Athens hip hop and indie rock artists unite for free benefit concert. Here's the lineup.

Andrew Shearer, Athens Banner-Herald
Updated ·2 min read
Ishues and James Weidman perform their song “Rap before Rap” during a performance of the Athens Hip Hop Harmonic at the UGA Hugh Hodgson Concert Hall in Athens, Ga., on Thursday, Oct. 20, 2022. Ishues is one of several local artists on the lineup for Fortyfest, a benefit concert scheduled for Sept. 2, 2023.
Ishues and James Weidman perform their song “Rap before Rap” during a performance of the Athens Hip Hop Harmonic at the UGA Hugh Hodgson Concert Hall in Athens, Ga., on Thursday, Oct. 20, 2022. Ishues is one of several local artists on the lineup for Fortyfest, a benefit concert scheduled for Sept. 2, 2023.

When a show called Fortyfest is announced to take place at the 40 Watt Club, some might mistake the event as having something particular to do with the venue, but the names are purely coincidental.

The occasion marks the 40th birthday of Historic Athens Executive Director Tommy Valentine, and the lineup of artists scheduled to perform reflects his long-standing relationship with the local music scene.

More than 17 Athens-based artists are expected to perform at the six-hour concert, which offers free admission to attendees who make a monetary donation of any size to Nuçi's Space, a local nonprofit that has focused on musicians' health and suicide prevention since 2000. The all-star roster of performers at Fortyfest is made up of Valentine's friends, and reaches across multiple genres of music.

From left: Athens hip hop artist P.O. The Priceless 1 and ATHfactor-Liberty Entertainment CEO Montu Miller onstage at The Lab at Ciné on Feb. 18. Miller will co-host and P.O. is one of the scheduled performers at Fortyfest on Sept. 2, 2023.
From left: Athens hip hop artist P.O. The Priceless 1 and ATHfactor-Liberty Entertainment CEO Montu Miller onstage at The Lab at Ciné on Feb. 18. Miller will co-host and P.O. is one of the scheduled performers at Fortyfest on Sept. 2, 2023.

Broadway singer Calvin Orlando Smith will be flying in to co-headline Fortyfest alongside fellow Athens Music Walk of Fame inductee Ishues, R&B singer-songwriter Cassie Chantel, indie pop artist Nicholas Mallis and hazy rocker T. Hardy Morris. The event will be co-hosted by ATHfactor-Liberty Entertainment CEO and Ambassador of Athens Hip Hop Montu Miller and Athens Mayor Kelly Girtz. ATHfactor's DJ Chief Rocka will be on the turntables throughout the night.

The concert will also feature special performances by a cross-section of veteran and recent Athens music acts such as Ant Tha Ripper, Celest Ngeve, Dave Marr, BlackNerdNinja, Kxng Blanco, Life The Griot, Motorhead 2X, Elite Tha Showstoppa, P.O. The Priceless One, Trvy, Unique, Whisper Tha Freak and more. BlackNerdNinja, Kxng Blanco and Trvy all performed at AthFest back in June, and Trvy was the winner of the The 7th Annual Vic Chesnutt Songwriter of the Year Awards back in May.

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Historic Athens Executive Director Tommy Valentine opens the day festivities at Historic Athens headquarters at old Fire Hall number 2 on Prince Avenue at the start of Historic Athens Porchfest in Athens, Ga., on Sunday, Oct. 2, 2022. Valentine's 'Fortyfest' birthday concert will take place on September 2, 2023.
Historic Athens Executive Director Tommy Valentine opens the day festivities at Historic Athens headquarters at old Fire Hall number 2 on Prince Avenue at the start of Historic Athens Porchfest in Athens, Ga., on Sunday, Oct. 2, 2022. Valentine's 'Fortyfest' birthday concert will take place on September 2, 2023.

Prior to his work with Historic Athens and his 2017 run for Athens-Clarke County Commission, Valentine gained a consistent reputation in the pre-social media age as one of the most prominent hip hop promoters in Athens. Having attended Cedar Shoals High School in the late 1990s, Valentine was a first-hand witness and participant in the growing Athens hip hop scene, and was known to be a fierce battle rapper.

"Tommy had legit improv skills but with a very unique style," Ishues told the Banner-Herald. "Tommy used to dress up in different costumes sometimes when he battled, whether being wheeled out in a hand cart dressed like Hannibal Lecter or dressing like one of the characters from 'Revenge of the Nerds.' Tommy has always brought his own flair."

The 40 Watt Club is located at 285 W. Washington St. Doors will open at 6 p.m., and the concert will take place from 7 p.m. to 1 a.m. To get tickets, visit eventbrite.com/e/fortyfest-tommy-valentines-40th-at-the-40-watt-a-nucis-space-benefit-tickets-669393392657.

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Athens hip hop and indie rock artists unite to benefit Nuçi's Space