Photo by Priscilla Rodriguez @ priscillapple / Rolling Loud
One of the world’s largest and most culturally-defining hip-hop festivals returned to Inglewood this weekend — and it did not disappoint. Rolling Loud occupied Hollywood Park on March 15-16, 2025 to celebrate its 10th year, and the festival cemented its legacy with performances from headliners A$AP Rocky and Playboi Carti, special guest Peso Pluma, and many more artists that define the genre.
With a lineup that made me giggle with joy, incredulity from Carti dropping, and the giddy of a perfect weekend weather prediction, all the conditions were right for my first Rolling Loud. From awe the first moments I stepped into the grounds to the euphoria setting in while walking out, it’s hard to praise how unforgettable Rolling Loud’s 10th anniversary was. Only after does it really feel like history.
skaiwater
Coincidentally, the LA Marathon was on the same day as Rolling Loud Day 2. I would’ve been there, but alas, I’ll consider the walk from the Uber drop off point to the Hollywood Park grounds as a fair equivalent. After a disorientating nap in the Uber, long treks to pick up press credentials and my friends tickets (shoutout Mudit for guiding us!), and having a golf cart drive at us, we finally made it in. From there we dashed to skaiwater’s set, making it just in time to maneuver to the front after crowds dispersed.
skaiwater’s sound is kinetic, a maximalist mix of rage rap, futuristic R&B, and even jersey club influences — it’s brimming with distorted basslines and fluctuating vocal pitches, bringing the best kind of frenzied and electrifying energy. Their set was just that, opening with the title track of their 2024 album #gigi, before performing fan favorites like “pop,” and “bleach,” and “shut up and drive” that had the crowd jumping with the pounding drums and blown out bass. skaiwater’s works are some of my favorite listens, surfing through soundscapes and genres like its nothing, percolating through at a blurring pace — it’s always a dynamic and exhilarating experience — even better enjoyed live. They rounded out the performance with “rain” before jumping into the ecstatic crowd. If I had view unobstructed by smushed and flailing limbs, I’d love to tell you where they disappeared off to, but for now, I’ll be listening to #gigi on repeat and waiting for what redefining sound skaiwater brings next.
Che
After taking a water break and a tour around the grounds, we headed back to the D’ussé Stage to catch Che’s performance. On the way there, I heard Mudit say, “Wow, that’s exactly what I imagine a Che fan to look like,” and the closer we got through the gravel the more it rang true. The 18 year-old artist from Atlanta has quickly amassed a cult following with his boundary-pushing sound and spotless production. Chants of “Che! Che! Che!” and one of the largest mosh pits I saw that day opened up before he even came on with the first track “I Rot, I Rot.” off his sophomore album Sayso Says. The high energy tracks were accompanied by psychedelic graphics (even a laser cat at one point?), and Che rolled out hit after hit with songs like “sol,” “Miley Cyrus,” and “Pizza Time.” Bunny motifs from his album were everywhere throughout the audience and stage, with Che even pulling on a fan’s bunny head mask before throwing it back in the crowd.
Sayso Says has sounds reminiscent of Crystal Castles first albums, a “Meltdown” vocaloid sample on “Get Naked” (my favorite track!) — Che’s work reaches and pulls from depths of the internet only one with minimum 8 hours of screen time can appreciate. His new works follow this same ingenuity, at least as far as I could hear over the audience’s excitement upon hearing his unreleased track “MDMA” off upcoming project, Rest in Bass. It’s his first Rolling Loud, but Che works the crowd with an exhilarating energy and uninhibited glee. One of his graphics boasted the statement, “If You’re Alive,” and I don’t think anything is more fitting. There’s a brain numbing exuberance to his sound, overwhelming waves of textures and noise — it’s a dizzying high — and even smushed, punched in the head, and hair ripped out, I don’t think I’ve ever felt the intoxicating buzz of adolescence more. Before I left, I heard someone in the crowd say, “Yeah, he’s the future of the underground,” and I couldn’t help but agree.
Ken Carson
The trip to the main stage must have taken another 5 miles, but at least it was accompanied by the sounds of Soulja Boy from the Zig-Zag stage. I can’t say I’ve listened to him since I was a kid, but he was definitely an uniting force with everyone singing along even on the walk. The energy was a little less harmonious once we made it to the Gopuff stage with all the animosity between GA and the VIP sections (what did they just hurl over?), but nevertheless, I was excited as we waited for Ken to come out.
