All hip-hop heads who frequent the Observatory more than they do classrooms and cathedrals can finally see their once-invincible dreams of a rap festival in the area realized with this weekend’s Day N Night Festival. Several times before the show was announced, I’d hit my editor asking why and how in the fuck we’ve yet to have something so monumental endure in our neck of the woods to which he could only Kanye shrug. But now, in our woods, or “forested mountains” more specifically, we finally have a huddle for the trap fiends, other lovers of hood-sounding shit and the general eclectic music fans who couldn’t resist a bill featuring the unlikely bundling of YG, Bryson Tiller and Flume. While the bill is as marvelous uptop as Donald Trump is goddamn deplorable, the anchors of this show will be the non-headliners, whose hunger and rawness are going to lead to swaths of free-flowing energy, enhancing substances and new fans captivated by their first encounter with these precocious figures on the flooded bill. Below are some of the rising standouts:
Seshollowaterboyz
Act Most Likely to Incite Riot at the fest: These guys. When asking Eddy Baker what their set might be like, he simply replied “It’s gonna be fucking chaos in that bitch…”. He also promises new music from all members during their Sunday set. The hyper-deranged quartet will take no prisoners when they hit the festival stage. Most SHWB search results return concert footage of the all-star team jumping into crowds like Mike Trout into outfield walls. Whether it’s Team Sesh’s Bones raging looking like a rapping Serj Tankian or Healthy Boyz’ Eddy Baker managing to smoke out the whole scenery, their cohort’s set is sure to be a spectacle which could very likely evoke the most fan energy at the entire festival.
Rich the Kid
QC the label has such juice at this point that it’s no surprise the label will be represented by three different artists at the outdoor festival. Among the most lyrically-apt on the label and the festival bill is Rich the Kid, who’ll take the stage as he’s done in OC several times before but not always to the merited acclaim. Rich bolsters his catalog seemingly weekly with new gas and his enlisting of the game’s young bulls – such as iLoveMakonnen, Young Thug, and Lil Yachty- on tracks that should surely make him a bit more familiar to the Day N Nite crowd. It’d be no surprise if the “Goin Crazy” artist did just that and won over OC fans once and for all. Rich!
Famous Dex
Spaced-out, dopey vocal tones separate Famous Dex from virtually everyone on the bill -perhaps only Lil Yachty compares. Dating back to his breakout hit “Drip from my Walk” and mixtape “Dexter’s Laboratory,” Dex and his loopy adlib have pummeled their way onto our radar, leading to the Chicago artist signing to listmate Rich the Kid’s Rich Forever record label. On top of Dex’s pen skills, the “Plug Callin” emcee is just as nice with the dance moves, which are gonna make for top-ranking visuals, especially when combined with his trap flavored Pokemon Go trainer aesthetic. (Insert Dex’s unintelligible adlib here)
Allan Kingdom
Best known for his contributions to Kanye’s “All Day”, Allan Kingdom has made a name for himself in the cloud rap scene that put him on a tour with Denzel Curry. Fresh off his excursion across the US and Canada -his birthplace, Kingdom will bring a host of sounds to Day N Nite ranging from his Island-tinged crooning to his crackly, Frank Ocean-like harmonizing. Since his collab with Kanye, Kingdom’s range has expanded to a feature (“You Know”) on Flume’s new album. As far as non-headliners and even some of the names in large print, Kingdom has shown the most potential to transcend into the global sonic sphere. Look for the makings of a global icon during his time at the al fresco event.
Jose Guapo
Though he's been making waves since 2010 as a member of the Rich Kidz, known for their ATL-anthem “Patna Dem,”Jose Guapo turned the heat up foreal with the 2015 release of “Run It Up.” Since then, the Quality Control Music artist has found footing on his features with labelmates Migos and Rich the Kid, who, together, have tightened their grip on the trap-inclined youth. His brutal, braggadocious honesty, accentuated on tracks produced by ATL duo Nard & B, should materialize into a dread-shaking, captivating set that could very likely result in a few piped-up special guests performances. Guapo, bitch!
I listen to music. I write about it. I like hot sauce on my chicken.