What Went Down at Day N Vegas 19'
Buckle up, all. Here’s an insider scoop to what went down at the first ever Day N Vegas Festival.
We all know Vegas for its insane nightlife, but thanks to Day N Vegas, the city’s now known for having one of the best Hip-Hop music festivals in town. I guess you can no longer say what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas since everyone will be talking about this past weekend.
Day N Vegas surpassed many expectations — from the lineup, the location, to the one too many mosh pits. This was every Hip-Hop fanatic’s dream, and many were skeptical and believed the lineup was too good to be true. Aside from Travis Scott canceling last minute, the team behind the festival (Goldenvoice) were able to pull off an amazing string of last-minute replacements with Future x Metro Boomin, Playboi Carti, Trippie Redd, Shoreline Mafia, and Young Thug. Their performances made up for Travis Scott’s absence, and I can say I ain’t too mad about it.
When I walked into Day N Vegas, I was just as unsure as most of the attendees were. I didn’t know what to expect since there was no other previous run to fall back on even if Goldenvoice was the one running the show. I’ve attended other festivals that Goldenvoice puts on like Coachella and Splash House, but nothing like this.
Before attending Day N Vegas I was but I wasn’t too much of a Hip-Hop enthusiast,(I know, hold your comments), but after attending, I came out one (the power of live music). My go-to music genres lean toward R&B, EDM, Indie rock and Spanish music.
Who would’ve thought I’d be right now downloading the entire catalogs of J.Cole, Tyler, The Creator, Hippie Sabotage, Brockhampton and Denzel Curry on Spotify? Definitely not me. For those of you who didn’t attend, here are some of the rundowns and my top five performers who hit every mark. (Disclaimer,: this is my own personal opinion.)
I was actually shocked after J.Cole’s performance. Let me tell you — that man knows how to put on a show, he goes all in. He went above and beyond for his performance. I’ve listened to his music before, but a live experience gave me a deeper sense of his craft, his authentic character and made me appreciate him as an artist. He officially announced his next album in his performance too that got the crowd even more riled up, “The Fall Off” planned for 2020.
To Hippie Sabotage’s Jeff and Kevin — I just want to say that I really dug the vibe and energy you guys gave out. Your performance was one of my favorites. And no, I’m not just saying this because I got the chance to interview you guys. I genuinely love and appreciate how you incorporated Indie and EDM with Hip-Hop to make your own unique sound. The crowd was definitely feeling it, I was feeling it and I wish your set time performance was a bit longer. Your engagement with the crowd and your energy on stage left me wanting more.
For those of you who don’t or do know who Hippie Sabotage is, they are two brothers who’ve produced music together from an early age. They are Sacramento natives and big Hip-Hop junkies and boast 4 million Spotify monthly listeners….not bad right?.
During my interview, I asked who they were most excited about seeing here at Day N Vegas, given that they live for Hip-Hop and their love for Young Dolph. Jeff and Kevin mentioned they were stoked on seeing Kendrick (as was everyone) and were a bit bummed since they wanted to see YBN Cordae, but he was on during their scheduled set time.
I also asked if they had any plans to tour Australia next year, and Jeff responded with, “stay tuned, we should be putting dates out soon.” (that was a semi Whatslively exclusive if you didn’t notice). So stay tuned — you never know if they’ll be in your area and you don’t want to miss out. Make sure to have that Whatslively App handy.
Tyler, The Creator, you’re such a character, a performer and simply unapologetic. To be honest, I wasn’t a super-fan until now. Everything from your performance, to you bringing up a fan who looked identical to you — wig and everything (we actually got a photo of him below) — to you performing my new favorite song, Earfquake, and of course, your sarcastic narcissistic attitude who we all seem to love — made your set more than just a music show, but a show. It was just a bummer that the photographers weren’t able to go on the pit and take photos of you. Overall though, I loved and lived for your performance. If you didn’t know Tyler is hitting up Australia for exclusive festival dates this summer.
Kendrick Lamar — or should I say Jack Sparrow or Schoolboy Q, his impersonator? After all, amidst suspicions among us Day N Vegas attendees that it wasn’t actually Kendrick performing — SchoolBoy Q did tweet saying it was him not Kendrick on stage, and we all know if it’s on Twitter, it must be true.
I’ve seen Kendrick live before, and his performances have never disappointed. His performance was exactly what I expected and more even with the hype. I guess standing in place for three hours was worth it at the end to see who is undeniably the best rapper right now. Kendrick performed my favorite songs; Humble, DNA, XXX. FEAT. U2., Goosebumps and he also brought out SIR, which was a big plus.
Aside from the artists I mentioned, I also got the chance to see 6lack, Denzel Curry, Jay Rock, Schoolboy Q, Rich The Kid, Lil Baby, DaBaby, Miguel, 21 Savage, Lil Uzi Vert, Lil Tecca, Trippie Red, Migos, Playboi Carti, Future X Metro Boomin, Summer Walker, Nav, and Brockhampton — we definitely were lucky weren’t we? Due to all these performances, I left Day N Vegas a Hip-Hop fanatic and I can generally say experiencing these artists' live makes one appreciate their music even more.
One little criticism was the music in between acts got a little reptitive, there’s only so much “Go Loko” by YG one can listen to in a day. However, that’s an easy problem to solve. All in all the festival was a hit, I hope they continue this new tradition. The fact that Goldenvoice pulled this off and got all these star-studded Hip-Hop artists to perform was more than any festival goer could ever ask for. The whole purpose of attending music festivals is to experience the best music lineup and have a blast while doing so. Day N Vegas definitely did exactly that.
Till next year….
