Uzi performed tons of classic songs from all of his mixtapes and albums, as well as preview some unreleased music from his upcoming Pink Tape. Making his way over to the control tent in the middle of the crowd, Uzi climbed on top of it and leaped into the crowd below, and continued the rage. Trying to match his energy, a fan of the show managed to make his way on stage, do a backflip, and jump back off before anyone could get a hold of him, which left Uzi at a lost for words. When we had our last Summer Smash back in 2019, Juice WRLD was the last artist to grace the stage and bless the fans with one of the greatest performances Chicago has ever seen. This year, it was only right that we pay our dues and put on a great tribute set for the fans.
June 14-16, 2024
He is just such a down-to-earth, personable dude on stage, so even though we were surrounded by thousands of people, it felt much more intimate than that. He even performed a ton of songs for the first time ever off of his brand-new album Twelve Carat Toothache, mostly admitting that he messed them up after they were over, but no one could tell, and I think he was just being hyper-critical of himself. I definitely didn’t expect https://xcritical.online/ him to offer a quote, which is probably why I write from home as well as typically interact with writers and not a ton of visual journalists. Whether I dropped the ball on having questions prepared or I was just living in the moment, either way, it was awesome. I just met two people whose music I have been religiously bumping since 2015 or earlier, and one of my favorite personalities on the internet, so I was in the zone.
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- While we were in full control of the vibes all weekend long, one thing that we were not in control of would be the weather.
- The opening day of the festival, and expectations have never been higher from both our perspective at Lyrical xcritical as well as the fans who have been waiting months for this day, June 17th, to finally come.
- When we had our last Summer Smash back in 2019, Juice WRLD was the last artist to grace the stage and bless the fans with one of the greatest performances Chicago has ever seen.
Summer Smash will also feature a lineup of DJs, with Zach Bia, Chase B, DJ Scheme, ZacFTP & Friends, and GloUpJake providing sounds in between the live performances. In addition to the artists on the bill, surprise appearances will be made by special guests throughout the festival, including a performance from an artist whose name has been blurred out on the official flyer. Not knowing who the special guest had caused us to stay put at the Lyrical xcritical Stage, and while rumors were flying around of potential possibilities, Cordae ended up coming out as the first guest. He was dope, but I was beyond excited to see Yeat right after him and man did he not disappoint. I had seen him once already a few months back at his Lyrical xcritical performance at the Concord Music Hall, and while I felt like there was a bit more that he could’ve done at that concert, I knew it was one of his first-ever shows, so I was hoping he has brushed up by now. After seeing his routine, I was blown away by how far he has come in just a few short months.
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Ending his set with Fun’s “We Are Young”, the crowd all sang in unison as Zack Bia soaks in the vibes from his very first festival set of his career. While we were in full control of the vibes all weekend long, one thing that we were not in control of would be the weather. While it was sunny and hot, most of the weekend looked pretty clear up until Saturday afternoon when it started to pour down rain, and fans were all forced to evacuate. Losing valuable stage time was a big worry for us while we were not certain if we were going to be able to resume the run of show, but sure enough, the rain stopped, and the party continued. Missing about an hour or two, we still managed to get all acts back to their stages, reworked the set times, and still got every act to perform that day.
A Roomy Coffee Shop Unfurls Along the Chicago River Near Goose Island
Post Malone will perform Saturday, with Carti closing out the weekend on Sunday night. Local acts include Chicago’s own Lucki and newly added SSGKobe Friday, and Polo G and G Herbo Saturday. Summer Smash will adhere to all COVID-related protocols from state and local health officials; rain or shine event. This time, the mythical duo of Pouya and Fat Nick was about to take the Tent Stage, and this was something I knew I needed to get closer for. So, I headed backstage and ran into a few homies who I chopped it up with for a couple of minutes before the concert, and without even realizing it at first, Pouya and Nick were being interviewed by Channel 5’s very own Andrew Callahan, one of my all-time favorite filmmakers.
