Fat Joe, Rick Ross, Keyshia Cole and Jeremih Deliver Classics Despite Delays in Little Elm

When we entered the inaugural Tacos and Beats Festival at Little Elm Beach on Saturday afternoon, Dallas rapper Big Homie Sho was performing his song “Nah FR” on the main stage to a crowd mostly sitting in their own lawn chairs. The summer-to-fall transition is different in Texas than in other parts of the country, and yesterday was far from crisp fall weather. It was hot, almost 90 degrees and uncomfortable for anyone having to stand for long periods of time without shade.

Walk through the park and pass a couple of vendors to find a sign that points you to the Beach Stage, where half of the local artists were scheduled to perform. The view of the lakefront invited us to see artists perform there and support smaller local talent who rarely get booked on these kinds of hip-hop and R&B lineups.

By the time we got there, Alex Irish was warming up and about to perform for a handful of people. These early time slots are harder when concertgoers have no covered tent or misting fans to gather and stay cool. Once she got going and did a few of her songs, the sound kept cutting out, which led her to be vocally frustrated that festival organizers would treat their local talent this way. She ended her set short.

Pierce Washington, Devy Stonez, Jai Humble, Scuttino, Lil Eaarl and Jayson Lyric were expected to perform on the Beach Stage. When we checked on it later, the stage was being shut down due to “technical difficulties.” If you didn’t look at the festival map or event schedule, you probably had no idea there was a Beach Stage, as most people were in VIP and gathering along the guardrails to get a good spot for the main performers. Now, these artists had to try to squeeze onto the Main Stage lineup, which was already running behind. This was an issue at Tacos and Beats, an unfortunate blemish to an otherwise strong turnout to see Jeremih, Fat Joe, Rick Ross and Keyshia Cole.

On the Main Stage, after sets by promising R&B group 2BYG out of Fort Worth and Tejano Queen Forever, Cure for Paranoia now had six minutes to perform. Instead of hurrying through a setlist, he did two songs and introduced himself as Cameron McCloud, the meaning behind Cure for Paranoia and revealed that since starting to post a new freestyle daily for the whole year, he went from 12,000 followers to over 180,000 on Instagram.

During a changeover, the co-founders of Tacos and Beats, Lucas Payne and Jason Williams, wanted to say thank you to the crowd for coming. “This is our second time trying to do something north of 635,” Payne said. “We tried to bring a vibe north of 635.”

From Sept. 15 to Oct. 15 is National Hispanic Heritage Month, and Tacos and Beats falls right in the sweet spot for the celebration. Not to be confused with the Tacos and Tequila Festival, the Social House Entertainment-produced multi-city festival that does theirs in Fort Worth, this is a different team that brought you last year’s Tacos and Tequila Frisco at Riders Field. Same concept, different name. It’s meant to combine the soul of urban music culture with the region’s best tacos and global bites for a nostalgia-packed throwback hip-hop celebration.

Payne thanked his staff and the people who put this all together, bringing up Mayor Curtis J. Cornelious for collaborating to bring Tacos and Beats to Little Elm.

After they were done, Dorrough was up next. But his set was also shorter. Instead, we got snippets of “Beat Up the Block,” “Get Big” and “Ice Cream Paint Job.” Dorrough was professional about it, wishing that next time he could rock with us longer. Again, you feel for our local hip-hop artists who are relegated to less than headliner status and deserve to get a good performance, too.

Before Jeremih, we took another lap around the park. K104-FM radio DJs mentioned a mechanical bull, which we didn’t see on the grounds. But there was a lowrider showcase, parked near the entrance, with some having their hoods up. Once we got back into VIP for Jeremih, there was a DJ set meant to hype up the crowd. We get that there’s a difference between the emerging acts and popular headliners, but this DJ slot could’ve been shortened for the artists who didn’t perform on the Beach Stage to get some time in. It could’ve been a Dallas hip-hop cypher with all of them up there, trading verses of their songs. Anything.

