Photos Courtesy of Rolling Loud | Photo: Amrin Prasad @amrinprasad – Y$
Rolling Loud California Presents A Year Of Memorable Moments
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This year’s Rolling Loud California brought another season of memorable moments from Day 1 with Y$ (Ye x Ty Dolla $ign) performing without mics to Day 4 ending on a high note with its headliners Future & Metro Boomin teasing their new album We Don’t Trust You. The festival not only brought attendees together for a three-day event, but an additional fourth day was added to jump start the weekend on a Thursday night. Frank151 made its way to the festival grounds appreciating the good, the rad and the ‘what the…’ because as the saying goes, “It is what it is.” To expect the best experience when buying a festival ticket, one should always keep in mind that the best way to enjoy any festival or most things in life is by keeping an open mind. One way to do so is coming into any experience with no expectation other than knowing that it will be an experience. That might sound cheesy, but at least it seems that’s what Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign proclaim.
Rolling Loud | Photo: Amrin Prasad @amrinprasad – KANYE WEST
On the first night of Rolling Loud California, Y$ performed an eclectic showcase. Fans expected a traditional live performance but the duo assumably decided that the creativity & art in making an experience was to break the mold of what it means to see lyrical music artists on a concert stage. Rather than perform live with mics in hand belting out lyrics of their songs, Ye and Ty Dolla $ign decided that the magic was more in the making of the artistry rather than in fulfilling the cliché expectation. The two made their performance’s focal point on the on-stage visuals of the smoke & lights and DJ who played their songs rather than putting the spotlight on themselves. In ways it may have disappointed attendees as most anticipated a live lyrical performance, but symbolically in some ways if looked at from a differentiating perspective, metaphorically it was as if the spotlight was not on stage, but together as one with the crowd listening to the songs thus including Ye & Ty Dolla $ign as listeners. The latter may not be the facts, but a cornball interpretation as to why Y$ decided not to perform their songs live, but as a fan, Thursday’s performance is to be taken with a grain of salt. Just like going to see a popular DJ like Diplo or Steve Aoiki, it’s more about the experience than the justification.
Rolling Loud | Ivan Meneses @ai.visuals – NORTH WEST & FRIENDS
At the end of Thursday’s show, one attendee said, “I wasn’t happy with it [the performance]. If it’s a listening party, it’s intimate and should be in a dome or enclosed venue like The Forum…” Night One of Rolling Loud California may have ended with a crestfallen energy in the air, but the following three days lit the fire once again as Rolling Loud and its team prove to continue to be one of the best in producing live events. Here are a few highlights from this year’s Rolling Loud California:
Rolling Loud | JamalEid @jamal.eid
- Night One – Y$ transformed the custom stage to which was more of a living art piece with two massive overarching columns where North West made her debut festival performance bringing a group of friends to perform with her live onstage playing the ever so fun song from the new Vultures album, “Talking / Once Again” and getting the crowd chanting, “Miss Westie.” After her set, the charismatic talent did an interview with 13-year old Jazzy’s World and discussed her upcoming album Elementary School Dropout. Watch the interview HERE – In addition to the night, special guest appearances were made by Quavo, YG, Rich The Kid and Freddie Gibbs.
Rolling Loud | John Cotter @RespectiveCollective – NICKI MINAJRolling Loud | MANDA @RESPECTIVECOLLECTIVE – TYGA & Son
Rolling Loud | MANDA @RESPECTIVECOLLECTIVE – YGRolling Loud | @danielaalaviie – SEXYY RED - Night Two – Nicki Minaj proved that she’s a must-see artist live. See the review of the Queen Sleaze beauty below. Before the pink themed entertaining night, Friday had a multitude of fun performances with a killer performance during the day from Stone Cold Jzzle.
