one of these things. In the Gate City, those of like minds met once again for an 11 hour orgy of live music, art and food all under the Indian summer sun. This year featured the once unthinkable reunion of the entire Dungeon Family. The Atlanta collective that, to quote Family member Killer Mike, “personally changed the economy of Atlanta forever”, reunited in front of their hometown crowd to celebrate their legendary legacy. Goodie Mob, Organized Noize, Witchdoctor, Cool Breeze, Big Boi, Killer Mike and “special guests” were billed for the day, leaving some mystery about who might show up. How could so many different acts and people with so many different career paths, come back together for a reunion? Would an enigmatic yet legendary wordsmith grace the stage one more time, for old times’ sake?
Before any questions could be answered, the assembled lovers of good music were treated to something old, something new, something crunk and something true-school. South Carolina born, Atlanta bread new comer Nick Grant brought intricate flows to his short set on the back Hercules stage. With the clarity and breath control of veteran, Grant impressed the early arrivers. While some weren’t sure what to make of the young man, by the end of his 15 minute set, heads were bobbing and hands were up. BJ the Chicago Kid brought his smooth delivery for songs from his growing catalogue. Tunes like “Turn’ Me Up” from his breakout release Pineapple Now-Laters and “Love Inside” from his latest In My Mind were given new life with BJ’s live band and energetic performance.
Rising star Anderson .Paak continued his summer of stage destruction with an outright aerobic set. Paak ran the sun baked fans through jams from his star making album Malibu and even his collaboration with DJ KAYTRANADA, “Glowed Up”. On the Zeus stage, Eastpoint Atlanta’s own Jarren Benton spit like his life depended on it for 15 minutes, and brought enough energy for an hour long set. Austin, TX native Gary Clark Jr. turned the Hercules stage into a sweaty, whiskey soaked Delta juke joint with his unique brand of blues/rock with songs like “Bright Lights”. Imagine Jimi Hendrix with an 808, produced by the Bomb Squad and you’ll get the picture.
On the main stage, Ice Cube reminded everyone why he is a living legend. With a backdrop of move clips and videos, Cube rocked “Check Yo’ Self” and “Friday” and other jams from his decade long catalogue. Busta Rhymes and his right hand man Spliff Star educated millennials on the Hercules stage with his nearly equally long and legendary resume. “Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Can See”, “Break Ya Neck” and “Woo Ha! (Got you all in Check)” sent the 35 and older crowd into frenzy, while “Touch It” and “Look At Me Now” reminded the kids just who this Busta guy was. With coordinated dance moves and witty interstitial banter Busta is the last of a dying breed of showmen rappers. They don’t just scream their hits at you, they perform for you, and you are better for it.
It could have been said that Queen Ye Yo Erykah Badu was late, but since Queens are never late, I’ll say that we were all just early for her set. She won the antsy crowd back with expert stage presence and artistry so that by the time she belted out her classics “On & On”, “…& On” most was forgiven. To make amends for those that missed some of Ice Cubes’ set to get in good position, Erykah dedicated “Love of My Life” to Cube and inserted his “Gangster Gangster” verse into the ode to hip hop history.
By the time The Dungeon Family Reunion was set to start, the crowd was ready, primed to celebrate their hometown heroes as only they could. Questions remained about who exactly would perform. With a family this extended and large, who knew what acts would touch the stage. For their part, The Family did not disappoint. Big Rube set the tone for the more than hour long set with an invocation, “This here is legendary shit.” The celebration started with “Dirty South” from Goodie Mob’s debut album, Soul Food. “Black Ice (Sky High)” continued the fun and elicited the first deafening eruption from the assembled Atlantians. When Andre 3000 began his verse, emerging from the shadows of the stage, and appearing on the projection screens, the Lakewood Amphitheater exploded with equal parts shock, awe and glee. The Son of Chico Dusty and Three Stacks were on stage again rocking the crowd like they never left. “So Fresh So Clean”, “Hootie Hoo” and “Elevators” reminded us why we loved them so much. Why we put so much on the shoulders of a pimp and a poet, and why an entire region was elevated because of them. For a few fleeting moments, the Aquarius and Gemini were together again, but only in spirit. Like your divorced auntie and uncle at the family reunion that put on the brave face for the sake of the kids, and are betrayed by strained body language, anyone that cared to look would see the truth. Despite what others might write or say, this was not about Outkast reuniting. As Big Gipp’s shirt read, this was “Family First” so the pimp and the poet put whatever aside and pulled together for something bigger than them and did it once again.
Atlanta rapper Bonecrusher performed a riotous version of his first single and ode to club security, “Never Scared”. Crusher was joined on stage by Family member, activist, presidential candidate advisor, and one half of Run the Jewels, Killer Mike along with surprise guest T.I. The crowd again lost their collective shit when Tip hit the stage and acted as hyper man for his star making verse from the 2003 club banger. The hour and change family reunion featured the more than 8 minute hymn, “Liberation” featuring Erykah Badu, CeeLo Green and Big Rube.
Simultaneously righteous and ratchet, country and sophisticated but somehow always working together for the greater good. The sound of the Dungeon Family/Organized Noize was southern fried soul with live instrumentation blended perfectly with DJ scratches that could have been straight from the South Bronx. The Dungeon Family was unapologetically black before it became a hashtag; effortlessly soulful and undeniably hip-hop. Two decades Dre told a hostile crowd that “The south got something to say.” In the years since, they have said it, sang it and forced the world to pay attention.
Get at The Count on them social media streets .....or not. You can catch his ramblings along with his mostly sober cohorts on The Brown Liquor Report Podcast [Souncloud, iTunes and wherever fine podcasts are found] talking shit about all the foolishness, fuckery and chicanery of the day with all of the authority that Jack Daniels’ provides.
