The music community gathered to celebrate the I do MUSIC Weekend in Atlanta March 5–8. The jam-packed weekend featured a slew of events including a DJ/Producer Clinic featuring DJ Toomp, Don Cannon and DJ Jelly, along with classes on artist development, music production, management and audio engineering. Past panelists have included David Banner, Rico Wade, Jason Jeter and Bryan Michael-Cox, among others. Among this year’s panelists were Jasper Cameron (Lloyd, Ciara), David “Mr. DJ” Sheats (OutKast, Common), J. Erving (Nelly, Jadakiss) and Bernard Parks (Organized Noize, DJ Toomp).
One of the weekend highlights, the Almost Famous Showcase, was created by publicist, tastemaker and marketing guru, Rovella Williams. The event kicked off Saturday night at Sugar Hill and featured special performances from B.o.B’s partner-in-rhyme, Playboy Tre, Senor Kaos and Grind Time’s Pill.
“Almost Famous is the best platform for emerging artists because it doesn’t begin or end with the stage performance,” says Williams of the showcase, which features major artists in the early stages of their careers, and has included Grand Hustle’s B.o.B., Konvict’s Rock City and Sho’Nuff’s Willie Joe. “It’s our goal to connect the emerging artists with the industry weeks before the show, the night of the show, and months after[ward]. The night Rock City signed their deal with Akon, they showed up to an Almost Famous show because they were so grateful for the platform.”
I do MUSIC is a monthly event that gives artists, DJs and producers a chance to break into the industry with performances in front of industry executives and tastemakers.
