History was made last Sunday night, April 27, 2014.  The greatest rap duo of all time, commonly known as OUTKAST, performed together on Georgia soil for the first time in at least ten years I think. I’ve lost count it’s been so long. But never did I lose faith. The venue was an hour North of Atlanta in a big ass field of grass and mud known as Kingston Downs near Rome, Georgia. The festival was CounterPoint. What an appropriate festival name for Outkast to shut down. Keep in mind, their history is based on the harmonic fusion of two very independent voices that I prayed to the Lord above would one day put on their superhero uniforms and save me from the abyss of what is currently called “hip-hop.” Their music is classic and timeless. I didn’t need it to go back to a particular moment or memory. I needed it to move forward. I suspect we all did. Big and Dre included.

None of us knew that God had April 27th written in his Book of Wills. So traveling to Rome was more like preparing for a family reunion. I suppose it was to a degree. A coming together of extended families and networks who met during a very unique space and time in the cultivation of southern hip-hop – especially Atlanta hip hop.

I was traveling with Michael Render, aka Killer Mike, who I call the most unpopular popular MC on the planet right now. Mike is second generation Dungeon Family and has managed to leverage his lyrical abilities, desire to speak candidly about the social and political world that is sucking all of us in at some level, and a huge disposition (no pun intended here) to become one of the most successful independent artists walking the face of planet Earth (or Mars…or Pluto perhaps). So “adventurous” is perhaps the most non-descriptive description of how the day started and ended in a Kroger parking lot on Roswell Road in Sandy Springs.

Every move we made was centered around getting Run the Jewels – that is Mike and his ivory brother El-P – to Rome in time to hit the stage. Thereafter it was about Killer Mike performing his Grammy-winning verse on ‘Kast’s “The Whole World”. Everyone on the van was anxious and excited at the same time.

It was an opportunity to hug and love on people who hadn’t seen one another in years. Perhaps at the last Outkast show. None of us could predict this day. We could only wish and pray for it. Hearing Andre 3000 on features along with verses from them both on UGK’s “International Players Anthem” kept hope alive. Replaying over and over 3 Stack’s apologetic verse to Big Boi on TI’s “Sorry” sent aflare predictions of a reunion. The announcement of a Coachella performance caused a media frenzy. And a so-so first performance that got cut short brought out the wolves that Coachella part 2 shut down. Still, eyes remained on CounterPoint. Although is was an hour away from Atlanta, it was THE Atlanta show. This show would seal the deal that Big and Dre, once again “got sumthin to say”. That they are this year’s festival killers.

A two-hour show that included 3D technology mixed with hologrammed images of the duo, red lips, a kitchen table, laser lights, a projected Headland and Delowe street sign, a horn section, the original background singers Keysha Jackson (daughter of Millie Jackson) and Joi Gilliam (yep THAT Joi), David Whild on guitar, and DJ Cutmaster Swiff on the 1’s and 2’s silenced every single critic who thought Big and Dre had irreconcilable differences. Seeing Killer Mike literally kill his verses on “The Whole World” sent a crowd full of ATL-iens home satisfied and the haters back to their little black holes.

My attempt is not to romanticize the reunion of Andre Benjamin and Antwan Patton. But if I do then so what. It was definitely a romantic evening. One that began for me and others in a grocery store parking lot 15 hours before. In other words, we didn’t get back to our cars until 3am Monday morning. For an ethnographer like me, it was a great day of cultural digging. Peep below for a gallery of pictures taken by my photojournalist.