Lyrical Lemonade and SPKRBX brought their Summer Smash festival back to Seatgeek Stadium in Bridgeview, IL this past weekend… and it was a smash indeed. The world’s largest independently-owned hip-hop festival set a new record this year, hosting over 120,000 attendees across the three day event.
The fest was historic for many reasons. It was Chief Keef’s first performance in the Chicagoland area in over a decade, as the drill rapper was banned from performing in his hometown due to legal issues and resistance from local politicians and police departments.
The sets from the other two headliners, Cactus Jack and Playboi Carti, were also massive moments. The Cactus Jack set saw Travis Scott, Don Toliver, Sheck Wes, SoFaygo, and Chase B united on stage for the label’s first ever collaborative performance. La Flame even mentioned JACKBOYS 2 during the set, sparking anticipation for a sequel to the label’s debut collab compilation album from 2019.
Then there’s Carti, the enigmatic Atlanta superstar that has fans eagerly awaiting the release of I AM MUSIC. Summer Smash marked his first live performance of 2024 and the live debut of all the singles from the rollout: “H00DBYAIR,” “2024,” “KETAMINE,” “BACKR00MS,” “DIFFERENT DAY,” and “EVILJ0RDAN.” Carti also performed two unreleased songs, “ALL RED” and a brand new song that is rumored to be titled “G-Wagon” or “Crash Out.”
Surprise guests were abundant throughout the fest. Rising NYC-based rapper CLIP brought out skaiwater during her Friday afternoon set, setting the tone for the action-packed weekend. BIA brought out Chicago native Lil Blessin for “Likka Sto Remix” during her set. FERG came through during Denzel Curry’s set for a performance of “Plain Jane” and their collab “Hot One.” The most unexpected surprise guest was Ian, who came out during Lil Yachty’s set and recreated his iconic walk out from Summer Smash 2022. Sosa closed things out by bringing out his daughter for the song “Kay Kay” named after her, a fitting way to celebrate Father’s Day. Keef also brought out G Herbo, who performed his classic hit “Who Run It.”
The Modern Notoriety team was running around the grounds all weekend, capturing performance photos and conducting interviews with some of the artists backstage. Special thanks to Flo Milli, Denzel Curry, That Mexican OT, Bktherula, Paris Texas, Robb Bank$, and Asspizza for taking the time to speak with us.
In honor of Men’s Mental Health Awareness Month, we asked each artist if they had any mental health tips they wanted to share. You can check out their responses here. Each artist also gave us a fit check, which you can check out here.
Check out our photo recap of Summer Smash 2024 below.
Friday, June 14
CLIP x skaiwater at Summer Smash 2024 pic.twitter.com/UbF0gKw6Se
— Modern Notoriety (@ModernNotoriety) June 15, 2024
🖤 @bktherula 🖤
📍 Summer Smash 2024 pic.twitter.com/sWXHVwU7aa
— Modern Notoriety (@ModernNotoriety) June 16, 2024
With @bktherula at Summer Smash 2024 ✌️ pic.twitter.com/wZC2J3gy2Z
— Modern Notoriety (@ModernNotoriety) June 16, 2024
With That Mexican OT at Summer Smash 🍋 pic.twitter.com/6TYaMdVwz3
— Modern Notoriety (@ModernNotoriety) June 15, 2024
CACTUS JACK at Summer Smash 2024 🌵🍋
Travis Scott
Don Toliver
Sheck Wes
Sofaygo
Chase B"We been thinking about doing a JACKBOYS 2" pic.twitter.com/KUGEILtDRg
— Modern Notoriety (@ModernNotoriety) June 15, 2024
Saturday, June 15
Backstage with Robb Bank$ at Summer Smash 2024 pic.twitter.com/8RW6lO5cpf
— Modern Notoriety (@ModernNotoriety) June 16, 2024
Backstage with Paris Texas 🤘🍋
📍 Lyrical Lemonade Summer Smash 2024 pic.twitter.com/cTgiAWjuzN
— Modern Notoriety (@ModernNotoriety) June 16, 2024
Zack Bia and Cole Bennett at Summer Smash 2024 🐂 pic.twitter.com/mfgKx4Hoo7
— Modern Notoriety (@ModernNotoriety) June 16, 2024
LUCKI at Summer Smash 2024 🍋 pic.twitter.com/tLdrhGenAv
— Modern Notoriety (@ModernNotoriety) June 16, 2024
Sunday, June 16
Backstage with Denzel Curry 📸
📍 Summer Smash 2024 pic.twitter.com/sJyAAlIHY7
— Modern Notoriety (@ModernNotoriety) June 17, 2024
Lil Yachty x Summer Smash 2024 🍋🔥 pic.twitter.com/aO5LmquGW0
— Modern Notoriety (@ModernNotoriety) June 17, 2024
CHIEF KEEF
Back home in CHICAGO for the first time in over a decade 🏠
📍 Summer Smash 2024 pic.twitter.com/jcuGmh2HJt
— Modern Notoriety (@ModernNotoriety) June 17, 2024
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