This weekend Miami was the center of possibly one of the most important festivals in hip hop, as the city hosted the Rolling Loud event. Artists from all across the genre came together in what feels like rap’s NBA All Star game to perform for fans of every end of the never ending spectrum that is hip hop. We had artists like Joey Badass and Kendrick Lamar at the same spot as “mumble” rappers like Smokepurpp and Lil Pump (two of Miami’s very own), and superstars like Lil Uzi Vert alongside lesser known artists like Jazz Cartier.
It’s rare that we have fans of newer generations be unified with what the community often refers to as the “old heads” and the beauty of Rolling Loud is that it gets rid of that divide. The festival can be interpreted as an evolution of the genre as it lines up “real” rappers with “mumble” rappers. Artists are there simply to put on a show, no bold statements were made, no beefs were started, just memorable moments. Moments like when Lil Uzi Vert nearly jumped to his death when he trusted a pit of his fans to catch him from a 20-foot drop, or when Offset from Migos drove a drop top Masserati through a huge crowd of fans and when Travis Scott gave away one of his most prized rings to a fan for knowing all the lyrics to “3500”.
Carti and ASAP Rocky possibly created one of the craziest crowds when they performed Carti’s hit “Magnolia” from his recently released self-titled mixtape, and just the mere presence of XXXTentacion was enough for fans to start four different mosh pits during the same set. There really wasn’t a dull moment at this year’s Rolling Loud.
Not So Complex 