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On Thurs., Nov. 17, local production teams Royal Flush and SMKA offered its first, then second listen of Stankonia Sessions, at — well, Stankonia Studios. As we announced last month, the compilation features artists who performed at this year’s A3C Hip-Hop Festival, and it’s also Grooveshark.com’s first rap-oriented collaboration in its Session series, after the online music community teamed with Gainesville, Fla.’s FEST in 2010.

The speakers blared some of OutKast’s greatest hits, including Aquemini’s “Skew It Up the Bar-B,” as Mike Walbert, A3C artist director and SMKA business manager, served Skyy cranberries from its Crown Royale-sponsored bar — warming up a crowd that would later triple in size, from 15 to more than 50.

“As soon as we got in, it was like a factory in there,” Royal Flush’s Jeron Ward said to listeners as he motioned to his right, toward the recording booths. The young producers behind Royal Flush and SMKA holed themselves up in Stankonia for three days straight, completing some tracks at either 6 or 7 a.m., and opening its doors to horn players and A3C artists like Killer Mike, Rapper Big Pooh and 9th Wonder. (“It was humbling,” Rick Wallkk, the other half of Royal Flush, later said of working with Wonder. “It was like seeing your first child born.”)

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