Considering that this festival has no ties to a big corp like Live Nation or Goldenvoice, it was one the most polished and well-run festivals I ever attended outside of normal festival annoyances such as entry and exit. Summer Smash is just one of many festivals to make its return post-pandemic and it did so in a grand way while priming itself as a premier hip-hop experience. It was the perfect ending to a 3-day festival that was already smooth to begin with. Uzi on the other hand absolutely loved it. While he was performing “The Way Life Goes,” one kid hopped on stage and did a backflip, but security was too slow to catch him. Throughout the night Uzi would stop and playfully grab a phone thrown on stage to have the crowd participate in saying a long “hello” to each one. One of his boys tossed hundreds into the crowd and I managed to scoop up a few for whats a lil uzi vert show without a stage dive? 😂 #fyp #summersmash2021 #uzigang #liluzivert #babypluto The show abruptly came to an end, with Durk not really wanting to dip, but being told he had to. The crowd ate up every word and at one point Durk hopped into the pit to interact with the energetic crowd and began shooting a music video. First, he made the crowd sing praises to the late King Von by saying his name before getting into his 2020 cut “Redman” off his mixtape The Voice.

The Voice popped out with his crew, filling out the entire stage, and a few fans hopped over the fence into the pit, where they weren’t supposed to be, to catch the Chicago icon perform his hits. Kanye West? Polo G? To the crowd’s shock, it was Lil Durk. Over the weekend everyone had their guess on who it could be. The tribute was followed by a few surprise guests. On the final day of Summer Smash, there was a Juice Wrld tribute helmed by DJ Carnage on the Lyrical Lemonade stage with fans singing along to his songs and paying their respect. The crowd’s reaction to him foretells a certain future for him that includes packed-out and sold-out shows from dedicated fans (as if he’s not doing that tell my kids this was the national anthem 😌 #fyp #summersmash2021 #lilbaby #4pf #festival Remember, Baby Keem only has a handful of songs out and he’s still on the come up despite his relation to Kendrick Lamar. His set drew out an intense and passionate mob that clung on to his every word and they had no problem opening up a mosh pit to get dirty to some of his most popular cuts like his self-titled anthem “Baby Keem,” latest release “Durag Activity,” and popular banger “Orange Soda,” which really got the everyone amped. On day two, Baby Keem had one of the more stand-out performances. As a plus, a majority of the performances were on time. The staff at the festival were very accommodating and this was one of the best festivals to get around logistically. It provided a level of comfort where I could freely walk around without fighting my way through sweaty bodies and BO. It included a good mix of performers such as the trailblazing underground rap icon Xavier Wulf, Chicago’s own DCG, Queen Key, and C Dot Honcho, as well as all the artists you’d expect at a Lyrical Lemonade event such as Don Toliver, Lil Tecca, Blueface, Dro Kenji, and Warhol.ss.įrom day one, fans swarmed Douglass Park that overstretched miles of land allowing plenty of room to move between the main Lyrical Lemonade Stage, the SPKRBX stage, which was catacorner next to it, and Lenny’s Tent, where the most rambunctious up-and-coming acts came to play.ĭespite the rise of Delta around the world during the festival, much about the event felt as safe as possible, including what appeared to be fewer people at this festival than others and that proof of vaccination and a negative COVID test was a requirement for entry (though those can easily be faked). Though this was my first time attending Summer Smash, I was the most excited about this festival’s lineup in particular. As live shows begin to come back during the pandemic, Cole Bennett’s Lyrical Lemonade annual Summer Smash festival made its return to Chicago’s Douglass Park as a wholly independent-ran event with ASAP Rocky, Lil Baby, and Lil Uzi Vert headlining the event.

Lyrical lemonade x juice wrld