The 2022 edition of Rolling Loud New York took place over the weekend from Friday (Sept. 23) until Sunday evening (Sept. 25) at Citi Field in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, N.Y. For the music festival’s third return to NYC, this year’s Rolling Loud lineup included a mix of emerging and tenured rap stars from The Empire State, as well as acts from across the U.S. and abroad.
Consisting of stages sponsored by Fashion Nova, Dusse, and SNIPES, Rolling Loud NY’s first day kicked off with performances from headliners Nicki Minaj, Playboi Carti, and Chief Keef, as well as other stars like Lil Uzi Vert, Moneybagg Yo, DaBaby, Fivio Foreign, G Herbo, Lil Tjay, BIA, and Westside Gunn. Day 2 continued with A$AP Rocky, A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie, Lil Baby, Kevin Gates, Key Glock, Don Toliver, Lil Tecca, Sheck Wes, GloRilla, Saint JHN, Conway The Machine, and more taking the stage. The third and final day of the festival saw performers Future, Fat Joe, Pusha T, Benny the Butcher, Soulja Boy, J.I., and others closing out the music event.
VIBE was on site for this year’s Rolling Loud New York musical festival and had the opportunity to enjoy various sets throughout the weekend. From performances by rising stars to headlining marquee artists in attendance, the festival was filled with plenty of surprises and lived up to Rolling Loud’s reputation for putting on some of the most exciting events for live music.
We highlighted nine of the most memorable moments from Rolling Loud New York that resonated across the culture.
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Lil Tjay Makes His Return To The Stage
After recovering from the Jun 2022 shooting that left him sidelined for much of the summer, rapper Lil Tjay made his return to the stage this past Friday (Sept. 23) at Rolling Loud. With footage of himself fighting for his life in the hospital and news clips reporting the incident, Tjay—rocking a bulletproof vest—greeted the crowd and voiced his appreciation for the moment. Despite his time away from the public eye, the Bronx native showed no signs of rust and ran through fan favorites like “War,” “In My Head,” “Pop Out,” “Zoo York,” and “Mood Swings.” Midway through his performance, he removed his vest while acknowledging that he was “feeling bulletproof.” Tjay’s set warranted the anticipation generated and was among the highlights of Day 1.
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Moneybagg Yo Celebrates His Birthday
For artists like Moneybagg Yo, the grind rarely stops, not even for birthdays. The rap star spent part of his special day with his fans, who helped him celebrate his 31st during his appearance on Day 1 of Rolling Loud’s New York stop. Following sprints through tracks like “Me vs Me,” “1 2 3,” and “Doin 2 Much,” Moneybagg and his DJ requested that the crowd show him love in light of the occasion, leading to a resounding “Happy Birthday” chant from the fans. After showing support for incarcerated labelmate Pooh Sheisty by playing his hit single “Back in Blood,” Moneybagg wrapped up his performance with “Wockesha,” with the lights changed to a purple dim at the sound of the intoxicating selection.
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Lil Uzi Vert Pays His Respect To Chief Keef
Surprise and unannounced guest performers have come to be expected at Rolling Loud, but it’s even more refreshing to witness a star being a fan of one of their peers. One of the more notable instances of this took place during the first day of the festival, as Lil Uzi Vert stuck around to catch Chief Keef live in action after his own performance. From dancing along to Keef’s music while in the crowd to joining him onstage, Uzi’s show of homage and support was not lost on other attendees, which lauded the Philly rapper for his public embrace of his Chicagoan counterpart.
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Kanye West Performs Alongside Playboi Carti
The opportunity to catch the reclusive and enigmatic Playboi Carti perform live is one that his fans rarely pass up on, which explains the raucous environment created by his appearance at Citi Field this weekend. Headlining the Dusse stage on the opening night of the Rolling Loud festival, Carti raged through a succession of standouts from his Whole Lotta Red album, including “StopBreathin,” “NoSl33p,” “TeenX,” and “NewNeon.” Staying true to his flair for the dramatic, Carti was joined onstage by Kanye West, who performed “Off The Grid” from his Donda album. Yeezy’s Rolling Loud NY appearance in support of Carti not only served as further evidence of their budding professional and personal relationship but was also among the biggest surprises of the three-day festival.
