There are only a select few artists that could unite the territorial and racially diverse melting pot that is Atlanta, Georgia. Split into territories that we claim like identities, we Atliens don’t play about where we’re from. From Zone 1 to Zone 4, Atlanta was united on September 19 to celebrate the classic music and rhythms that are synonymous with our ATL blood. For one night and one night only, we were brought together at ‘The Masquerade’ park for the legendary Goodie M.O.B. reunion, and what a reunion it was.
From start to finish the concert was packed with ATL artists that made you remember your childhood listening to songs you’d have to be from here to understand. DJ Jelly and his signature braided beard DJ’d the event, enticing the crowd with old ATL hits from Sammy Sam, Intoxicated, Raheem The Dream and Baby D.
DJ Kizzy Rock hit the stage with his old school set of G-A faves and an old school dance team who killed it popping and locking.
Following that the crowd was ‘taken to church’ with the introduction of everyone’s favorite ATL trapper…I mean pastor, Pastor Troy. Troy brought the crowd to a roar bringing us back to his hits like “Vice a Versa” and “We Ain’t Playin’” before hopping off the stage and into the crowd to enjoy the show with the rest of us.
Did I mention the YoungBloodz graced the stage too? Beautiful. J-Bo and Sean Paul, or is it Sean P, took the show to a new level taking us back to when “Presidential” and “Damn” dominated the airwaves. The precursors to the main show did an incredible job getting the crowd crunk and ready for Goodie M.O.B. and when the M.O.B. made their presence known, they did so in a huge way.
Rocking all red and encrusted with jewels and sparkle, the fam took the stage in true hero fashion coming out to the “Rocky” theme song. After their ten year united absence in the rap game, needless to say it was exciting to see the quad of Big Gipp, Cee-Lo, Khujo and T-Mo together again. The hit making quad fed off the crowd’s energy from start to finish.
Big Gipp showed off his ‘big grin’ the whole night, Cee-Lo gave us the smooth high pitched vocals we’ve been missing via some Frankie Beverley and Khujo and T-Mo worked the stage like they were 20 years old again . Their band was rocking and left ears ringing pouring out hits like “Cell Therapy” and my personal favorite, “They Don’t Dance No Mo.”
Giving their fans what they’d been longing for, the crowd exploded when “Soul Food” came on as the The Good Die Mostly Over BullShyte went into their electrifying verses. They also held the sistas to their rightful pedestals as they rocked the Black Woman’s anthem “Beautiful Skin.”
Antwan Patton, better known as Big Boi himself, even graced the stage reuniting with his old Dungeon Family home team for his verse on “Get Rich To This.” While 3 Stacks wasn’t in the building, the crew still tore the house down as they ripped through “Git Up, Git Out (Get Something).”
The concert was of epic proportions and brought back a sense of Atlanta pride that’s been missing for years. For those that made the concert and braved the rain, all that mud and that random drunk girl in the blue shirt that passed out by the side of the stage, we’ll never forget the show. It was gritty, it was dirty, it was us…The Dirty South. Now that was a good day Atlanta!
