A3C Hip Hop Festival Blog

Stage Presence: A3C Notable Performances Over the Years

Written by Safari Jeffries | May 28

Year after year, the All 3 Coast Festival has set the standard with live Hip Hop, concert-conference action and with the 10th A3C Festival upon us, it would only be fitting if we highlighted some of the most memorable performances festival goers have seen. So without further a due, in no particular order, here are some notable performances that you should have seen.
No one will forget former Rockafella Dynasty Star Freeway (@phillyfreezer) killed the Stage at the 2011 A3C. The video of @phillyfreezer on the 2011 A3C Stage proved that the North Philly native still commanded the crowd. The only thing that was kind of missing was Kanye jumping in for @phillyfreezer’s “Two Words” performance.


(Video Courtesy of A3C, Youtube)

A3C 2K12 was all-star packed. The Beatnutz (@TheRealBeatnuts), Alkaholics and Nipsey Hustle (@nipseyhussle) all had outstanding sets. Moreover TDE representative Ab-Soul (@abdashsoul) made his mark as well. This A3C 2K12 Stage Recap shows that even the best show in town can be better and greater.. and not to mention that this is where we were introduced to South Atlanta’s own Trinidad James.


(Video Courtesy of Creative Revolution Films, Youtube)

The early years of A3C was no different from days of today in regards to star power. One of our favorite female legends, Roxanne Shante' rocked the 08' A3C Stage with her disrespectful classic, “Return of the Big Mamma”.

(Video Courtesy of Earwax ATL, Youtube)

In Fall 2011, a couple more legends proved that it was going to be a immortal year for @A3C Hip Hop. One of the many layers of Icing on the cake was the epic performance by the Mash Out Posse. One would continue to say: How can this be topped? Well…it was nothing but all smiles, head nodding & hand waving when Slum Village took the stage at A3C 2K12. Dilla, Detroit, Elzhi (@elzhi)…what more can be said when The D reppin @A3C 2K12?

(Video Courtesy of Identical Variant,Youtube)

2013 proved to be an amazing year for not only Hip Hop and the A3C, but also for the super talented, Top Dawg Entertainment (@TDE) crew. I am pretty sure a lot of us were super-duper excited to hear the robust delivery of Jay Rock (@jayrock) followed by the laid back, cleverly crafted verses of West Coast sensation SchoolBoy Q (@ScHoolBoyQ) Take a look at the trademark bucket and retro Jordan’s in this performance of "Yay Yay" by SchoolboyQ

(Video Courtesy of Phenom Blak, Youtube)
It can be said that the live show is where fans are gained, social media is promoted and artist merch is sold to the masses, but what usually is not mentioned is that lasting moments are created on the stage that @A3C has built. Of course there are way more performances that could be mentioned here in this article, but here is where the dialogue begins. A lot of us are just fans of the stage and continuously want to re-live in those moments recorded @A3C with our mobile devices. What is that moment or moments for you? Even if you have only seen one, you will not miss anymore.

Safari M. Jeffries is a contributing writer for the A3C Blog. You can follow him for more stories @A3C or @safarimjeffries on Twitter