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GloRilla Invades New York City
Rolling Loud’s tradition of providing a platform for emerging stars was bolstered by the appearance of rising star GloRilla, who put forth a tantalizing performance with her first set at the festival. After hitting Harlem days earlier to film the video for her Cardi B collaboration “Tomorrow 2,” the Memphis native reserved plenty of energy for the event held in Queens. Flanked by members of her crew, Glo went from the stage to the crowd while bringing attendees to an uproar with her breakout tracks “99 Problems,” “F.N.F. (Let’s Go),” and, of course, “Tomorrow 2.” Despite her relatively short set, GloRilla’s performance proved her star power translates to her live show, further stamping her as one of the best breakout acts of the year thus far.
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A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie Pays Tribute To PnB Rock
To maintain staying power in Hip-Hop without constantly releasing new material is a luxury afforded only to artists with the strongest base of supporters. More than two years removed from his last studio album release, the massive turnout for A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie‘s Rolling Loud set was indicative of his unwavering popularity. Following an epic entrance and performance of his 2018 single, “Look Back at It,” the Bronx rep continued with his hit “Timeless,” but took time out of his set to honor late rapper and former collaborator PnB Rock. Requesting the crowd to put their lights in the air in a show of homage to PnB, A Boogie played Rock’s vocals from their 2017 track, “Lovin,” resulting in one of the more uplifting occurrences of the weekend. Closing the show with cuts like “My Sh*t,” “Jungle” and “Drowning,” A Boogie continued his streak of epic returns to his hometown and displayed no signs of rust considering his extended layoff.
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A$AP Rocky Moshes With The Fans
After revealing that his headlining performance at Rolling Loud would be his last until the release of his forthcoming album, A$AP Rocky was sure to leave fans with an unforgettable show to tide them over for the interim. Joined by multiple members of his crew, A$AP proceeded to command the crowd to open up various mosh pits for fans to party in, some of which he joined during his set. In addition to fan favorites like “LPFJ2” and “Telephone Calls,” the Harlem rep unveiled unreleased material for the first time, including “Roddy Piper” and “OUR DE$TINY” and spread the wealth by showcasing special guests GloRilla, French Montana, A$AP ANT, and THOTTWAT. At one point during the show, Rocky was gifted with an admirer’s piece of lingerie (hopefully, of the Savage Fenty variety considering his girlfriend Rihanna was also in attendance).
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Future Makes It Rain, Literally
While attendees’ hopes of Future possibly bringing out 21 Savage—who failed to show for his performance earlier in the evening—were dashed, Pluto’s own landing resulted in a set that was out of this world. Opening up with the anthemic DS2 cut “Stick Talk,” Future mixed solo cuts in between collaborations with Drake (“Jumpman”), as well as Young Thug and Gunna (“Pushin P”). The Atlanta native surprised fans by lending stage time to Offset, who performed “Ric Flair Drip” and his portion of “Bad & Boujee.” Unfortunately, Future’s thunderous set was ended prematurely due to a horrendous downpour of rain. However, the festivities continued long enough for festival-goers to continue to party in spite of the conditions, making for a memorable conclusion to an action-packed weekend of music and good vibes.
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Nicki Minaj Shares A "Moment 4 Life" With The Crowd
As the first solo female rap artist to headline a Rolling Loud event, Nicki Minaj‘s historic performance attracted a sizable segment of the crowd to the Fashion Nova stage to watch her blaze through her catalog of classics. Despite keeping the Barbz and the rest of her fans anticipating her set for nearly an hour, the delay was forgiven upon the Queen from Queens’ arrival. Following an overwhelmingly warm reception, Nicki immediately made up for the lost time and hyped up festival attendees with performances of “Did it On Em,” “Beez in the Trap,” and “Feeling Myself.”
Mixing things up throughout her set, Minaj was joined by numerous guests. Fivio Foreign, BIA, Lil Uzi Vert, and G Herbo all popped up to help her perform their respective collaborations. In addition to the hits, Nicki also delved into her bag of mixtape material, pulling out “Itty Bitty Piggy” for her longtime supporters. However, the most special wrinkle from her explosive set was during the set’s ending when Nicki joined the crowd in an acapella performance of “Moment 4 Life, bringing the sea of fans together as one.