ATLANTA — Thousands attended the 15th ONE Musicfest on Saturday and Sunday which united music enthusiasts with artists, producers, DJ’s, creatives, and vendors at Central Park in Atlanta.
The annual festival was a resounding success, according to its founder, entrepreneur Jason J. Carter.
According to officials, ONE Musicfest “it has become a destination festival attracting over 100,000+ diverse music lovers from all over the nation.”
ONE Musicfest is a multi-generational “cultural pilgrimage” according to Carter, a Harlem native.
“It’s amazing,” Carter said of the success of ONE Musicfest over the years. “It validates the why behind ONE Musicfest. The why has always been to strengthen and connect the Black community by using cultural pillars like music. We get folks who travel all the way from Australia, Canada, and everywhere between the Bahamas and Los Angeles to have this experience.”
Carter said it is always a special feeling from the moment fans walk into the venue.
“It feels familiar, from the sounds, to the smells to the things you see and the experiences you have. That continues to add to the evolution and growth of ONE Musicfest because it authentically taps into the culture the correct way,” Carter said.
Carter’s idea of creating ONE Musicfest began years ago when he used to host house parties for hundreds of people.
“In 2008 and 2009, when it was a concept, we couldn’t find anyone programming and building out festivals the way I intended for ONE Musicfest to be,” Carter said. “The process was taking the template of large-scale events that I produced in the past and start plugging in festival elements to it and build it out that way. I reverse engineered this thing and learned throughout the years. I couldn’t find any mentors who resembled me that was looking to do what I set out to do with ONE Musicfest.”
It continued to grow over the years and has become what officials call “the country’s largest independently and wholly Black-owned two-day urban progressive music festival.”
Prominent hip-hop historian, innovator, and supporter Larry “NuFace” Compton was there on Saturday and Sunday.
ONE Musicfest connects the younger generation of music to the older generation of music and Carter said that connectivity is something else that the organizers take a lot of pride in.
On Saturday, the festival was headlined by Atlanta’s own growing star Latto after Cardi B dropped out due to a medical emergency.
Carter said having Latto, who was touring and coming through Atlanta on her day off, as the headliner was “a blessing. Timing is everything and the stars aligned perfectly for that. Her growth and her being from Georgia meant something to us.”
Fans were also treated to a special surprise when singer Jeremih and Atlanta hip-hop legend 2 Chainz jumped on stage during DJ Drama’s set to perform some of their classic hits.
Other Saturday performers included Earth, Wind & Fire, Nelly, Young Dro, Trillville, Travis Porter, Rich Boy, and more.
Carter said while it was under extenuating circumstances that Cardi B dropped out, her impact on hip-hop and culture is undeniable.
“She’s an icon,” he said. “She’s a voice. Her health and safety matters the most.”
Sunday’s performers included Atlanta hip-hop icon T.I., Glorilla, Gunna, Victoria Monet, Sexxy Red and more.
DJ sets included the legendary DJ Drama, Greg Street, DJ Mars and more. T.I. rocked the crowd during DJ Mars’ set on Sunday.
“We always try to highlight a few Atlanta or Georgia-based artists on our lineup,” he said.
The festival showcased a wide variety of Black artists and creatives, something that Carter says was personally important to him.
“Our culture is a mosaic of different personalities, faces, demographics, and economic backgrounds. That’s another thing we love about ONE Musicfest,” he said. “It’s very inviting to your creatives, politicians, executives, hustlers, and influencers. It’s a familiar feel that people love to reconnect with once or twice a year.”
ONE Musicfest was also a supporter of the “Vote or Else” initiative in Atlanta that featured a panel with several celebrity guest speakers to encourage Georgians to go out and vote.
“Whether you have 500 followers or 500 million followers on social media, it’s our civic duty to utilize our voices and platform to get people to vote and be more active,” he said. “Not only in these national elections, but in our local elections.”
The ONE Musicfest also expanded into Dallas earlier this year, with the festival called “Twogether Land.”
Carter, who is also a founding member of the Georgia Entertainment Caucus, spoke about hip-hop pioneer DJ Clark Kent recently passing away and what he meant to hip-hop.
“Clark Kent is a legend,” he said. “Dating back to his work with Biggie and everyone in between. I had the honor of doing a few events with Clark Kent, dating back to the early 2000′s. We’re of that age now where we are starting to lose some of these legends and OGs. It’s a shame that we’re celebrating them too late. Greg Street did a tribute to him. DJ Mars did a tribute to Fatman Scoop.”
Carter says one of the things that inspires him is “representation.”
“I feel like we don’t do the best job of representing ourselves, our narrative, and our story,” he said. “That’s what ONE Musicfest truly is. It is in my opinion the best representation of our culture that I’ve witnessed throughout our nation. We all do our job to put our culture on the map the way we want our story to be told and the way it should be told. We need to tell our own story. None of these large corporations were even thinking about programing large scale Black festivals. You’ve got to ask yourself why. Instead of waiting for someone to build it for you, build it yourself. That’s what we did.”