ComplexCon has finally arrived in Long Beach, Calif., and the welcome we received has been legendary. So much so, that this afternoon at the Long Beach Convention Center—the site of ComplexCon—Mayor Robert Garcia presented Complex with an honorary key to the city.
"Long Beach has a long and great history of hip-hop, music, culture, and art, so it's a great honor to be holding ComplexCon here in the city," Garcia said, before presenting Complex founder Marc Ecko with a key made by a local artist.
Ecko, who was joined onstage by ComplexCon collaborator Takashi Murakami and Complex Chief Content Officer Noah Callahan-Bever, likened the event to a "love and peace rally." After thanking his team, Murakami, and ComplexCon Cultural Director Pharrell, Ecko summed up his feelings about ComplexCon with a rallying cry to the future, before ceding the stage to Metro Boomin for his DJ set.
Long Beach, situated roughly 22 miles south of Downtown Los Angeles, is home to just shy of half a million people. Notable names who can claim roots here include rapper and ComplexCon panelist Vince Staples, actors Cameron Diaz and Nicolas Cage, singer Frank Ocean, the NBA's Russell Westbrook, and, most famously, ComplexCon headliner Snoop Dogg. Snoop's Sunday night set at ComplexCon will mark the first time the rapper has performed in his hometown.
