Al Kapone and Muck Sticky on Beale Street Music Fest news: Sadness and disappointment

In 2005, Memphis rapper Al Kapone made his debut as a performing artist at the Memphis in May Beale Street Music Festival in Tom Lee Park.

Kapone — who earlier that year had introduced audiences to his song "Whoop That Trick," in the movie "Hustle & Flow" — was given a prime-time 8:20 p.m. slot on the AutoZone Stage. The crowd no doubt contained a fair share of Kapone fans, but thousands more had gathered to await the stage's headline act: Nelly, the St. Louis rapper who had performed at the previous year's Super Bowl, and whose single "Hot in Herre" had sold more than 2 million copies.

"That was a big deal for me," Kapone said Thursday. "Nelly especially at that time was huge. For Memphis in May to put a local like myself on a stage with such a big artist, it's a major boost. Thousands of people came from out of town, and they got turned on to some local talent."

Kapone has played the festival so many times since then "I can't keep track" (but we can: the number is 7). But one thing is certain: He won't play the Beale Street Music Festival in 2024, because the Beale Street Music Festival will not take place in 2024, officials announced Thursday, citing "record financial loss in 2022 and 2023," along with a "decline in attendance, increasing costs of artists fees, and the extraordinary $1.4 million bill to repair Tom Lee Park."

Memphis in May reported attendance at this year's Beale Street Music Festival “fell to its lowest level in over thirty years at 37,805."

"Disappointment, that's my first thought," said Kapone (whose whose latest release is a streaming EP titled "The Blues Rap Mane"). "Disappointment, because it was such a great platform for local artists to be seen in a bigger light."

The news also was a disappointment to Memphis tourism boosters.

“Musicfest is traditionally one of the strongest drivers of hotel usage for the city,” said Kevin Kane, Memphis Tourism president and CEO. “Throughout the years, Downtown would be completely sold out, and the entire city would feel the impact of the out-of-town visitors. So I certainly hope this is a one-year break and not permanent."

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According to a report prepared for the Memphis in May International Festival that looked at the years 2017-2019, the festival — which hosts the Beale Street Music Festival and the World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest (which in 2024 will move to Tiger Lane, at Liberty Park) — had an average annual economic impact of $132.9 million, with an average of $1.45 million in hotel/motel taxes collected from visitors and tourists each year.

Muck Sticky, the jester-like party-hearty musicmaker who on Oct. 17 will celebrate what he says will be his 7,777th day of wearing pajamas, said that as both a music fan and a professional he, too, is disappointed that the festival is in trouble.

“I grew up in my teenage years going to the Beale Street Music Festival, and when I became an artist it was a dream come true to play there,” said Muck, who made his debut there in 2008 and also performed at the event in 2009, 2013 and 2019.

"It makes me very, very sad that it won't be returning this year," said Muck, who this week released a new streaming single, "Kick the Beat," a party anthem in which he raps alongside Jason Mewes (billing himself as "Jay Mewes"), one half of the "Jay and Silent Bob" team, with Kevin Smith. "I hope they figure out a way to bring it back that makes sense to everybody and that brings back the spirit of music, because that's the most important thing. Memphis is a music city."

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Beale Street Music Festival suspended in 2024: Musicians react