Photo: Rolling Loud / @melodi
Rolling Loud put on yet another unforgettable concert experience this past weekend — shutting down Austin, Texas for their SXSW showcase. Returning to the festival for the first time since 2019, the event was evidently a legendary showing for the rising stars of hip-hop — putting a main focus on spotlighting up-and-coming artists and local Texas heroes alike.
Partnering with RapTV, the coveted music brands transformed the famed Stubb’s Waller Creek Amphitheater into a mini-festival grounds, touting a stacked lineup of the 40-plus artists featuring Don Toliver, Dro Kenji, SSGKobe, Babyface Ray, redveil, JELEEL!, Mike Dimes, Sheck Wes, Ken Car$on, Yung Kayo, Digital Nas and more. Star DJs OG Chase B, DJ Scheme, and DJ Five Venoms kept the crowd going in between sets, as SXSW proved to be a pure celebration of hip-hop’s fast-rising talent in every regard — all making fond impressions on the event’s sold-out crowd.
While SXSW incited thrills for those in attendance, this is just the beginning for Rolling Loud this year, as founder and CEO Tariq Cherif is planning something special for Rolling Loud’s flagship event in Miami this summer. Rolling Loud Miami 2022 is set to be held from July 22-24 at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida — boasting one of the best festival lineups hip-hop has seen in recent years, headlined by Kanye West, Kendrick Lamar and Future.
“I want to thank RapTV, Stubb’s, and all the artists and fans for making our return to SXSW so lit. The people of Austin kept the energy high all night, both nights, helping make our showcase the hottest of SXSW 2022. This is just the beginning for Rolling Loud this year…Miami is coming soon, and it’ll be like nothing you’ve ever seen.”
Rolling Loud co-founder Tariq Cherif, per press release
As we stood amongst the crowd taking in performances from some OGM favorites, check out our day-by-day coverage of SXSW in Austin below!
Photos courtesy of Rolling Loud (@IzzyNuzzoPhoto / @fiftyclicks / @fambofilms / @smithdurogene / @melodi / @j.baura)
Day 3-4 (Rolling Loud)
To cap off our stay in Austin at SXSW, we hit Rolling Loud’s Showcase at Stubb’s BBQ on Friday and Saturday with headliners and Cactus Jack label-mates Don Toliver, OG Chase B and Sheck Wes all set to excite listeners as soon as they hit the stage. Along with Babyface Ray, Dro Kenji, Ken Car$on, SSGKobe and artists that stayed in town from other SXSW shows like Doeman, redveil, Trae Tha Truth, Yung Kayo, Mike Dimes and Duke Deuce.
The first day of the showcase featured a loaded lineup, where acts like TikTok icon JELEEL!! and Dro Kenji revved up the energy early on. Jumping, flipping and showcasing his Hulk-like strength and athleticism, JELEEL! was perhaps the most memorable of new wave performances — flexing both his biceps and golden pipes. Later, fiery acts like Duke Deuce and Ken Car$on preceded the headliners with ferocious performances.
To close out a long Friday, Chase B and Sheck Wes unleashed nearly an hour of Cactus Jack cuts with Chase B enlisting the help of Travis Scott hits and Sheck Jesus channeling his MudBoy era.
On Saturday, SSGKobe played his hits like “thrax” and “MIA” and DJ Scheme had the crowd raging to XXXTENTACION and Juice WRLD bangers as fans warmed up to live the “Life of a Don.” By the time it was time for Don Toliver to hit the stage, the venue had reached capacity and was bursting at the seams with excitement.
After a raucous climax of a set from Donny T, Rolling Loud co-founder Tariq Cherif took the stage to tease future Rolling Loud extended festivals in the state of Texas, which was welcomed with applause by the attendees.
Overall, Rolling Loud’s power to gather hip-hop’s hottest will always shine, even when the city of Austin was the place to be all week for other music showcases.
Day 2 (Thursday)
For our second day of SXSW coverage, we visited the 300 Entertainment “SPARTA SXSW 2022” Showcase at Vaquero Taquero.
Early on, a stunning set from redveil saw him play some of his most vital hits throughout his young career, including “5500” and “Weight.” As he looks forward to “veil szn” with an upcoming album, the climax of his performance came when he played his most recent promotional single “Diving Board.”
To cap off the night, new wave phenoms TyFontaine and Yung Kayo inserted tons of energy into the intimate crowd. Coming off Feb. 4 debut project DFTK, Kayo played some of its most notable songs in “YEET” with Yeat and “everything new” with Gunna. TyFontaine, who now prefers to go by Michi, delivered a brief showing full of his most vibrant tracks like “Pristine” from his breakout 2021 album Ascension.
Day 1 (Wednesday)
Kicking off our SXSW coverage on March 16, we hit up the Vibe Magazine “Next” Showcase at Revival Coffee in Austin, where burgeoning artists like Texans Doeman and Mike Dimes, as well as Atlanta native Deante’ Hitchcock rocked the stage. These three helped loosen up the crowd for the eventual headliner and Houston legend Trae Tha Truth.
Later in the night, we hit up the “Welcome to tha South” Showcase, where hip-hop’s finest artists with cult followings in the South controlled the crowd. Houston icon Sauce Walka‘s short set helped to get the attendees prepared to get crunk with headliner Duke Deuce, as he played fan favorites like “Crunk Ain’t Dead” and newly released “Falling Off” featuring Rico Nasty.