Rolling Loud | John Cotter @RespectiveCollective – NICKI MINAJ
Rolling Loud | 
Rolling Loud | John Cotter @RespectiveCollective – POST MALONE
Rolling Loud | MickeyPierre-Louis @itchyeyephotos-BIG SEAN
Rolling Loud | Ava Lamb @respectivecollective – FLOW MILLI
- Night Three – Post Malone is one of those performers that sounds even more amazing live and proves to be a multifaceted talent having recently been seen as the character Carter in the new Jake Gyllenhal starring movie Road House. The “Sunflower” singer got the crowd singing along and grooving as he spread the good vibes all around.
Rolling Loud | Hunter Kaufman @RespectiveCollective – FUTURE x METRO BOOMIN
Rolling Loud | Rolling Loud | John Cotter @RespectiveCollective – BRYSON TILLER
Rolling Loud | Raul Corona @Slumpboyfilms – DON TOLIVER
- Night Four – Before Future & Metro Boomin ended this year’s event, Chief Keef lit up the day and the entire SoFi Stadium as the crowd cheered professing their love for Sosa. The “Faneto” artist performed many hits including “Yes Sir” and “I Don’t Like,” bringing out Mike WiLL Made-It and Sexyy Red performing “Bow Bow Bow (F My Baby Mama).” Stoop Lauren also was one standout performance earlier in the day.
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Frank151 also had the chance to ask our favorite question, “If you had the opportunity to create a ‘Dream Festival’, who would be your Top 3 headlining artists? Artists can be either dead or alive.” See answers below:
(Producer/Songwriter)
50 cent, Michael Jackson, Whitney houston
@thesystem_ceolee – CEO LEE
(Artist / Founder of ‘That’s A Awful Lot Of Cough Syrup)
“If I had to put on a festival, my headliners would be Young Thug, a 3D performance by Drakeo The Ruler, and my guy O3 Greedo.”
Rolling Loud | Mickey Pierre-Louis @itchyeyephotos – DESTO DUBB
Rolling Loud | Mickey Pierre-Louis @itchyeyephotos – DESTO DUBB
(Artist)
Playboi Carti, Kanye West, Michael Jackson
@stooplauren1 – STOOP LAUREN
(Artist)
Frank Ocean, Teezo Touchdown and Haim
@jzzleonline – STONE COLD JZZLE
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In addition, see Frank151’s rapid fire review with Christine Asmar & sepia photos courtesy of Delante Archey:
Likes:
- “What I love the most was Nicki Minaj’s set. She definitely knew how to close Pink Friday night. Overall great performance. Rapping & singing was on point. Dancing and song list was just right.”
- “The setup of the festival was even better than last year’s. This year, the two smaller stages were closer in the same area than how it was last year. It was really easy to navigate to all stages, so easier and more accommodating.”
From observation:
- “It seems like the majority of the crowd was really young. Many of the kids didn’t seem to really be there for the love of music and some seemed to just start havoc. For example, Thursday night some boy started trouble with a young LGTBQ+ woman and then a full on fight happened. I’m pretty sure you’ll see the footage online due to all the cameras out and no one insisting to stop it other than this one guy…”
- “Throughout everyone’s sets, Friday to Sunday, during the day there would be kids [teens/young adults] running around trashing the place, but when the night would come, it was like the kids were tired and needed a nap and so the night would be more of adults who were appreciating the visuals of Nicki, the voice of Post Malone & his moves and then the energy of Future & Metro [Boomin] together. As I stand there with a smile and looking around, everyone is dancing and singing every verse. Music is a love language we all share.”
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Rolling Loud California is definitely a festival to experience with the best food vendors, an on-site glam parlor called the Bunny Bae Bar, carnival rides & games, skate demos and the most well-known artists while also discovering new ones to follow, two words that describe Rolling Loud are “Good Times.” All in all Rolling Loud brings unforgettable experiences and with that being said, hope to see y’all roll out to the next Rolling Loud.
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Rolling Loud | PRISCILLA RODRIGUEZ @priscillapple
Written by: Bernadette | Credit: Delante Archey & Christine Asmar