Jordan Bradley for A3C Media Services
What a venue for the opening night. Festival attendees watched artists perform on the rooftop of Delightful Eatz, with a slight view of the Downtown Atlanta skyline as the backdrop.
"First of all, the venue's dope. Just to be on the rooftop and the vibe is just so dope," producer and Wednesday night performer Sikwitit said while admiring his view of the venue, with Young M.A's "OOOUUU" playing in the background.
Producers of all styles opened the night and ultimately stole the show. The producers showcased their best beats for seven minutes at a time. Some of the sickest beat drops, 808's and soulful samples had majority of the vibing attendees bobbing their heads to the beat with a fair share of sour faces in the crowd as well. One of the more notable producers that performed was A3C veteran Black Metaphor, who produced hits like Young Jeezy's "Get Right," The Game's "Ali Bomaye" and Lil Bibby's "Water."
"It's a science behind music and frequencies," Black Metaphor, the Atlanta resident who enjoys taking a break from making beats to network, said shortly after his performance. "I just go with stuff that grabs the listeners emotionally. I don't just try to make simply stuff, I try to make things that grab you emotionally."
Both Sikwitit and Black Metaphor were grateful for the opportunity to showcase their skills on a weekend that puts most of the spotlight on artists.
"I feel like producers are the unsung heroes," Sikwitit said. "These are the guys that put all the hard work and energy into creating our favorite song, but they don't get as much of the recognition as the artist. So for [A3C] to put together a platform like this for these guys to just have a moment, like, 'That song you like? That's me.' That's just so dope to me."
The Dallas, Texas native Sikwitit's favorite track that he produced was the Dave East and G-Herbo 2016 XXL Cypher beat.
The next few days, attendees will see teams campaign their artists harder than either political party is currently pushing their Presidential candidates, but tonight it was all about the ones who truly make our heads bob when we hear our favorite tracks.
