Lil Wayne and fresh Texas names light up Dallas’ first TwoGether Land hip-hop festival

The TwoGether Land event over Memorial Day weekend in Dallas set the tone for a hip-hop festival that respects the city’s influence on mainstream pop culture. When the lineup was announced in February, it teased Hollyhood Bay Bay’s Dallas All-Stars, which included Big Tuck, Erica Banks, Yella Beezy, Chalie Boy, Dorrough, and more.

This was Dallas’ moment to inspire a new generation of listeners who came to see Lil Wayne, Latto, or Key Glock that Dallas hip-hop is ours and ours only. Preserving its history at Fair Park on the TwoGether Land stage, with the African American Museum as a backdrop, felt like a win for the unsung heroes keeping the sound alive.

When walking into Fair Park, TwoGether Land offered a little bit of everything: a day party, an outdoor concert featuring hip-hop and R&B, an Art Overdose experience showcasing artists and vendors, and hangout spot near a roller rink and a mechanical bull to test your skills. Or you could chill with rapper Curren$y at his JetLife Lounge, which gave out samples of his Jet Life THC Soda.

The sponsor activations were unique activities in-between sets, especially Martell’s Vibe Check Bar, which had participants get their brainwaves scanned using brain-sensing headsets to interpret their emotions through vibrant colors and patterns, mapped out to signature cocktails you got to choose from based upon your results.

Over at the TwoGether Land Live Stage, there were opportunities to sit in on a live recording of a podcast. Concertgoers could catch Texas’ Marcus Adams of Mazi’s World interviewing rap group Dirty South Rydaz about their early mixtapes.

“It was kind of new to us,” Dirty South member Big Tuck said of their popularity at the time. “For the most part, we were just trying to make good music for the city. Represent the city the right way.”

Chalie Boy, who had Victoria Monét sample his song “I Look Good” on “On My Mama,” was interviewed next and shared his thoughts on his 2009 song remaining a Dallas classic. “When you remix a song or you recreate a song, it gives new life to the new one and renewed life to the old one,” Chalie Boy said.

During a weekend when the Dallas Mavericks were up in the NBA’s Western Conference Finals, D-Town pride and celebration spread throughout TwoGether Land. If it wasn’t Chalie Boy’s “I Look Good” getting spun by numerous DJs around the fairgrounds, Cali Swag District’s “Teach Me How to Dougie” got some play too, which spawned from the homegrown D-Town Boogie movement.

It was all build-up to Bay Bay’s afternoon slot on Sunday that captured the best representation of Dallas hip-hop from the early beginnings to the current era. Certainly, other festivals have been held in Dallas and featured Post Malone, but none have attempted to spotlight an entire Texas music movement like TwoGether Land has.

Due to North Texas storms, Sunday’s set times were pushed back and gate openings were delayed. The 5:15 p.m. time slot worked in Bay Bay’s favor, as the crowd stuck around after a set from That Mexican OT, another rising Texas rapper who went viral for his song named after the Vietnamese Houston jeweler Johnny Dang.

Bay Bay, who is always animated, started his show with dancers before bringing out Tum Tum for “Home of Killaz.” Bay Bay wanted to summon the old Dallas swag, bringing out Big Tuck for a DSR reunion as Tuck and Tum Tum performed “Southside Da Realist” and “Not a Stain on Me.”

Then it was time for North Dallas to get recognition, as Bay Bay called on Mr. Lucci to perform “Diabolical” solo before being joined by Mr. Pookie for “Crook for Life.” For the average rap fan, these names aren’t immediately recognizable and are considered underground unless you were jamming to them in high school or college. Think of it as an important history lesson, bringing attention to these rappers performing at a festival in their city.

Bay Bay then treated fans to a D-Town Boogie blitz of artists, shouting for Fat Pimp, who did his dance to “Rack Daddy,” Lil Wil for “My Dougie” and “Bust It Open,” Trap Starz Clik, and Dorrough for “Walk That Walk,” “Get Big” and “Ice Cream Paint Job.” Bay Bay’s connections to the city’s talent run deep, continuing with Chalie Boy for “I Look Good” and “Thick Fine Woman.”

Fans were treated to The Party Boyz, Treal Lee and Prince Rick for “Throwed Off,” and even GS Boyz who hit the Stanky Legg like it never left. Fans saw Yung Nation, M.E., Lil Ronny MothaF, and Big Homie Sho serving up jiggin’ dance songs for a full-blown party.

But Bay Bay wasn’t done yet.

He turned his attention to the Dallas rap stars of today, bringing out Erica Banks for twerk anthems “Buss It” and “Toot That.” Though it wasn’t explained, Yella Beezy was absent from the set. Instead, Bay Bay capped it off with Gunna Meize and OG Bobby Billions, who performed “Outside (Better Days)” as a Mo3 tribute, and Montana 700 with Zillionaire Doe.

It wasn’t the big finale we expected since the audience was unfamiliar with some names. It could’ve used someone like BigXThaPlug or buzzing Dallas artist 4Batz, who was seen walking around TwoGether Land on Saturday. But the sentiment of promoting the new Dallas faces was appreciated.

If you went on Saturday and Sunday, the organization and flow of TwoGether Land made it easy for fans to schedule what they wanted to see and arrive whenever they desired through an app that gave reminders of when the next act was on.

Lil Wayne, Latto, Jeezy, and Gucci Mane were the most scheduled by fans, but the joy of TwoGether Land came from its balance of R&B acts with Amerie, Dru Hill, The-Dream, and Summer Walker if you felt moved by slower jams. The lineup was a well-curated, regional set of Southern pillars that mixed artists from Memphis, New Orleans, and Atlanta with Texas names.

Some highlights of both days were Shaboozey teasing his new album and single with BigXThaPlug, Three 6 Mafia’s DJ Paul joking that the sweat on his shirt made the shape of Texas, Gucci Mane sharing the stage with his wife Keyshia Ka’oir for “Freaky Gurl,” Jeezy saying he always got love for Dallas, The-Dream commenting that his real fans have kids because they listened to his music, and Latto channeling her heavily sexual “Big Mama” persona.

By the time Lil Wayne was getting ready to close out the weekend, it was a victory lap for artists of Wayne’s generation who reached mainstream sustainability. After a slight delay due to a few fans suffering from heat exhaustion, Wayne soldiered through a tight 45-minute set covering his Hot 100 singles, guest features, mixtape cuts, and Tha Carter III classics like “Lollipop” and “A Milli.”

As the night went on, Wayne was amazed by the crowd rocking with him after being in the sun for hours. He was thankful that fans skipped the Mavericks game to be with him, telling us who won in case we didn’t check the score. He was happy to still rap in front of an audience after all these years.

“This is love,” Wayne said.

The crowd kept cheering for him. His parting words are his standard if you’ve seen him live before, but telling us he isn’t anything without us rang true more than ever at the first TwoGether Land. Texas loves you, Weezy. And Weezy loves us back.