Rolling Loud, delayed by COVID, is coming soon to a device near you — and it’s free
Rolling Loud, the popular hip-hop festival that had already been moved from its scheduled May 2020 Hard Rock Stadium date to February 2021 thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, will bring the music to 2020, after all.
But virtually.
The first hint dropped in late August on the festival’s Instagram page with the posting of a cryptic video that didn’t reveal anything but seemed to suggest something was loading.
That same day, organizers reached out to the Miami Herald to say an announcement was coming regarding a revamped Rolling Loud for the weekend of Sept. 12-13.
Rolling Loud has made it official. The hip-hop festival brand announced a partnership with Twitch to bring “the energy and irreverence of Rolling Loud to Twitch’s passionate global community of millions of fans.”
The new partnership will place three upcoming digital Rolling Loud festivals on the Twitch channel. Rolling Loud says that these digital festivals will present more than five hours of live rap performances each day of the event in September.
Loud Stream
Rolling Loud’s first livestream festival will be named Loud Stream.
The lineup, announced on Sept. 9, for the weekend of Sept. 12-13, includes: headliners Swae Lee and Ski Mask the Slump God, along with Polo G, NLE Choppa, Lil Skies, Lil Keed, StaySolidRocky, Kaash Paige, Tay Money and Maliibu Miitch. Rolling Loud regulars like Smokepurpp, Fat Nick, Pouya and others are also on tap.
Will Farrell-Green, the head of Twitch’s music content, said in a statement: “As in-person concerts are put on hold, we’re working to create an incredible backstage environment that fans can access from anywhere in the world. Rolling Loud has a powerful community of hip-hop fans, and we’re thrilled to partner with them for a first of its kind event that will bring their incredible live music brand to life.”
Rolling Loud co-founder and one of its chief executive officers, Matt Zingler, said the partnership allows the brand to extend beyond its flagship live events, which, since its inception in 2015, have drawn thousands of fans to Miami Gardens’ Hard Rock Stadium in 2019 and 2018 and downtown Miami’s Bayfront Park before that.
Featured acts in Miami have included Kendrick Lamar, Cardi B, Chance the Rapper, Joey Bada$, A$AP Rocky, Mac Miller, Lil Wayne and Run the Jewels.
Those festivals also pumped money into Miami-Dade given the number of tourists Rolling Loud drew for the multi-day events.
“Over the years, Rolling Loud has become a pillar in hip-hop culture, from booking emerging artists before they pop off to creating some of the most fire merch drops in the game, and we wanted to further our position in the culture through weekly programming on our Twitch channel,” Zingler said in his statement.
Livestream broadcasts
Along with the upcoming festivals, Rolling Loud plans to broadcast hip hop-driven weekly content, including fashion, food, art and gaming programming, on its official Rolling Loud Twitch channel.
The channel aims to also livestream regular themed programming, including:
▪ “The Leak.” Rolling Loud co-founder Tariq Cherif will showcase new music the night before its official release.
▪ “Got Bars?” A six-month-long freestyle competition series that offers weekly battles between rising lyricists.
▪ “The Founders.” A livestream podcast hosted by Rolling Loud co-founders Zingler and Cherif that discusses lifestyle and current events topics intersecting with hip hop.
The virtual channel doesn’t replace the live events. Rolling Loud Miami is still scheduled for February 2021.
The livestreams are free, organizers said.
This story was originally published August 31, 2020 at 9:05 AM.
