HNHH hit up Hot 97's Summer Jam, an event not-to-be missed in the Tri-State area. It rained on and off throughout the day of the event on June 3rd, which put a damper on my seat but not my mood. The Jam started with the pre-show, aka the Festival Village, where Peter Rosenberg made his now-infamous remarks about Nicki Minaj's single “Starships.” Honestly, I was more pumped for the pre-show than the mainstage. The Festival Village featured the likes of Pusha T, Big K.R.I.T., Kendrick Lamar, ASAP Rocky, ScHoolboy Q, Azealia Banks among others. There was also a rap battle going on inbetween sets which kept attendees entertained, as well as an array of boothes, including one for autograph signings by various artists who took the stage. Read my pretty lengthy and detailed recap of the entire Summer Jam 2012 below.
Festival Village
Sadly, I didn't get to see the entire Festival Village show because of various duties of being a press attendee, but what I did see I enjoyed. Big K.R.I.T. performed his banger “Country Shit” as well as his single “I Got This,” and he also brought out friend and fellow rapper Smoke DZA. Azealia Banks performed alongside her crazy back-up dancers, and did her break-out single “212.” Kendrick Lamar did some older favourites off O.D., like “P&P” but also some new ish. Fellow Black Hippy ScHoolboy Q hit the stage after K. Dot and performed with his mandatory bucket hat on. He did the smooth “Bet I Got Sum Weed.” ASAP Rocky could be seen wherever he went with a large following behind him, both fans and entourage. He took the stage just as we had to peace though, but I could tell the crowd had gotten bigger and was definitely more pumped for him.
We made our way inside the MetLife Stadium, where it had begun pouring, so everyone had taken cover and was waiting for the rain to subside before trying to get to their seats. We had some chilling time before the acts hit the mainstage, but we weren't kept waiting too long, Maino hit the stage at around 6:30, and he brought ASAP Rocky & Swizz Beatz out for a rendition of Swizz Beatz' “Street Knock” which got the show started correct.
Following Maino, we got Slaughterhouse, who weren't originally scheduled to perform, but Peter Rosenberg & Twitter somehow finagled them into coming. They did a good job, claiming to be the best rappers ever, and challenging anyone who thought otherwise. They did “Hammer Dance” among others. Tyga hit the stage next. His set was one of my favorites, he was swagged out and he did his thing, even with the whole Lil Wayne tweet (supposedly Tyga had already hit the stage by that time, so we still got one YMCMB member at Summer Jam). He had a great energy and the crowd was feeling it. He performed his mandatory hits like “Make It Nasty,” “The Motto (Remix),” and “Rack City.”
Next up was Waka Flocka. He came out screaming “Brick Squad” and I wouldnt expect any less. He is known for his energy, and he definitely brought it. Waka interacted with the crowd the most out of all the perfomers I'd say, and seeing as it's huge stadium, that's a difficult thing to do, but it's extremely important. There were a lot of gunshots during his set and “BLAOW BLAOW,” and the crowd loved it. Waka went into the crowd literally, I lost sight of him for a bit but I could (obviously) hear him. He did “Grove St. Party” as well as his single “Flexin” before getting into “Hard In The Paint,” which was definitely the highlight of his set. He finished off with his single “I Don't Really Care,” for which I was expecting to see Trey Songz come out, since he's on the hook and what not, but nope. Even though a lot of the time it just sounds like Waka's yelling, he knows how to get a crowd riled up.
After Waka Flocka we got a set from Wale (he came back later with the rest of MMG). He started off strong though with the infectious “Bait.” He continued with “Tats On My Arm.” Like Waka, Wale is really good at interacting with the crowd, I've seen it before and this time was no different. He went off the stage to get closer to the crowd when he performed “Chain Music.” He did all his catchy bangers before getting into smooth jams like “Lotus Flower Bomb,” with which he finished up his set.