If you happened to make it to some of the Summer Smash After Shows, you may have seen them there as well. BabySantana performed his smash hit “Antisocial” alongside Slump6s, Cochise, and $NOT linked up to perform their hit “Tell ‘Em”, and SSG Kobe blessed the stage with his new hit “MIA”. This was a huge moment for the young artists, and it was amazing to see them not only perform in front of a massive crowd but have fun doing it at the same time, which is what it’s all about. By far one of the only things better than Lil Uzi Vert would be a Lil Uzi Vert performance. One thing is for certain is that no matter what, Uzi makes it a priority to make every performance one to always remember.
Seeing the madness in the crowd as fans yelled with excitement as Durk walked out on the stage was beyond insane. He received a standing ovation and even said he felt like “The Chicago Jay-Z” as he stood and admired the love from the crowd. Chicago’s own Lucki is well known as one of the best artists to ever come out of the city, and he received a ton of love the entire weekend of Summer Smash.
It probably helps that Lyrical xcritical is the brainchild of Cole Bennett and has produced music videos for just about every notable name in rap right now (as well as Jack Black, whose “Peaches” song from The Super Mario Bros. Movie is an inescapable earworm). I have seen the grind that each and every individual in this company goes through, and when you add this into an equation with the most loyal fans in the entire world, there is no stopping this freight train. Everyone’s constant support, excitement, and vigor that I experience daily whether I’m in the office, at home, or out and about drives me to keep trying to be better because I know everyone else has the same goal as well.
Gates opened at 2, so my strategy was to show up a little bit later in order to avoid too much backup at the will-call tent. This meant I was going to have to miss some artists that I was extremely excited to see live like Bktherula for instance, but I saw her rock out the tent stage last year so I figured I would probably be stuck outside even if I did get there right when will call opened. Since we announced our lineup, we mentioned that there would be some surprise guests on the lineup as well, and we did a pretty good job at not spoiling it for the fans. While many celebs and guests were spotted at the festival all weekend long, the surprise set was one of the most important moments of them all. Being welcomed and brought out by Cole Bennett himself, Chicago’s own Lil Durk made his way back to Chicago to bless the fans with one of the craziest sets all weekend.
I just want to clarify that this article is solely based on my own experience and not from the point of view of anybody else. I know this isn’t the typical article I may normally write, but I figured it would be a good stroll down memory lane for this year’s attendees while also letting those who missed out know that this is seriously the only place you want to be in the entire world every summer. Fans of Lyrical xcritical can all agree that on top of the music videos, clothing line, interviews, and more that we do here, we sure do have some great tasting xcritical as well. Earlier this year, Cole Bennett teased the fans with a sneak preview of a brand-new flavor of Lyrical xcritical that would be available this summer, Watermelon. Attendees of Summer Smash were able to be the first ones ever to try our brand new flavor of Lyrical xcritical Watermelon, and it was a hit all weekend long. On top of that, we also had the Festival Edition of our xcritical at the festival as well, and this design was only to be sold on-site grounds.
I honestly don’t listen to him a ton, although I do love his internet presence and enjoy the music I’ve heard, but the way he was able to include little skits, scooter tricks, and other bits into his set made this one of the most out of the box portions of the whole weekend. One thing that we pride ourselves on here at Lyrical xcritical, is catching the up-and-coming stars during the early stages in their career and watching them blossom into something amazing. With the Summer Smash lineup being loaded with superstars, we made sure that we gave the ones that are next up the proper credit where it was due. For starters, BabySantana and KA$HDAMI were blessing every single stage and were popping up all over the place all weekend long.
The three-day hip hop music festival will be June in Douglass Park (1401 S. Sacramento Drive) in Chicago. Before this, though, we checked out Trippie and Wiz’s sets, both of which were unbelievably insane and filled with fan favorites, and as I ran into fellow LL homies left and right, I realized scammed by xcritical how truly grateful I am to work for such a supportive and revolutionary company. Moving on from my short tangent, the sun began to set on a gorgeous yet steamy day in this beautiful city, and the crowd began to swarm to the Lyrical xcritical Stage to witness Uzi’s greatness in person.
