Back on the Block: The Boys Back In Town
With the last stop of their four part Back on the Block series, 1800 Tequila and Billboard Magazine teamed up with Mike Will Made It to bring Atlanta a historical night of Hometown love. And, as it was the finale, Mike Will and the Ear Drummers pulled some of Atlanta’s hottest and legendary hometown heroes out of their hats for a memorable celebration of Atlanta hip-hop.
The Ear Drummers are truly one of the most dedicated labels and crews in Atlanta hip-hop, coming out to give their Hometown city a memorable show after just wrapping up an Earz (signed to Mike Will’s Ear Drummer label) video shoot. They showed no sign of fatigue, as the energy was palpable as Rae Sremmund took over the DJ set, with Slim Jimmy on the mic to get the crowd ready for what was to come. By the time Mike Will Made It stepped on stage, dawning a classic NWA hat, and dark shades, the crowd’s attention was captivated and didn’t move for the rest of the night. The crowd sang every word to their Atlanta heroes’ anthems. 2 Chainz graced the stage performing some of his classics and even dropping a sneak preview of a soon-to-be-released collaboration with Mike Will. Rae Sremmund brought a high-energy set that even included a live snare drummer banging out drum rudiments in between dabs (which looked as impressive as it sounds). 21 Savage, fresh off his Apple Music release with Metro Boomin’ (Savage Mode), brought his signature street Decatur flavor to the mic. Eastside natives Two-9 also surprised the crowd performing some of the collective’s music that have already begun to cement themselves under a long list of ATL anthems.
Atlanta’s ability to build, support, and remain loyal to the artists that break free from its, long and sometimes overly-saturated, ranks is part of the reason why it has continued to turn out some of the industries hottest producers and artist. Back on the Block was one of those nights one could feel and capture the unadulterated love for the artistry and turn up that has become intrinsic to the Atlanta hip-hop scene.
-JT Tarpav
