Photo by David Cabrera
While waiting at the metal detector to enter Day 3 of Rolling Loud NYC, I overheard an attendee on my right complaining about an artist who was performing on a stage. He was telling his friend he didn’t know how anyone could listen to the artist’s style of rap and called it “just noise.”
Then I looked to my left and saw another attendee excitedly nodding his head to the same artist’s set, looking ready to do a full sprint over to the stage once they got in. The moment encapsulated the beauty of festivals like Rolling Loud that have something for every hip-hop head.
This was (somehow) my first major festival experience, so I was excited about the prospect of having access to young rappers inspired by the “SoundCloud era,” street favorites like Lil Durk and Moneybagg Yo, and commercial behemoths like J. Cole and Travis Scott. Whether you like spitters, genre-bending crooners, or want to mosh or embrace your inner Bobby Shmurda to some drill, there’s an artist who supplied it on the lineup. Until Elon Musk involuntarily envelops society into a physical cloud universe, Rolling Loud will be the closest experience to actually living inside your streaming app. But unfortunately, the weekend wasn’t just about the music.
Trippie Redd at Rolling Loud New York 2021. Photo by David Cabrera
Alongside all the buzzing out of town artists were local heroes like 50 Cent, Bobby Shmurda, and Fetty Wap. But their appearances were marred by decidedly unfestive elements: Fetty was arrested by federal agents on drug charges, 50 brought out DaBaby during his set (after homophobic comments at Rolling Loud Miami) and a notable amount of NYPD officers lurked around Bobby Shmurda’s performance. All three moments spoke to larger trends of rap’s criminalization and the conflictedness marginalized groups must feel at rap shows.
Fetty’s Thursday arrest was yet another instance of an artist running into trouble with the police at or around a Rolling Loud event. EST Gee and Fredo Bang were arrested earlier this year in Miami and Kodak Black was arrested in 2019. At the inaugural Rolling Loud NYC, the NYPD removed 5 New York rappers from the bill because they surmised their presence would “would lead to more violence.” Though Rolling Loud representatives tell Complex that they received no such warnings this time around, it’s clear that federal agencies and police departments are intentionally looking to festivals as opportunities to target artists.
It’s easy to make loose connections and side-eye the actual festival, but there’s no way to know where they stand without a candid talk with organizers. They’re likely stuck between a rock and a hard place, having to be cooperative with municipalities in order to hold the show, but also not wanting artists to be harassed and surveilled. For now, this feels like an issue that’s more about the power of the NYPD and the general criminalization of rap than anything that can be actually linked to Rolling Loud organizers. It sucks that their name is attached to this ugly trend, though.
Fivio Foreign backstage at Rolling Loud New York 2021. Photo by David Cabrera
There was social media speculation that police were behind the other missed sets, such as headliners Lil Durk and Chief Keef, but Rolling Loud representatives tell Complex that “a small number of artists weren’t able to perform due to delayed flights or not arriving to the venue with sufficient time to get them on stage.” The NYPD imposed a strict 10:00 p.m. curfew, which kept organizers on a firm schedule. They said they “did the utmost to allow all artists to perform within their allotted set times” and “held the set times open in the hopes that artists running late could perform at least part of their set,” but in some cases they weren’t able to line it up and “the festival wasn’t able to alert fans that the artist’s set wouldn’t happen.”
Beyond all the drama were plenty of enjoyable sets. Headliners Travis Scott and J. Cole each had ornate set designs and gave nearly an hour of their hits to fans who were reciting every word. This year’s Rolling Loud festival in New York was yet another affirmation of rap being in a great place musically. Anywhere where quaking 808s and drumless soul loops can ring off in one place is a good place to be. And anyone still talking about what rap is lacking would be served to look at the bill of 140+ booked acts and do some digging on their favorite DSP.
There are things to be said about performances and elements of the festival that could have been better. But at the end of the day, we were all there for the music, so the artists who performed for their fans deserve to be the prevailing story. People just want to let their hair down and have fun where they can, and thousands of fans got the chance to do that for three days. If they’re anything like us, they’re resting their legs while taking in the reverie of the weekend’s highs, which we discuss in more detail below. Along with fellow Complex Music staff writer Jessica McKinney, I broke down my favorite (and least favorite) parts of Rolling Loud New York 2021. —Andre Gee
Best performance?
Andre: There’s no way I could pick just one set out of dozens. Cole, Travis, Lil Uzi Vert, and Roddy Ricch each had really strong sets which exemplified why they’re so beloved (and why Uzi might legitimately be an alien). Rico Nasty and Kenny Mason’s sets were full of energy and good back-and-forths with the crowd. Joey Badass looked out for his Day 1s by playing several deep cuts. ASAP Ferg had a live band, was really energetic, and, true to his Harlem roots, made sure to plug his merch booth at the end of his set (which I don’t recall anyone else doing). I also loved Wale bringing out Q-Tip and essentially doing a “Poke It Out/Vibrant Thing” mash-up.
Jessica: Out of some of the younger acts, Rico Nasty and Kenny Mason were really fun to watch. Rico has a contagious stage presence and showed why she has such a cult following. Kenny Mason also had great energy, and his breath control while rapping with no backing track was very impressive. 50 Cent’s headlining set was also fun to watch. He showed love to some of the younger New York artists like A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie and ASAP Rocky, but also ran through some of his biggest hits. And he performed his entire set with a live band, which was a nice touch.
