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Over the weekend, hip-hop fans enjoyed three days of musical festivities at NYC’s Rolling Loud Festival. Performers included Travis Scott, 50 Cent, J. Cole, and more. Unfortunately, I couldn’t make it to enjoy the festival fun in person, but in the age of the internet, YouTube is all you need.
My top 3 favorite performances:
Photo by Danny Howe on Unsplash
Jack HarlowOct. 28th
Jack started his performance with “Tyler Herro,” track 11 from his debut studio album, That’s What They All say. Before the beat dropped, the crowd had already begun to bop along to the catchy flute instrumental. It was hard to hear him initially due to a minor mic technicality, but he continued and turned the crowd up.
If you’ve ever watched any of Jack Harlows’ festival performances, then you know that he never leaves out “Industry Baby.” I mean, why wouldn’t he, being that it’s his first number one. But this time, instead of rapping his verse and continuing, he switched it up a bit and brought out the man himself, Lil Nas X. The crowd went insane as Nas ran out rapping along to the lyrics.
Lastly, Jack closed out his performance with “What’s Poppin.”
2. J.Cole
Oct. 29th
J.Cole opened his set with “95 South” from his sixth studio album, The Off-Season. Cole came out swinging with immense energy as the crowd bopped, matching his passion. Not only was the energy right, but to top it all off, Cole performed his entire set in the pouring rain. It couldn’t have been more perfect.
To represent Dreamville, Cole brought out Lute during his “Under the Sun” performance. If you don’t know, “Under the Sun” is a song from Dreamville’s third compilation album, Revenge of the Dreamers. It includes every artist from the Dreamville roster. Cole later brought J.I.D and Bas out to the stage. It was an exciting Dreamville experience. I thought it was nice of him to allow other artists from the collective to shine.
The most magical part of the entire Cole experience had to be the “No Role Modelz” performance. Everyone pointed to the sky shouting, “First things first, rest in peace Uncle Phil,” as the rain poured down on the crowd.
As the show ended, Cole let “Hunger on Hillside” play in the background. The audience sang each word as the spotlight dimmed and Cole made his way off the stage.
3. Latto
Oct. 30th
You know I couldn’t leave the girls out! Latto walked on stage performing “No Hook,” a song released in 2020 from her studio album Queen of Da Souf.
She then performed her song “Muwop,” featuring Gucci Mane. Unfortunately, Gucci Mane didn’t make an appearance, but an appearance wasn’t needed. Latto did a great job performing it on her own. She had a few dancers come out and perform alongside her in red bodysuits while she joined in synchronous choreography.
To close out her show, she performed “B*tch From Da Souf.” Although Latto was already known for her rapping skills on Lifetime’s The Rap Game, she gained most of her popularity after dropping “B*tch From Da Souf” in 2019.
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