7.22.2023
Rolling Loud Miami 2023: Friday Recap
A Fiery Performance From Playboi Carti Caps the First Day of the Year’s Biggest Rap Festival, Also Featuring Ice Spice, Lil Yachty, Anuel AA, and Many More
Reggaeton superstar Anuel AA rocks his first Rolling Loud Miami
(Credit: Rolling Loud / @itchyeyephotos)
THE RECAP:
Rolling Loud Miami is the World’s Largest Hip-Hop Festival, bringing the genre’s best and brightest together for an unbeatable weekend of music. The 2023 edition of the festival brand’s flagship event began with a bang, offering fiery performances by some of the most exciting names in the genre
Playboi Carti closed the night with a fiery performance, filled with guttural screams and wailing guitar solos, thrilling the fans on the GoPuff Stage. Previewing his upcoming “Antagonist Tour,” Carti brought friends along, with his OPIUM label signees Destroy Lonely, Ken Carson, and Homixide Gang performing earlier in the day.
Elsewhere, the fest brought Lil Yachty, who performed songs from his rock album Let’s Start Here and welcomed streamer Kai Cenat to the stage, Polo G stood up for Chicago, Anuel AA became the first reggaeton superstar to perform at a Rolling Loud Festival, and meteoric risers Central Cee and Ice Spice cemented their newfound stardom. Rhymers like Kodak Black and Babyface Ray fed the streets, while Sexyy Red was “out here in Miami,” thrilling the crowd with her X-rated anthems.
Rolling Loud Friday featured a special activation designed to spread awareness about a serious issue facing rap music today. The festival partnered with the Black Music Action Coalition (BMAC) to host a rally with two sitting U.S. congressmen: Jamaal Bowman (D, NY-16) and Hank Johnson (D, GA-04). Congressmen Bowman and Johnson are co-sponsors of the Restore Artistic Protection (RAP) Act, which seeks to protect artists from the wrongful use of their creative expression against them in criminal and civil proceedings. Festival goers had the chance to dialogue directly with the Representatives at BMAC’s on-site activation, to have questions answered, and attain a better understanding of the impact of the pending legislation. Later in the evening, after Ice Spice finished her set, Rolling Loud co-Founder Tariq Cherif joined the two congressmen on the GoPuff Stage for a brief rally, calling on fans to learn about an issue that impacts their favorite rap stars and imploring lawmakers across the nation to protects artists’ rights to free expression.
Check below for photos of some of the most memorable moments from the festival, view a full complement of photos at the Dropbox below, and be sure to follow Rolling Loud on Instagram for even more highlights.
View photos of Rolling Loud Miami 2023 (please credit all photos to Rolling Loud / @photographer):
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/vg0dg7jf47di9aq/AADwPK15k-X1DMNmEOd60TQ2a?dl=0
Tune into the Rolling Loud livestream on Prime Video or on Rolling Loud and Amazon Music‘s Twitch channels
View full performance clips at http://youtube.com/@RollingLoud
Buy Rolling Loud merch: shoprollingloud.com
For all other inquiries, please contact Michelle, Kerry, or Kevin
PLAYBOI CARTI:
King VAMP takes over Friday night, bringing the energy like only he can
(Credit: Rolling Loud / @henryhwu)
(Credit: Rolling Loud / @henryhwu)
ICE SPICE:
Ice Spice was “In Ha Mood,” playing hits like “Princess Diana,” and songs from the newly-released LIKE..? (Deluxe) (Credit: Rolling Loud / @respectivecollective)
LIL YACHTY:
Lil Boat offers a preview of his “The Field Trip Tour,” complete with dancers, songs from his acclaimed album Let’s Start Here, and his hit “Strike (Holster)” (Credit: Rolling Loud / @a_ciggs)
ANUEL AA:
The superstar reggaetonero performs for an enthusiastic Miami crowd
(Credit: Rolling Loud / @itchyeyephotos)
CENTRAL CEE:
Fresh off a freestyle with Drake, the UK’s biggest rap star hits Rolling Loud
(Credit: Rolling Loud / @jessicapadover)
RAE SREMMURD
Sremm4Life: rap’s favorite brother duo play classic hits and highlights from their new album
(Credit: Rolling Loud / @jordankelseyknight)
POLO G:
Chicago’s smooth criminal performs his hits and pays tribute to Juice WRLD during his Sprite Stage set (Credit: Rolling Loud / @jamesbaxter)
BMAC:
Rolling Loud co-Founder Tariq Cherif spoke in a panel with two U.S. congressmen and BMAC about The RAP Act, pending legislation protecting artistic freedom and freedom of speech
Pictured (L to R): Prophet, Founder of BMAC, Hank Johnson (D, GA-04), Rolling Loud Co-Founder Tariq Cherif
