Summer Smash, the largest independent hip-hop festival in the US, returned to Chicago on June 23 for their fifth annual festival. This year’s lineup boasted a star-studded roster including Kid Cudi, Lil Uzi Vert, Future, Playboi Carti, and others. The festival is jointly hosted by two Chicago-based media companies: production company Lyrical Lemonade and festival production company SPKRBX. This year, the festival upgraded their venue from Chicago’s Douglass Park to SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview to accommodate the event’s growing popularity. With new art installations and more vendors than ever before, it was clear that Summer Smash 2023 would be an unmissable event for anyone interested in delving into Chicago’s rap culture.
Day One:
Upon entering the festival grounds, I immediately noticed swaths of fans sprinting full speed across the field toward the main stage. After trending rapper Ice Spice unexpectedly dropped out just one day before the festival, we had all wondered who would take her place. With my interest piqued, I squeezed my way through the giant inflatable Lyrical Lemonade cartons that were scattered across the turf to find out which artist was causing an uproar. “Oh my god, it’s Lil Yachty!” yelled a kid in a basketball jersey as he sprinted to join the ever-growing crowd accumulating to watch the performance. Leave it to Lyrical Lemonade to turn a potential disaster into an exciting surprise. Performing hits like “Coffin” and “Poland,” Lil Yachty turned the energy up to 11 and made the stage his own.
After Lil Yachty’s set, I took a moment to survey the festival grounds as the sounds of “Gucci Gang” reverberated from Lil Pump’s set at the Zig Zag tent. The decorations and attractions were true to the carnival theme and featured cartoons from Lyrical Lemonade’s NFT collection. The festival featured carnival games and a minion-themed Ferris wheel. Circus performers roamed the grounds, and there was even a live spray-painting exhibit. The sheer quantity of art ensured that no matter where you were on the grounds, there was always something interesting to look at.
The next set was Friday’s special guest $uicideboy$, a hip-hop duo consisting of cousins Ruby da Cherry and $crim. The second the duo stepped onstage, the crowd erupted, sending a 5-foot-long inflatable joint and giant slices of Bacci pizza soaring through the air. The duo’s southern rap influences, combined with horrorcore and grim themes, created a dark and somewhat unsettling atmosphere distinct from all other artists on the lineup.
Kid Cudi, the headliner of the night, ushered in a sudden, but welcome, shift in the mood previously set by the $uicideboy$. He captivated the audience with a raw, emotional performance as he took us on a journey through his discography. When Cudi began one of his early classics “A Kid Named Cudi,” a loud roar of excitement ripped through the crowd, suggesting that there were many longtime Cudi fans in attendance. In contrast to the previous performances, this set was much more mellow. Instead of dancing and moshing, most of the crowd enjoyed the music while lounging on a blanket. This final set of the night ended the day on a high note and set the tone for the rest of the festival.
Day Two:
Arriving at the festival on Saturday, I felt like I was at a completely different event from the day before. The number of attendees seemed to have doubled, and the overall energy had increased exponentially. I started my day by heading straight to the Zig Zag tent to see Lil Tracy’s set. Despite being at the smallest stage on the grounds, Lil Tracy undoubtedly attracted the rowdiest crowd of the festival. I was unfamiliar with his music, but that didn’t stop me from enjoying watching the crowd freak out over every song. The festival’s ability to provide a large platform for up-and-coming artists to share their music is what makes it so unique.
Riding that high, I decided to migrate with the crowd over to G Herbo’s set at the main stage. G Herbo is a Chicago native, and his local fan base showed up with full force. The audience’s excitement did not go unnoticed by security, who paused the set at one point and told everyone to take five steps back. Once the crowd had settled down, G Herbo reemerged from backstage with a red solo cup in hand. “We didn’t stop for 10 minutes not to turn the fuck up,” he yelled. The crowd was immediately reignited, and everyone had a blast for the rest of the set.
