Posted by It’s been a full week since Rolling Loud Los Angeles happened & I’m still recovering. No, I wasn’t high or drunk the whole time. It was a great time for the most part that I remember fully, unlike others… The festival threw off my work & sleeping schedule, destroyed my whole morning & night routine for a moment & helped me to learn a bit about the ones I surround myself with, all within a fast-paced 3 day period.
Festivals are usually a dope experience for me & to be fair I’ve only attended two before this Rolling Loud. Three if you count Day N Night 2017 but I was working with my team at that one so I don’t count it much… In the past, I had won tickets on the radio solely to see a few artists, so the cost of a ticket was never taken into consideration as I would only attend one day for a few hours. I would arrive just in time to be front row for whichever Dreamville artist was performing, explore a bit with whomever I brought with me, & bounce.
Rolling Loud, however, I had been dying to attend for years but in Miami… Last years SoCal date conflicted with life so when it made its way to Los Angeles this year I made sure I was going to be there. I bought a ticket before the lineup was announced because that’s how much I believe in this festival… Or I possibly could’ve had the inside scoop on whether or not the homies were performing. Who knows? *shrugs* Either way, I had no plans on missing any possible moments that I simply had to witness for myself.
I knew I would either end up working for some portion of the event if not all one way or another, either with the blog I work for or the artist teams I lend a hand with from time to time. I tried my best not to plan out my days since I would be attending with some friends who didn’t have the same music interests as me at all. Aside from our homies performing, I knew I was going to miss more than half of the artists I wanted to see & it broke my wallet’s heart more than my own.
I arrived Friday afternoon while JAG was performing & he was the first of a handful of artists that I would end up missing. With guest appearances from D Savage & Cozz, my day wasn’t off to a good start. Apparently, my handbag was too big according to the festival’s rules & regulations. I was irritated before even walking into the grounds now, & had no way to return or get rid of it. As I began arguing with the woman that I had taken an Uber to the event & didn’t know what I was supposed to do with my bag, she simply shrugged her shoulders irritating my soul. As I turned around & tried to make my way out to figure out what the hell I was going to do another security guard says, “Your bracelet has already been scanned, if you leave there’s no re-entry.” Frustrated to the max, I made a desperate phone call to my Rosecrans Fam & the finesse game was on as your girl made it inside, meeting up with her handbag shortly after.
Miguelito & Big $wift were my RL buddies for the day & we pretty much knew where everything was at, for the most part, we could see stage one & could clearly hear stage two. After grabbing a beer we made our way to the Zen stage since 1TakeJay was going to be performing soon. My irritation only grew as we made our way through the crowd & saw attendees with backpacks & handbags bigger than mine all the while having the same GA wristband. (Only artists/press were excluded from the bag rule.) I knew I would end up being vocal about it all day as I tweeted my frustration, & still do not give a fuck about doing so. I wasn’t the only one having a bad start to my day though & if we’re comparing situations, I could’ve been escorted out of the venue by some power hungry security guard. Perspective, right?
Anyway, we caught 1TakeJay & AzChike’s set & I felt like a proud parent! Although I lent no hand within their come up, it was truly a dope moment to witness that filled me with so much joy! With special guests Kalan.frfr, Rucci, & Almighty Suspect it was what I knew they were all capable of bringing, just on a much larger scale. We ran into some of the 1TakeBoyz in the crowd, & later hung with Rucci’s engineer Crook for a bit as well.
There were countless photo opportunities that I didn’t take advantage of because I figured I’d get some RL merch first. After criticizing the various designs I finally settled for a yellow hoodie with the festival lineup on the back. The design didn’t matter after my indecisiveness of which one I should get, as long as there was room for the homies to sign it next to their name, then I was good. Still, I didn’t take any photos because well, I felt the ones I was with would be bothered with my weird vlogging/ photo op antics. (I over think stuff like that constantly, which results in shitty content. *sigh*)
There were pink stairs that imitated the vibrant colors of the RL LA flyer & famous Hollywood sign, a painted tribute to XXXTentacion, along with an art wall that showcased the late Mac Miller, Lil Peep, A$AP Yams & Pimp C. Near the Ferris wheel were a few food trucks & a talented woman in nude underwear (I didn’t catch her name) who was painting artists who were to perform. On one side of her hung medieval themed pieces of Cardi B., Lil Uzi, & Lil Wayne framed in gold, with a decent sized Google exhibit that had a line wrapped around the front. I thought about taking some flicks, settled for a few seconds of vlog footage & went on my way.
My RL squad & I made our way to the Audiomack stage as we sang along to G. Perico’s “I love Thots” with no shame. We ended up catching the rest of his set with special guests Kalan frfr & Garren. Cousin Stizz was on next, but all I remember was hearing Tyla Yaweh’s voice while I tried to wiggle my way to a decent view in hopes of catching Buddy’s full set for once. I failed. All that I caught was an overly dramatic breakup & a special guest appearance from Guapdad 4000. Not bad, but also not what I planned on seeing.
