Kidz in the Hall, Killer Mike Cut Short at A3C Hip Hop Fest

Hip-hop engulfed the city of Atlanta last weekend thanks to the A3C Hip Hop Festival. The three-day fest, Oct.7-9, brought Kidz in the Hall, Sean Price, Jean Grae and more to its stages, but also featured local acts including hip-hop quartet Hollyweerd and Atlanta emcee Small Eyes.

Thanks to the festival's new location at Masquerade, a multi-level music complex located in Midtown Atlanta, attendee's were easily able to maneuver their way from one stage to the next as opposed to last year where venues were scattered around neighboring East Atlanta Village and Little Five Points.

The Perfect Attendance stage proved to be one of the more lively stages at A3C. Hosted by Chicago's Hustle Simmons the Perfect Attendance stage featured performances from Kid Daytona, Emilio Rojas, Theo Martins, Stalley, and more than 50 other artists. Regardless of which coast these emcee's were representing they were all met with much enthusiasm from the crowd.

B-boys and b-girls popped, locked and later battled it out in front of the Red Bull Music Academy Stage. They were then followed by a DJ Battle featuring DJ Shiftee, Rob Swift, and DJ Scratch. Outside of Masquerade a blank canvas was laid out and quickly filled up with those wanting to tag their name or any other random scribbling's.

Atlanta's own Killer Mike aka Mike Bigga proved to have one of the biggest surprises of the weekend. He brought out rapper Immortal Technique during his performance on the AllHipHop.com stage. Immortal Technique immediately leapt into a verse acapella style and had festival goer's clinging on to every word.

As a demonstration of the power of hip-hop although both Kidz in the Hall and Killer Mike's sets were cut short on Saturday night due to what is likely Atlanta's wretched noise ordinance laws both acts were later allowed to continue their performances on the Perfect Attendance stage. Aside from live performances, festival attendee's were also able to take in some knowledge thanks to a number of informative panels. The panels, which for the most part took place in the afternoon, covered breaking into hip-hop journalism, social networking for artists, licensing and publishing, and more. Despite three days of pure hip-hop, the majority of attendees were still left wanting much more. Watch a clip of Killer Mike below taking matters into his own hands after being cut short at the festival.