Up next on the Culture Kings stage was Ski Mask the Slump God. He was the first performer of the weekend to fill up the massive SeatGeek stadium. Ski Mask performed a few of XXXTentacion’s hits, including “Sad!”, to honor the late rapper and friend. He indulged the crowd with two unreleased songs after thanking the audience for allowing him to continue making music. As a final surprise for the crowd, he invited Canadian celebrity journalist Nardwuar onto the stage to say hello. In the midst of this unique performance, the crowd grew wilder, jumping and moshing to the beat of the music. Ski Mask had the most engaging set of the weekend and really demonstrated his love and connection with his audience with this special performance.
Before Lil Uzi Vert’s set, I decided to make an effort to fully immerse myself in the carnival experience. For $23 we were able to hop on the Minions-themed Ferris wheel, which looked like it was going almost 20 miles per hour. (It probably wasn’t that fast; I’m just being dramatic.) It just so happened that we timed our Ferris wheel ride to start at the same time as Uzi’s set. Watching the crowd from above allowed us to process the sheer size of the event. We even got to watch as Lil Uzi threw himself into the crowd.
Future was the headliner for day two, so naturally he drew an enormous crowd which seemed to number in the tens of thousands. In all honesty, I was a little disappointed in the Future set, as it lacked the energy one would expect from a headliner. I found that the smaller artists were much more energetic and interesting to watch and mosh to. Given the exciting performances by the earlier acts, I was very happy with the second day of the festival. We had a great time exploring the grounds, eating carnival food, and listening to a lot of great music.
Day Three:
One thing that you can count on during a Chicago rap show is swaths of dedicated fans. This sentiment has never rung truer than on the final day of Summer Smash, as the crowd defied crazy storms to see their favorite artists. The mood was high, as everyone was excited for the Sunday lineup, which included a few of my favorites like Rico Nasty and Lucki. I decided to spend some more time at the Zig Zag tent to watch Sematary and F1lthy perform. F1lthy surprised everyone by holding a boxing match onstage. The match was very clearly staged, but that didn’t make it any less entertaining.
Next, we dropped by the Culture Kings stage to see the artist whom I was most excited about, Rico Nasty. I’ve seen Rico Nasty once before when she opened for Key Glock last March at Chicago’s Radius, and she completely stole the show. You may have also seen her when she performed at UChicago for the Major Activities Board’s Summer Breeze in 2022. Rico Nasty is a powerful performer, and her seemingly endless energy and wacky choreography never fails to excite a crowd. My favorite part of her Summer Smash set was her performance of her single “OHFR?,” which does a great job of capturing her indifferent attitude toward her haters.
Next up on the Culture Kings stage was Lucki, another Chicago native who made his way into mainstream rap with a unique combination of trap and rock influences and a powerful storytelling ability. The loyalty of his fanbase shone through, as most of the crowd stayed through a torrential rain shower that started at the beginning of his set. The set came to a close, followed by a brief pause of the rain. Everyone was pleasantly surprised to see a double rainbow arching across the sky over the stadium.
The final set of the festival was Playboi Carti. Hundreds of fans in the audience had acquired glow sticks from somewhere, and, in typical Summer Smash fashion, were throwing them in the air before the set. A guitarist emerged from backstage, atop one of many giant white boxes stacked on the stage, and performed an intro that made the set seem like a rock/hip-hop mashup. Playboi Carti rushed out onto the stage and gave the audience a passionate show with his characteristic shrieking vocals.
The festival was extremely well run despite its massive size. If you plan on going to Summer Smash in the future, my only recommendation is to snag a parking pass before they sell out to make your life a bit easier. This festival is an exciting way to get familiar with upcoming local artists and even local restaurants. The commitment by Lyrical Lemonade and SPKRBX to elevate Chicago as a hub for music culture is what makes this festival a one-of-a-kind experience. If you are a hip-hop lover and happen to be in Chicago next summer, I hope to see you at next year’s Summer Smash!
