Tyra: I was surprised to see indifferent responses even to artists who were Chicago natives. But hey, these kids are still on summer break. Paul knew he had to school the crowd-I just wish more people wanted to learn. And I appreciated that Paul knew the Lyrical Lemonade crowd wasn’t largely his-he had his DJ spin Cardi B‘s “Bickenhead” before performing Project Pat’s “Chicken Head,” demonstrating how current tracks still riff on material from the Three 6 family. I got to see Germ, a young Atlanta rapper who’s basically a Three 6 Mafia LARPer, perform on the small stage an hour or two before Three 6 founder DJ Paul ran through their catalog of hits. DJ Paul of Three 6 Mafia Credit: Matt Harvey But the truth is far more complex than that, and seeing it play out at this festival was fascinating. We tend to talk about hip-hop in eras or waves, and whichever is the “latest” gets talked about as if it’s the only thing that exists. Leor: Wow, Matt, you found other people my age? It’s funny, the fest really did show the division of fan bases within hip-hop, which isn’t something that gets a lot of oxygen in the press. It was perhaps the most segmented audience I’ve seen at a festival.
Folks who’d come for, say, Lil Skies, often looked about as lost when Joey Badass hit the stage as 30-year-olds like Leor were at Fat Nick’s set. I too felt out of place at first, but in talking to other people there, I learned that most people were “out of place” at some point in the day, in the sense that most everyone was there to see their artist.
Matt: I’m not sure what exactly I expected from the festival, but I do know that the lineup looked like a list of artists who’ve started arguments about whether they belong on an XXL freshman list. It was an interesting mix, to say the least. But I will say there was a good balance between these lesser-known rappers and more popular folks like Famous Dex and Joey Badass. There were a lot of artists whose names didn’t ring a bell, like Germ, Lil Mosey, and Felly (whose set I enjoyed a lot more than I thought I would). Tyra: Though I’m a bit closer in age to the 16-year-old attendees, I also felt a bit out of place, which I expected after looking at the lineup. What did y’all expect to see at the fest? I realize I sound like a cop, but despite being the day’s designated fogey, I did enjoy myself enough to endure the Fat Nicks of the day. The average attendee looked about 16, had no doubt scrawled the lyrics to XXXTentacion’s “Look at Me” in a school notebook, and somehow had the energy to jump around in the heat while Miami schlub Fat Nick pretended to be a rapper. Leor: As very probably the oldest person to voluntarily attend the Lyrical Lemonade Summer Smash (I’m 32), I feel obligated to start this conversation by pointing out how disconnected I felt from the crowd. They had this conversation about the festival the next day. Three Reader writers-Leor Galil, Matt Harvey, and Tyra Triche-were curious enough about it to spend another warm weekend day in another public park, watching live music behind fences. Chicago had more than enough festivals already, but the Summer Smash justified its existence with a distinctive 25-act bill that leaned heavily on young rappers who’ve made their names on the Internet, including Joey Badass, Trippie Redd, Lil Skies, and Vic Mensa. Bennett and the site’s editor, Elliot Montanez, planned the event in the spring and announced it last month. Get your UnGala tickets: A museum takeover and art party celebrating the Reader's 50ish anniversary CloseĬole Bennett founded local hip-hop blog Lyrical Lemonade almost five years ago, and on Sunday it hosted its first outdoor festival, the Summer Smash, in Douglas Park.
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