The Festival Village stage was a special event for HNHH, as we actually served as a sponsor, and had our own tent at the show. So not only did we get to take in all the performances, but also had Kid Ink, A$AP Ferg, and Action Bronson stop by the tent for autographs and interviews.
The first performer of the day started off with some of the most brutal honesty we heard on-stage. "Y'all might not know me now, but you're going to know me im 2 years!". We're still not sure of the performers name, but check back in 2015!
Next up was the only non-New York artist of the day, and one can't help but think his billing was a little early in favor of the local acts. “I wanted to show you some West Coast love,” said California's Kid Ink, before busting into "Bom Bom". Ink definitely received a lot of love in return, definitely giving the crowd a much needed energy boost. Shortly after his performance, Ink stopped by the HNHH station, with a mob of fans rushing the tent to meet the tatted-up rapper, who was more than happy to take pictures and sign autographs for his rabid fanbase.
Following Ink was Troy Ave, who was definitely ready to party, and seemed like he may have been doing so for quite a while even before hitting the stage. Wielding a bottle of Crystal, with his BSB crew drinking Hennessey behind him, Troy was definitely enjoying himself onstage, and it translated well to the crowd (especially due to the fact that Troy actually made a point of passing out Solo cups to the crowd before filling them generously with Ciroc). Almost every rapper that graced the stage instructed the crowd to "Turn Up!" but Troy was the only one who gave them the means to do so. Performing bangers like "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" and "Shame," didn't hurt either.
Bodega Bamz was next up, bringing a distictly latin flavor to his performance, with Dominican and Puerto Rican flags wavingm and possibly rap's first live bongo player. Bamz performed hard-hitting tracks like "Trap Lords," and "P.A.P.I.," and at one point instructed the audience to chant the name of New York legends Biggie Smalls, and Big Pun.
Vinny Cha$e came out to show some love for Harlem, performing memorable tracks like "Work It", but anticipation was already building for Joey Bada$$' Summer Jam debut. Joey came out with some big mixtape favorites like "Snakes" and "Survival Tactics", and even brought out the white bathrobe and bucket hat dawning Smoke DZA, before passing the torch to the Kushed God.
DZA delivered a typically smoke-out set, but had no lack of energy either, bringing a lot of his lovbeable stoner personality to his stage banter. "I'm a professional pothead," he declared before busting into the smoker's anthem "Roll Up, Pour Up".
A$AP Ferg showed up to the HNHH tent around this time, but we were a little more prepared for the excited fans this time around, which turned out to be an even bigger showing than the mob that Kid Ink brought in. Ferg was exceptionally friendly towards his fans, asking them all how they were doing, and happily signing the asses of some female supporters.
Ferg's set definitely brought the energy level to an all-time high, livening up the crowd with street anthems like "I Fucked Your Bitch" and "Work." The craziest moment came when the A$AP mob rapper jumped into some acapella lines from his upcoming Trap Lord mixtape, the most memorable being a line detailing a sexual encounter with G.O.O.D. Music's Teyana Taylor.
Action Bronson stopped by the tent before taking the stage, to a slightly less unruly crowd (which was mainly a timing issue), but was definitely in good spirits, interacting playfully with fans by recording custom Vines for them and replying to one supporter's declaration that he was a great chef with "How the fuck would you know!".
Bronsolino took the stage to Whitney Houston's "I Wanna Dance with Somebody," dragging his comically small suitcase behind him before asking the crowd “You don’t like Whitney Houston?”, then stated what he had told HNHH's Ashlee Ray earlier saying “I’m gonna rap for you then go home.”
Outside of his loveable personality, Action made sure to showcase his rap skills throughout his set. Dropping breathless fan favorites like "Pouches Of Tuna", and "Live from Kissena Blvd" and making good use of the stage .By the time Action was on, the main event had already begun, but anyone who stuck around to catch his set was surely happy to miss the first act of the main stage.
Take a look at our photos of the tent signings and performances in the gallery above, and thanks to everyone who came out to our station!