After losing & reuniting with my RL Squad we sat at some benches as they rolled their weed up & I ate some organic chicken quesadillas. From afar we watched Reason, sang along to Roddy Ricch, & discussed Comethazine. The melody of Sheck Wes’s “Mo Bamba” rang throughout the venue & we watched a stampede of people rush towards the stage. We turned up where we sat & waited till Wes’s set neared the end so we can make our way for Shoreline Mafia.
Shoreline Mafia was another key artist that I had to see the first day of Rolling Loud & thankfully my mini squad were waiting to see them too. As Cypress hit the stage we heard his famous Cypressss tag along with his airhorns & we were ready. The crowd was huge for The Mafia & I wanted so desperately to be surrounded by fans who would belt out every word with me. Alas, the anxiety of others within my squad wouldn’t let me travel far & I had to settle. I multitasked for my camera’s safety as I sang along & kept an eye on the kids moshing next to me keeping my distance the best I can. Just like that, their performance was over & we were ready to go.
We met up with the other half of our squad that was VIP & made our way through the crowd one last time. We caught a bit of Ty Dolla $ign’s set on the big screens & caught our last scenes of footage before taking off to The Regent for Shoreline’s RL after party. A Lyft ride, a few drinks mixed with some embarrassing dance moves & a street hot dog later, we were in another Lyft talking shit to each other on the way home.
That was the end of Day One.
Day Two was a bit of the same but with a stronger finesse game. Straight through security with no problems regarding my handbag, I made my way to the Audiomack stage to get as close as possible for Rucci’s set. Now, if you follow me on social media you know it’s not the first time I’d be catching Rucci live but seeing him on a Rolling Loud stage for the first time was truly important to me. I wiggled my way to the front as best as possible, I even asked festival goers in front of me if I can squeeze through as I’d be leaving after his set. A lot of them were cool with it, plus I’m short so I wasn’t really going to be in the way.
As he hit the stage the excitement I felt was the equivalent to seeing one of my favorite Dreamville artists perform, & if you know me then that says a lot. I didn’t record much because I wanted to enjoy the moment while it was happening & I did. To see him up there with his crew was the best way to finish Rolling Loud, & the second day was just beginning! Rucci’s whole crew was on stage rocking their Norf gear the whole set & special guest AzChike came out to perform “Light It Up.”
As his set finished I kept my promise to the festival goers around me & made my way out of the crowd as $tupid Young hit the stage. I met up with a different group of homies that would become my RL squad for day two & made our way to the artist compound where the real fun began.
There were tables everywhere with styrofoam ice chests that contained who knows what for each artist. Depending on how big of an artist you were determined the room or space one got to chill at & there were interviews going on around me left & right. I ended up meeting with some homies & finessed had the luxury of walking about the festival as I pleased thanks to them. (Y’all the greatest!)
We made our way back to the Audiomack stage & caught SAINt JHN perform & damn, he was amazing. He didn’t perform my favorite song of his, but his energy is dope nonetheless. Finally got to see Yung Pinch live even if it was just for two songs before having to head to the other stage to see Maxo Kream’s set.
The only frustrating thing about festivals that have dope lineups is the running back & forth from stage to stage. A small price to pay to be at one venue, pay one parking fee, & have almost anything you need somewhere on the grounds within reach. But here I am, bitching about it in the most positive way possible & yes, I know that doesn’t make total sense but it does. Hehe.
I ended up losing my RL squad & went searching for food cause eating alone is when I’m the most comfortable eating anyway. I ended up getting a custom made lighter with my nickname on it thanks to AVION Tequila & ate a delicious sandwich from the Grilled Cheese Truck. From then on I was as happy as can be… That is, until I realized I had missed Mozzy’s whole set. *sigh* Frustrated, I went back to the artist compound to watch the performances from there & chill until Tyga hit the stage.
As I drank courtesy of Hennessey, I ran into my Mittee Gang team & was ecstatic to see them. I also ran into J.I.D, but per usual was too nervous to say hi or make any sort of contact. Yeah, I think he’s that cute. A few drinks & passes of the good shit later, I was ready to go whenever the squad was & we made our way to Tyga’s set, maneuvering our way closer for Kodak Black.
Our night ended with the sound of Cardi B. as our theme music while making one last unwanted walkthrough throughout the whole venue all because someone lost their phone. Not to sound like a brat or anything, it was a completely understandable reason to be about the venue walking against the crowd, but your girl was exhausted & was not having it at all. Whether my boss had misplaced it or been pick-pocked, we’ll never know but either way, it extended our night for an additional 2 hours or so. With no luck in finding it, we captured our last scenes & made our way home.
Rolling Loud festivals have a reputation for being dope. If you search through social media you’ll see more good than bad & honestly, if you see bad it’s hindered with the hate of someone who can’t read or someone’s bad experience with a hot-headed security guard that’s still mad he never got the chance to become a cop. *shrugs* For the most part, I’m grateful I got to witness LA history (in most eyes) & support my friends to the fullest. Another dope festival full of epic memories is done & if the universe wants it, I’ll be at Rolling Loud Miami 2019.
*All pictures were taken by me with my phone or camera. If you couldn't already tell by the quality. Don't judge, I was hella far.
Irene Guerrero | GigglesIrene.com 