The 6th Annual Arizona Hip Hop Festival was, by all accounts and measurements, a huge success and for a lot of us “It’s hard to come down from the magic that was @azhiphopfest this past weekend.” Those are the words of Ana Bustamonte. The wife and Queen of Justus shared her thoughts on the Arizona Hip Hop Festival in a well written Facebook post yesterday. She‘s right too, the weekend was a magical one for sure. She cites the photograph of Desert Baby and Justus as a signature highlight from the 2-day event, “The expression on my husbands face standing next to @the_desert_baby is why we do what we do.“ She is a true fan of Hip Hop and does her best to let the artists in the community take center stage.
She rarely makes public statements regarding what she does for RTU so when she does it tends to make people listen. “All I can do is support and help build and elevate behind the scenes as @justus_rtu is the true visionary of The Arizona Hip Hop Festival“, she also gave some insight into the madness that goes on in their world leading up to the festival every year, “It’s worth every moment of stress, exhaustion, and anxiety that fills the air for months in our household when we are up into the wee hours making sure the execution of this event is seamless.“ Its seem like the consensus is that the festival line-ups, vendors, sponsors, activities, food and overall layout were the absolute best they’ve ever been. Ana Bustamonte revels in what the success of the festival means for artists in Arizona. “It’s about the artists, it’s about the community that is already there but just needs a place to be brought together to celebrate. Celebrate their craft as a lyricist, DJ, producer, engineer, writer, clothing designer, painter, artisan, dancer, chef, and entrepreneur.”
She wants everyone in the Arizona Hip Hop community to flourish. With over 15,000 people attending a 2 day festival I would definitely say that the Queen did her part and then some. She dodges the subliminal pat on the back to herself and closes her thoughts out by thanking everyone that helped make the festival such a success this year. “Hats off to everyone who came together to celebrate themselves and help elevate others by showing love to their craft. Every time we come together like this an energetic shift ripples through the city making the importance of the culture stronger and more bonded.” That‘s why they endure the stress and sleepless night. That’s why they risk finances and reputations. They do it for the love of the community. A lot of people have put their two cents in but few have made as much sense as The Queen, Ana Bustamonte.
by: Steven Sandage