Jeremih was the first act to really get the crowd in the mood for the party that was to come. He showed why his songs remain in the bedroom and get played in strip clubs, bringing out three dancers for “Planez” and “Birthday Sex.” He has a lethal pen, performing hooks and songs he wrote, such as Rae Sremmurd’s “Throw Sum Mo” and French Montana and Swae Lee’s “Unforgettable.”

For every great moment at Tacos and Beats, delays kept things from flowing smoothly. Fat Joe ran late, so the hosts had to kill time. When the Bronx rapper finally arrived, the night peaked, and he had the best set of the night. He had nothing but classics, opening with “New York” and his verse on “We Takin’ Over.” “Give me 10 minutes,” he said, explaining he just had Hutchins BBQ and the brisket he ate was settling in.

Joey Crack kept going with the classics. Big Pun’s “Twinz.” “Make It Rain,” where he did almost the full song. He stopped mid-set to comment that Texans have it made with lower taxes, T-shirt and shorts weather year-round and access to delicious brisket. He couldn’t be more right.

The classics kept coming. “What’s Luv?” blended into a mix of party-starting songs and paying homage to 2Pac, Biggie and Fatman Scoop with their songs. He had us leaning back to “Lean Back” before ending on “All the Way Up.” He thanked us for making his dreams come true, to be able to still rap because he “comes from the soil.” He told a story about his “little brother” not being ready after wanting to be put in the game, which led to “All I Do Is Win.” A woman next to us gasped when she thought he was bringing out DJ Khaled.

Rick Ross also ran a little late. Fans could be worried he might’ve been a no-show after learning he was booked in Las Vegas the same night. But once we saw the Luc Belaire champagne bottles set on stage, we knew Rozay was coming. He transformed the park into a Miami nightclub, mixing his early hits with the ass-shaking bangers like “Pop That.” He gave us a “huh,” his adlib and signature grunt.

When Ross gets in his luxurious rap bag, it’s top-tier. “Diced Pineapples” and “Aston Martin Music,” which he did almost in full, were his best moments on stage.

After Lex Luger’s beat rode out for Ross to do his biggest single “B.M.F.,” he dedicated his performance of “Stay Schemin'” to all the people who lost someone early in their lives. “Stay Schemin'” is a deep cut from his Rich Forever mixtape with Ross at his absolute meanest that rarely gets performed live. The fact that he did a whole verse was just for fans in Little Elm.

Immediately after Ross, Keyshia Cole went on with little wait time. She just wrapped up her The Way It Is 20th Anniversary Tour, giving Texas fans another date if they missed her in Fort Worth. Her set was a shortened version of that. While Cole remained composed throughout her performance, you could tell she was unhappy. She needed the volume up because she couldn’t hear herself on stage. She had a hard time hearing us singing. And she was upset that they were cutting her show early at 9:45 p.m.

It was unfortunate for Keyshia fans not to hear more of her songs, but she did her best to close out the night. She did soaring renditions of “Enough of Love,” “I Remember” and “Trust.” There were dancers on stage to accompany her when she did Lil’ Kim’s dance moves from “Let It Go.” There was narration and a vignette to tell the Keyshia Cole story, but it felt muddled with her rushing through her set.

When she did “Love,” her vocal flourishes carried us through as we all sang in union. She asked if she could do one more, “Trust and Believe,” which was the extra song we needed. At 9:45 p.m., fireworks shot into the air, indicating the festival was over.

In a year where tours from the likes of Lil Wayne, Nelly and T-Pain have made the ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s babies come out to concerts again, Tacos and Beats is an affordable option for people looking to see their favorites age gracefully and perform at the highest level. With logistical issues and late arrivals, there are some things to be worked on. The potential is there to have a festival outside of Deep Ellum, Downtown Dallas, or Fair Park, if they can improve on some mistakes and build on their successes.