“The crowd needs to calm down, and anyone who jumped over the barricade needs to walk out, or we will shut this thing down,” Tariq Cherif, co-creator of the global hip-hop music festival Rolling Loud yelled into the microphone to the audience after headliner Playboi Carti walked off stage during the first evening of the three-day event on Friday, March 3 at Hollywood Park in Inglewood.
Minutes earlier, Carti was seen screaming and jumping as fans were encouraged to get rowdy, just like the 26-year-old Atlanta rapper was doing on stage.
It only took about three full songs from the rapper — he got through songs like “Rockstar Made” and “R.I.P.” — before the massive crowd before him was completely whipped into a frenzy and aggressively moshing. Though the energy was electrifying and at moments overwhelming, the lights and music were cut off when young fans began jumping over barricades and smashing fans in the front row.
Carti wasn’t particularly apologetic for the shutdown that lasted about 30 minutes and cut into his set time. When cleared to come back on stage, he yelled to the crowd: “They cut my music, let’s start this!”
Rolling Loud, the first major, multi-day festival event to be held on the newly developed grounds adjacent to SoFi Stadium, kicked off the day on a high note with eager fans and mosh pits at every set, whether you found yourself at Levi’s stage for Tyga or at the Gopuff Stage for DaBaby.
Despite some the more chaotic moments, the running theme of community was on full display throughout the festival grounds. Before Tyga launched his set on the main stage, Cherif introduced the mayor of Inglewood, James T. Butts Jr.
“We have the greatest stadium in the world,” Butts said with a smile. “Welcome to Inglewood, everybody. We’re so excited to have Rolling Loud right here in our community.”
“How many of y’all drove out to San Bernardino,” Cherif asked the audience of going to Rolling Loud’s former home at NOS Event Center. “Now we have it right here in our home of Los Angeles, thank God!”
The fans cheered in response, seemingly agreeing with the sentiment since the California edition of the fest hasn’t played out in the L.A. area since 2019 when it hit Banc of California Stadium (now BMO Stadium). This year, instead of trying to beat the Inland Empire traffic, fans could more easily catch a bus, take a train, or call a driving service. For some really local fans, attending the fest meant a short 15-minute walk.
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“There was no way we were going to make it out to San Bernardino, which is crazy because Rolling Loud as a whole always fit Los Angeles better,” Rosa Sanchez, who walked their way to Hollywood Park from their apartment, shared. “So as residents of Inglewood, it’s just great to see it here and have it be part of the city again. We can’t imagine it ever returning to how it was, so we hope it stays here next year, too.”
Food stands and activations, which were all Los Angeles-based, allowed fans to experience what the city has to offer. For example, in the VIP gardens, there were stands for surrounding businesses like Bunny’s Bae Bar for makeovers, a tattoo shop, a barber shop to get a fresh cut, a sports bar presented by clothing brand Kappa and numerous merch booths.
If fans needed a little break from the music, there was a small carnival dubbed Hypland located at the entrance to Hollywood Park that had games and rides for everyone to enjoy.
Aside from Carti’s memorable and fiery set, there were other standout performances throughout the day. Compton native Tyga brought out Los Angeles rapper YG for several songs including “Go Loko,” “BPT” and “Big Bank.” His own hits, “Rack City” and “Make It Nasty” went over well, too.
Soulja Boy also had fans dancing along to his songs “Kiss Me Thru The Phone,” “Pretty Boy Swag” and the definite fan-favorite “Crank That (Soulja Boy),” during which they did their best to mimic the well-known choreography.
With the chaotic energy that seemed to flow throughout the day — there were long lines at food stands and entrances to the grounds, artists relying on backing tracks that had issues and late set times — the audience really didn’t seem bothered by these inconveniences. All these fans cared about was the music, the party atmosphere and the celebration of hip-hop that Rolling Loud definitely delivered.
Rolling Loud
When: Friday, March 3
Where: Hollywood Park, Inglewood
Also: Saturday, March 4-Sunday, March 5