We were immediately bombarded with fire, smoke, flashing lights, and larger than life sounds as he came out screaming the opening lines to “ss” off his 2023 album, A Great Chaos. Blown out, flashing visuals, blaring horns, and reverberating drums — I felt like the ground was moving as I jumped along with the crowd to tracks like “i need you,” “leather jacket,” and “mewtwo.” Carson has become a cornerstone of the new era of rage-rap and punk rock influence, and his dedicated fan base shows it. While he was mostly shrouded behind the smoke for most of the set, the crowd didn’t mind, singing along through the 40 minute set. Once his performance ended and I could finally catch my breath, I caught planes overhead departing from LAX and wondered how the enormous stage and the sea of tiny swarming phone lights all looked from above, the grandeur and chaos of it all.
Carti
The sun had set, the crowd began piling in, and we waited eagerly as the stage crew created Carti’s set of flames, lofted platforms, and a halved truck? (maybe there is no symbolism to find there). The wait seemed to drag on ages in the chilly wind, only accompanied by repetitive Shein ads and the packets of water unceremoniously lobbed into the crowd. Everyone is restless and bored of lights dimming and turning back on, and there are whispers that curfew might cut Carti’s set short. Abruptly, the enormous 808s on “POP OUT” sound, the ground seems to start moving again, and the crowd rushes forward to the long awaited appearance of Carti and to hear his equally long-awaited album, MUSIC.
I had listened to MUSIC almost incredulously that earlier Friday, remembering going to sleep thinking he truly might not drop at all. The 30 track album soundtracked my entire day as I rewound over and over, carefully listening for the numerous features from Travis Scott, Young Thug, Skepta, Lil Uzi Vert, and more. The project is expansive and chaotic, pivoting from sounds, styles, and genres, and it’s easy to get lost defining what the core of the album is. I can’t say I liked all of the tracks on first listen, but I found a new appreciation for even those during his set.
Everybody has been waiting for this moment, 5 years in the making, and Carti knows it. The crowd is electric as he plays song after song off MUSIC, and the fever reaches new heights everytime he plays an older track like “Stop Breathing” off his last album, Whole Lotta Red. However, around 30 minutes in the music shuts off and we are repeatedly corralled to “take 3 steps back” by streamer Kai Cenat? (is that who I think that is?), much to the audiences’ dismay. Eventually, Matt Zingler, CEO of Rolling Loud, strides out and reassures us “Carti will have his full set.” Phew, okay. Show’s on.
Screams ensue as the opening notes of “RATHER LIE” finally play, a clear favorite off the album, and Carti can be heard telling everybody to come out. Around 30 people materialize on the already full stage, including those from OPIUM, Young Dabo, NAV, Skepta, Mitch Modes, many more I unfortunately couldn’t place — and wait, is that the Weeknd? I couldn’t help but giggle over to my friend throughout the song, happy our prediction was right, and the joy continued as they followed up with “Timeless.” Everyone stayed on stage as Carti played songs like “FINE SHIT” and “I SEEEEEE YOU BABY BOI” to the eager crowd, before following up with hit track in collaboration with Travis Scott, “FE!N.”
Lights eventually dim and the crowd cheers, praying that the almost hour and a half set isn’t over just yet. Is there more? Can it get better? “Location” off his self-titled album cues, and oh, it does. As the nostalgic 2017 track plays, the energy is unreal; you can feel it in the crowd. He finally dropped. We are hearing him perform it live. He’s made the tracks we’ve been listening to for almost a decade. It all sets in.
Carti rides this high, playing songs from “Type Shit” to “OLYMPIAN” — including a brief pause where Carti can be heard telling the DJ, “F*ck da budget! Drop the song! Play the f*cking song!” — and by the time it’s over, the crowd is reveling in it. New music after years, a nearly 2 hours performance; we know how unforgettable this is.
He finally announces the next song is the last one and wishes everyone a safe trip home, and when Long Time (Intro) off Die Lit starts, the crowd roars and it’s transcendent. As he chants, “I ain’t feel like this in a long time / Just to feel like this, it took a long time,” everyone can feel the finality of it. This has been a long time coming and he knows that; he reiterates that he appreciates that. This Rolling Loud, this album — MUSIC was worth it.