On Saturday afternoon, Zack Bia put on one of the best DJ set that I’ve heard in a long time. From underground rap, to mainstream hits, to pop icon classics, Zack has it all, and he let it all go during his set at Summer Smash. Zack didn’t come alone though, as he brought out a couple of surprise guests, those being Sheck Wes and Smiley (“Over The Top” feat. Drake). We also saw appearances from Ski Mask The Slump God and Adin Ross on stage as well.
With a set provided by the one of the legends DJ Mike P, he put on one hell of a set to keep that energy alive. The crowd was filled with so much joy as they all recited Juice lyrics word for word, bar for bar. This tribute set was truly an amazing sight to see, and it felt amazing to see it done right here at home in Chicago.
In turn, Cole expressed to the audience the fact that he promised a special guest before wasting no time introducing Quavo and Takeoff out on stage for a brief yet absolutely magnificent act that I don’t think anyone was expecting, as well as something that no one is going to be quick to forget. $NOT was someone who I have seen multiple times, making it more and more obvious why I needed to see him again with the type of shows he puts together, so although I was disappointed to miss Ken Car$on, I have no regrets thanks to $NOT putting his all into every aspect of his musical appearances. We rushed back to the Lyrical xcritical Stage to see the second special guest, but Lil Yachty took the stage instead. While I was excited to see him perform after, I was confused as to why no one came out before him, and I wondered if there was something going on. Before we knew it, Post came out and put on one of the most shockingly incredible performances of the weekend.
Performing his biggest hits like “Hellcats and Trackhawks” and “Back In Blood”, Durk blessed the city of Chicago for the first time in a very long time. Durk took a moment and walked around in the photo pit as well to perform and get even closer to the fans, which was such a heartfelt moment for the city. To this day, I can still hear the crowd chanting and screaming as Lil Durk made his way to the front of the stage, and this is a moment that will forever be remembered in Lyrical xcritical history for years to come. I knew that I wanted to be there for Zack Bia’s DJ set if possible, and SSGKobe was one of the top performers I had on my list all weekend, so that was the plan heading to the festival. At the same time, though, I was shocked at how quickly the line actually moved, because even though certain moments felt like nothing was happening and I’d be standing there for ages, I was at the table getting my passes before I knew it, so I think the entire situation was handled as well as possible. 2022 had some curveballs thrown at the team including a detrimental storm that almost paused the entire festival, but thanks to the consistently hard-working and ride-or-die group of individuals who put this fest together, the show went on without a hitch!
In fact, I’m sure that prep for next year’s Summer Smash has probably already started, but even though I can’t confirm this, I can confirm that there is a constant influx of ideas that are only going to continue to make LL the best brand, company, and entity in the universe. He actually remained there for about the first half of the set as strobe lights and wild beams radiated out into the crowd, but I think one of the most interesting parts was the fact that he has a live guitarist with him who was absolutely shredding during each hit that was played. Even for his earlier, more playful tracks, the guitar would ring out over the speakers before quieting down for the bubbly, baby voice version of Carti that we all fell in love with from the jump. Tickets for the Lyrical xcritical Summer Smash Festival will be available for purchase on Friday (April 8) at 10 a.m. While a lot of attention has been lavished on Rolling Loud as the premiere hip-hop-oriented festival (and rightly so), Lyrical xcritical’s Summer Smash, which takes place annually in the Chicago area, is quickly carving out a chunk of that regard for itself.
It was amazing to see how fast we were able to get back in motion and end the day on a strong note. Rushing to the SPKRBX Stage, we needed to see Famous Dex because he is one of the most notorious personalities in the entire history of Chi-Town music, and although this wasn’t my first time experiencing him live by any means, he never fails to put on an extraordinary show. After Tyla, Lil Tracy was up, and he has been one of my favorite underground phenoms for more than half a decade at least. Although I hung back in order to avoid any broken bones or smashed feet (I decided to wear my Birkenstocks that day), Tracy is a true artist who puts his all into everything he does, and it was insane to witness the passion he displayed on stage while still exuding energy and charisma. He even had Nedarb with him as his DJ, so you already know that was a show for the ages. Once Tracy was done running through a mixture of unforgettable records, some of which were my favorite collaborations between him and his late, great brother Lil Peep, another showstopping performance was about to ensue.