(Credit: Rolling Loud / @slumpboyfilms)
Pictured (L to R): Jamaal Bowman (D, NY-16), Tariq Cherif, Hank Johnson, Prophet
(Credit: Rolling Loud / @slumpboyfilms)
SEXYY RED:
She’s out here in Miamiiiii…Big Sexyy shuts it down (Credit: Rolling Loud / @jordankelseyknight )
KEY GLOCK:
PRE5L: Memphis’s favorite son ignites the GoPuff Stage
(Credit: Rolling Loud / @thirdeyecreator)
DESTROY LONELY:
The OPIUM spitter cuts an iconic figure on his main stage performance
(Credit: Rolling Loud / @RespectiveCollective)
TOOSII:
The North Carolina rapper plays your “Favorite Song,” his Top 10 Billboard hit
(Credit: Rolling Loud / @jessicapadover)
BABYFACE RAY:
The Detroit rapper plays songs from his new album Summer’s Mine
(Credit: Rolling Loud / @itchyeyephotos)
REDVEIL:
The Prince George County teenager makes the most of his first Rolling Loud
(Credit: Rolling Loud / @itchyeyephotos)
NARDO WICK:
Nardo tinkles the ivories during his Culture Kings-closing concert (Credit: Rolling Loud / @kadeeem)
LANCEY FOUX:
The British alt-rapper delivers a fierce late afternoon set on the GoPuff Stage
(Credit: Rolling Loud / @HenryHwu)
FRIDAYY:
The 2023 XXL Freshman bares his soul on the Sprite Stage (Credit: Rolling Loud / @jamesbaxter)
HOMIXIDE GANG:
The OPIUM duo sets it off on the Sprite Stage (Credit: Rolling Loud / @jordankelseyknight)
SCENES FROM THE FESTIVAL:
(Credit: Rolling Loud / @kadeeeem)
(Credit: Rolling Loud / @kadeeeem)
(Credit: Rolling Loud / @kill4katia)
ROLLING LOUD WEEK:
Rolling Loud co-Founders Tariq Cherif (left) and Matt Zingler, with Bunny’s Bae Bar Founder Bunny Zingler at Wednesday’s premiere of the Rolling Loud x Forever21 collection at the Aventura Mall
(Credit: Rolling Loud / @slumpboyfilms)
Members of Miami-Dade’s Boys and Girls Club of America during Rolling Loud & DGK’s Skateboard Clinic on Thursday (Credit: Rolling Loud / @Snap_LL)
Local kids learn from Miami HEAT star Udonis Haslem (pictured), along with HEAT forward Haywood Highsmith, and Rolling Loud co-founder Tariq Cherif during a Junior HEAT clinic at Rolling Loud’s basketball court (Credit: Rolling Loud / @slumpboyfilms)
Critical Praise:
“Built from scratch by lifelong music fans Matt Zingler and Tariq Cherif, Rolling Loud’s early strengths were its daring curation and booking, elevating a new generation of artists with exciting live shows and captivating energy. Today, the biggest performers headline the raucous Miami festival, coming from all over the world, often driven solely by their love and trust of Zingler and Cherif.” – Billboard
“Rolling Loud has become the biggest hip-hop festival in the country” – Variety
“From niche hip-hop festival to must-play event for some of the biggest stars in music.” – Pollstar
“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.” – Complex
“Rolling Loud’s annual New York edition is always something special, but this year’s Halloween-weekend extravaganza (not to mention the first post-pandemic) brought seriously spectacular energy to Queens’ Citi Field.” – Highsnobiety
“Rolling Loud is a lifestyle brand. They are more than just the shows. They have built a community with their consumers and are building new channels to maintain continuity” – Forbes
“In four and a half years — beginning small in Miami, and now promoting Coachella-sized events around the country — Rolling Loud has established itself as a playground for the young…This time last year, many of the rappers now drawing crowds of several thousand were barely known.” – The New York Times
The Background:
Founded by 5-time Billboard Hip-Hop Power Players Matt Zingler & Tariq Cherif as a one-day Miami show, Rolling Loud has grown into a global festival phenomenon, putting on shows on both coasts and in multiple countries. Rolling Loud is the premier festival brand in hip-hop, known for its expert curation of wide-ranging lineups that reflect the state of the genre.
The festival returned from a 18-month hiatus with the sold out Rolling Loud Miami 2021, bringing in over 85,000 fans per day to Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, FL. With headliners like Post Malone and A$AP Rocky, Rolling Loud Miami 2021 was a triumphant return for live rap music, and a coming out party for risers and new superstars eager to play in front of a festival crowd. Rolling Loud hosts its biggest event to date with Miami 2022 in July, headlined by Kid Cudi, Kendrick Lamar, and Future, before returning to NY and debuting in Toronto in September 2022.
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