There
was a little break before we got the next performer, J. Cole. He
started off with “Mr. Nice Watch” which I hadn't heard in awhile
so that was dope. He then did his single “Nobody's Perfect,” and
he was joined by a live band which made his set just that much
better. He did fan favourites like “Workout” and “In The
Morning” before getting into his hit single “Can't Get Enough”
with Trey Songz. However, Trey Songz' appearance was forgettable, and
even after the show I was like “wait a minute...was Trey Songz
actually there?”
Before the next
artist, we got that
little clip of President Obama saying he signs Young Jeezy to
Michelle Obama, which was a sure indicator that it'd be Jeezy up
next. Jeezy had one of the longer sets, but he also had the crowd the
least hyped up out of all the performers. He did “Put On” and
“Trap Star (She Likes It)” but it seemed like the crowd wasn't
feeling Jeezy's energy, they were pretty mellow. Even when Jeezy
asked “New York City to make some mufuckin noise” hardly any
noise was made. He then went through the list of boros and he got a
similar response. But he wasn't satisifed! He kept asking the crowd
to make noise, he just didn't seem to get that the crowd didn't want
to make noise...and after awhile, it just got annoying. His set
wasn't over yet though, for “Beat Da Pussy Up,” Jeezy brought out
fellow ATLien T.I., which was probably the best part of his set. The
crowd had a resurgence of energy as he went into his single “Leave
You Alone” for which Ne-Yo joined him on stage. “Super Freak"
was another one that got the crowd jumping up, especially because 2
Chainz came out during the song. I feel like people were more excited
for 2 Chainz than Jeezy.
Next up was a rapper from the D, Big Sean! “I Don't Like” started playing and the crowd was hyped as Sean came on stage and started his verse immediately. Big Sean got more out the crowd when he asked, "is brooklyn in this bitch?" then Jeezy did. The cuuuutest part of the whole Summer Jam was probably when Big Sean brought out his mom on stage. After his mama peaced the stage, he took off his shirt, and put on a robe to get in the mood for “Marvin Gaye & Chardonnay.” He proceeded to go into a track that would get “sixty thousand mufuckers on their feet.” The D.J. made a few attempts to guess which song Big Sean was referring too, before finally landing on “Mercy.” And that was the right choice! Pusha T came out for his verse, as well as 2 Chainz, and I'd say sixty thousand mufuckers were definitely on their feet. No Kanye though. After that we got some 2 Chainz “Riot” and then Big Sean got everyone clapping for “Ass.” At this point, when Nicki Minaj didn't come out for “Ass” we were kinda disappointed and also confused as to why she wouldn't come out...all makes sense now though.
After Big Sean's set, Angie Martinez introduced a surprise guest, whch was none other than Nas. He did “Nasty,” an also “The Don” before bringing out another special guest, Lauryn Hill. Together they had a great set, performing classics like, "Ready Or Not” and “If I Ruled The World.”
The show wasn't over yet though, French Montana kept the momentum going with the remix to “Slight Work” with Wale & Big Sean joining him on stage, and another suprise guest, Mase. Then French went into “Shot Caller” and the stage was getting crowded with entourage. The stage was about to get more packed as the infamous “m-m-m-m-aybach music” played over and over again, everyone was waiting on MMG to come out. First came Meek Mill, shouting the huge record “I'm A Boss,” as Rick Ross joined him. The crowd was amped up with Meek's infectious energy, as Ricky Rozay went into his new single which features Meek, “So Sophisticated.” The MMG set was the closer for the night, and they went through obligatory hits like “House Party” and “Burn” as well as some older Rick Ross like “Everyday Hustlin'.” Oh yeah, almost forgot, Raekwon also came out during the MMG set also. It was definitely a party on stage and in the crowd by the time MMG peaced out, and that was the end of Hot 97's Summer Jam 2012. Memorable and eventful, just like it is every year. HNHH will be updated throughout this week with video footage of rappers' sets and some dope photos so keep checking back for that!