Biggest surprise?
Andre: Seeing Lil Nas X pop out and do “Industry Baby” with Jack Harlow. I was wondering which artists would have surprise guests. This performance was one of the best moments of Day 1, exemplifying that they’re not just social media hype—they’re stars and are capable of commanding the stage as such.
Jessica: Jack Harlow brought out Lil Nas X to perform their No. 1 hit, “Industry Baby.” This was a particularly nice and surprising moment because Lil Nas X has previously stated that he doesn’t necessarily feel accepted by the rap community, but the crowd seemed very pumped to see him. At least for that moment, everyone seemed to be very accepting and welcoming.
Fan experience?
Andre: I think the most prevailing memory from the weekend will be seeing fans flock to stages once they heard a song they liked, especially from surprise guests. It was crazy to see the way people turned and ran from the other stages when the “Lord Pretty Flacko Jodye 2” synths played during 50 Cent’s set. The “...is that?” and “oh shit!” factor of those moments were some great rushes. There’s seeing people tweet about liking someone, and there’s seeing hundreds of people do a full sprint to see an artist on stage.
Jessica: The crowd towards the front of each stage was pretty engaged, and there were a lot of mosh pits. With that being said, walking around the festival, the energy didn’t seem as lively as what you may see at Rolling Loud Miami. It was also difficult to hear the music at the Audiomack stage during parts of the festival, because the music coming from the Deleon stage was so overpowering and it drowned out the sound. This was especially annoying during major sets from artists like Rick Ross and Wale.
Worst part?
Andre: I spoke about the cops in the intro, so I want to take this space to speak about DaBaby. Rolling Loud Miami was ground zero for DaBaby’s senseless, crass comments about gay people. He popped right back up at the next Rolling Loud to an excited crowd who just wanted to “Bop.” This isn’t necessarily on the organizers—who likely didn’t know he was set to take the stage and took 50’s performance off the stream when he came on—but it’s about the environment we’re all in.
50 Cent recently did an interview where he said that DaBaby wouldn’t be “canceled.” And then he made sure of it by inviting him to the same festival where the incident happened. The penalty for his comments didn’t even last the full festival season. The full-circle nature of it all makes one feel hopeless about the hip-hop world becoming fully inclusive.
When DaBaby got banned from other festivals, fans pointed to booked artists who had also mistreated marginalized groups, including those with hateful comments and abuse against women. The discussion further delineated the links between capitalism and patriarchy for me.
The things that artists get away with saying and doing reflect who matters and who doesn’t to the masses. In order to have a big money festival, you need major artists with large swathes of fans, and these artists maintain vast fanbases because the masses’ solidarity with the groups they offend only goes so far. If assailing women and the LGBTQ community actually got people de-platformed, then a lot of artists wouldn’t be going platinum, and there’d be less acts to headline large festivals (and protect their controversial friends). A festival void of artists who’ve committed violence against marginalized groups would end up much smaller in scale, and might not even be lucrative enough for promoters to want to put on. The links are obvious, and it’s on almost all of us.
Jessica: Bobby Shmurda was listed as a “special guest” on the Rolling Loud flyer, but he wasn’t treated as such. Bobby’s set was cut short just before he performed “Hot Nigga,” and the organizers cut his mic and music. It didn’t go over well with Bobby (you could see him yelling and stomping on stage) or the crowd. I heard one girl yell, “I waited seven years for this,” and some people booed. The no-shows throughout the weekend were a big disappointment. Fetty Wap, Morray, Lil Durk, Stove God Cooks, and Duke Deuce all missed their sets, and the organizers failed to inform the fans that they were no longer coming, so many of us stood there waiting.
Favorite discovery?
Andre: I want to hear more of CEO Trayle’s music after his set. And I also saw TiaCorine for the first time. She had great energy, some good music, and an actual hypeman. I’m looking forward to seeing where she goes musically.
Jessica: North Carolina’s TiaCorine had a great set on the Punx stage. Although she is a newer artist, her energy on stage was magnetic. She commanded that stage throughout her entire performance, dancing around and interacting with her fans. Songs like “Lotto” and “Luigi” were particularly catchy.
Overall thoughts?
Andre: As someone who has been to a woefully low amount of concerts, it was great to check off so much of my bucket list of performers in just three days. I liked that the festival had a Punx stage, which was pretty much comprised of up-and-coming artists during the afternoon/early evening. It became the discovery stage for me. But also, when it comes to young artists, I have to say that the backing vocals industrial complex has to end. Or at the least, artists have to do a better job of reciting their lyrics along with the vocals and not just let the audio play. There were way too many instances of artists leaning on their backing vocals. There were a lot of moments where I liked an artist’s music but not necessarily their performance. I need someone to implore young artists that a good live show will keep you booked forever. Overall though, I enjoyed the experience. It was a strong, diverse set of acts, and a fun atmosphere around other hip-hop heads.
Jessica: I wasn’t blown away by Rolling Loud New York. There were some things that could be improved, like the sound systems. No-shows should also be announced at some point during the event, so people aren’t left to stand around and wait for performances that will never happen. It wasn’t a terrible festival experience, and I wouldn’t be against returning sometime in the future, but from the looks of it, I think Rolling Loud Miami may be the better festival out of the two.
Lil Uzi Vert Rolling Loud New York 2021. Photo by David Cabrera