One of the biggest rap festivals in the world is headed to Los Angeles in less than two weeks and San Diego State University students are anticipating a diverse three-day showcase of hip-hop.
Rolling Loud is among EDC and Coachella as some of the largest music festivals hosted in the United States. Their dedication to rap music in particular prompted Billboard to call it “the be all of hip-hop festivals.”
Rolling Loud, however, wasn’t always the household name it is today. Established in 2015, founders Tariq Cherif and Matt Zingler organized the first Rolling Loud as a single-day event in Miami, Florida.
Initially, Cherif and Zingler created the event to provide a platform for emerging artists and to highlight new styles within the hip-hop genre.
Since then, Rolling Loud has expanded globally to some of the biggest markets in the world, namely Toronto, Germany and Thailand. Five years since its humble beginnings in Miami, Rolling Loud 2022 brought in an estimated total of over 200,000 attendees.
Junior marketing major Zach Bondar attended two festivals in California in 2019 and 2021. The thrill of the moment brought him back for a third year.
“(Rolling Loud) was really fun—the excitement of running to each set before your favorite artist plays and then the relief of how good the set was once they finish makes it extremely worth it,” Bondar said.
This year, Rolling Loud will be hosted in Los Angeles in the heart of Inglewood. The event will be held in the park grounds adjacent to SoFi Stadium, the host site of the Los Angeles Rams and a bevy of high-profile arena concerts.
An all-star selection of hip-hop artists will take the stage over the weekend, including Playboi Carti, Travis Scott, Future and Lil Wayne. Ice Spice, Babytron, Central Cee and SDSU alumnus Kalan.FRFR are among a list of up-and-coming artists appearing in this year’s lineup.
Junior marketing major Zeheren Gaymon is excited to see a mix of old and new rappers perform at Rolling Loud.
“(I’m looking forward to) the variety but not necessarily in terms of genre,” Gaymon said. “It’s definitely a rap focused event, but seeing artists who are at the beginning of their career and seeing artists who have reached the pinnacle like Future, Lil Wayne and Travis Scott—that’s gonna be sick.”
Gaymon also made note of the presence of SDSU students at the festival.
“There’s a solid crew (going) from our apartments,” Gaymon said. “I’m just looking forward to seeing everyone there. Hopefully, we run into other people that we know. It’s just going to be a lot of people our age so it’s going to be fun.”
Junior kinesiology major Benicio Jauregui bought his ticket to Rolling Loud shortly after the release of Lil Uzi Vert’s music video for “Just Wanna Rock.” Jauregui said that rap music strikes a particular chord for him.
“It’s a really neat genre in the way that it can fit so much more storytelling and substance into one song than any other genre really can,” Jauregui said. “Also, to me, it’s the most energizing music you can get. Nothing really gets me fired up or like a good high-paced rap song.”
The music itself isn’t the only selling point for this year’s festivities. The event will include on-site activations for Bae’s Beauty Bar, a company selling a variety of merchandise in collaboration with Forever 21. Food and drink options will be available as well across festival grounds.
For VIP ticket holders, amenities include exclusive merch stores, complimentary tattoo and barber shops and exclusive access to festival grounds.
It’s not too late to join next week’s event, as a limited number of tickets, hotel and parking options are still available through Rolling Loud’s website.
