Every year, some of the biggest stars in rap and R&B gather in one place. Over the weekend that place was Los Angeles for the 2024 Rolling Loud LA Festival. With four big-name headliners and dozens of beloved supporting acts, everybody got a taste of something they love during the festival. While everyone goes to music festivals for different artists and different reasons, these were some of the best sets of the weekend that brought both energy and theatricality to the festival stage.
Summer Walker
For a lot of artists, the spectacle is as much a part of the show as anything else. That was definitely the case right out of the gate for Summer's Saturday Night performance at the GoPuff stage. With an impressive live band and array of backup dancers she made her presence known instantly upon arrival. But unlike some of the weekend's other most theatrical performances, there was actually substance underneath the flash.
Throughout her set, Walker brushed through numerous fan favorites as well as some of her newest material. Throughout, Walker's vocals were stunning, consistently soaring above the live instrumentation. Her performance was strong enough to reach the dramatic peaks of some of her most dramatic sonic moments and it made the set an absolute delight.
Future And Metro Boomin
Rolling Loud has a reputation for virality. That often comes from huge moments where the biggest names in hip-hop take an absolutely massive stage to show off their sheer force of star power. The only set of the entire weekend that lived up to that level of grandiosity was the Sunday night headlining slot of Future and Metro Boomin. The two superstars closed out the entire festival with a career-spanning performance that lived up to the promise of Rolling Loud.
Just a few weeks ago the pair confirmed that they have two new albums on the way very soon. Throughout the set, they continually promised that it was going to be some of the best music of the year. From what they performed live, many fans agreed, In particular, when the duo had fellow stars Travis Scott and Playboi Carti join them on stage it made for one of the best and most talked about moments of the entire weekend.
Flo Milli
Saturday night, Flo Milli hit the GoPuff stage in the wake of a major couple of weeks for her. She's scored one of her biggest hits to date with the single "Never Lose Me," which just got a new remix featuring SZA and Cardi B. She also just released her new album Fine Ho, Stay her first new project since 2022. All of that gave her plenty of reason to celebrate and flex, which is exactly what she did throughout her set.
She delivered one fan-favorite cut after another spanning her entire career during the 30-minute set. Much like her albums, it was an absolute banger fest. For one song after another Flo Milli routinely got the chance to spit confident bars and hard-hitting catchy refrains. With an audience clearly packed full of die-hard fans the intensity and attitude of the performance was unrivaled for the entire weekend.
YG And Tyga
It's only fitting that two of California's finest would deliver one of the best performances of Rolling Loud Los Angeles. YG first appeared on Thursday night alongside Kanye West, Ty Dolla $ign, and a myriad of other guests for the VULTURES listening party. But that was nothing compared to the energy he would bring to his own set on Friday. He's celebrating the 10th anniversary of his debut album My Krazy Life and kicked off the set with fiery performances of some of the album's classics.
But the highlight of the show came once the pair went back to back in the second half. They did an impromptu live Verzuz on stage that reminded fans they both have hit after hit. That even included a surprise appearance from Saweetie alongside YG where they tantalized the crowd by flirting on stage. The celebration of two of the West Coast's finest felt like one of those Rolling Loud moments that fans will talk about for years to come.
Ski Mask The Slump God
One of the most signature elements of Rolling Loud is the raucous crowds. Nearly every year videos of massive mosh pits breaking out with fans going absolutely wild hit the internet and go viral. It's arguably the hallmark of the entire festival. Yet the only crowd of the weekend that really felt like it lived up to that high bar of intensity was Ski Mask The Slump God. He's no Rolling Loud novice and you could tell as he seemingly knew exactly what songs to deliver to get the crowd hype.
During the second half of the set, he paid tribute to both XXXTENTACION and Juice Wrld and the crowd chanted along with nearly every word of every song. From the more intimate moments where cell phone lights swayed back and forth to the throttling intensity of songs like "Rip Roach," Ski Mask's set was the weekend's lone moment that felt like it was destined to be the next viral Rolling Loud crowd hype video. Nobody all weekend was in command of the stage and the crowd more than Ski Mask The Slump God.