This week in Atlanta, something rare and genuinely significant happened at the intersection of hip-hop and electronic music. From December 15–18, hip-hop legend T-Pain hosted Bass Bootcamp, a multi-day creative session centered on learning and exploring bass music production. Inviting in what some jokingly referred to as the “Dubstep Avengers,” T-Pain invited a group of bass heavyweights to learn, collaborate, and build in real time.
From watching him throw down at Lost Lands this year to planning future festival sets, including a b2b with Shaq, aka DJ Diesel, at Electric Forest 2026, it became clear that T-Pain’s interest in bass music was very real.
After three straight days of creating, experimenting, laughing, and building something that felt bigger than one genre, T-Pain closed out Bass Bootcamp with a sold out show for his bass DJ set at the District Atlanta. The days leading up to the final event were streamed on Twitch, and here are some special moments and takeaways from the week.
The Moments That Made the Magic
Dubstep icons Ivory, Kompany, NGHTMRE, Peekaboo, and Samplifire pulled up to the studio on day one. Later in the week, Grabbitz, Sullivan King, and San Holo joined the session, expanding the sonic range even further. The crew was locked in, but having the best time. From throwing high knees to riddim to everyone crowding around the speakers to hear demos, the vibe was playful yet focused.
The group kept us entertained, like when T-pain gifted Kompany a Rolex or when T-Pain nearly ran out of hard drive space downloading Auto-Tune. San Holo, missing a guitar pick, used his hotel key to play until Sullivan King handed him one. Bass Bootcamp looked like a cross between working on a group project with your homies with a big boy’s sleepover.
Even with all the silliness, there were some very wholesome moments at Bass Bootcamp, including when Samplifire had a full “wow” moment auto-tuning T-Pain’s voice, the OG himself or when T-Pain had a “proud dad moment” when his son joined in on the fun and shared a bass project he was working on.
It was special to watch how knowledge and advice flowed freely, with Kompany and Peekaboo offering guidance to T-Pain about sound design, while T-Pain soaked it all in and seemed to be genuinely engaging with a community he’s grown to love. That love became undeniable during the week’s emotional moments. T-Pain sat in his feels listening back to a track he made with San Holo, visibly moved by the collaboration.
The Twitch chatroom was so lively too, with compliments, jokes, and good vibes all around. Avant even sent an email to T-Pain with 50 free sub samples to the group to play with.
Fueling the marathon sessions were T-Pain’s Nappy Boy Dranks — energy shots, keeping the focus, creativity, and flow alive.
From Studio to Stage
That spirit carried into the week’s final chapter: a sold-out T-Pain bass set at District Atlanta, marking his first headline bass show. For a hip-hop legend into a new sound and still sell out speaks volumes.
During the show, T-Pain shared his appreciation for the EDM and bass community, delivering a message that perfectly captured the spirit of the entire week:
It don’t matter who you are, it don’t matter what you do. I’m telling you right now – if you’re new to the bass community, if this is your first bass show – I’m telling you, it’s all love here.”
What Bass Bootcamp Set in Motion
Bass Bootcamp proved that this music and community is not about hierarchy, but rather, exchange and pure love for the craft. This week showed how the bass scene is willing to welcome one of music’s most influential voices with open arms.
T-Pain and the talented bass artists coming together was maybe not on our bingo card, but it helped solidify a future where hip-hop and bass music don’t just coexist, but can thrive together. And judging by the energy in Atlanta this week, this is only the beginning.
In a time when music culture often feels divided by scenes and algorithms, Bass Bootcamp proved that the future is built in rooms where everyone feels welcome.