Rolling Loud, the Miami-based music festival that has become the largest Hip-Hop festival in the world, has a lot of people speculating whether headlining rapper Kendrick Lamar, who joined Kanye West and Future in one of the best line-ups in the event’s history, may soon be poised to drop a new album.
We haven’t heard a full-blown album from Lamar since 2017’s excellent Grammy-winner Damn. After contributing to the production and curation of the hit-filled soundtrack for Marvel’s Black Panther in 2018, Lamar has largely laid low in the music scene. However, last year, he did appear on some collaborations with his cousin Baby Keem for the infectious single “Family Ties,” as well as a few other songs on Keem’s album The Melodic Blue.
We got some insight into Lamar’s hiatus with “Family Ties,” as he raps, “I been ducking the pandemic, I been ducking the social gimmicks / I been ducking the overnight activists.”
Lamar also made a welcome return to the stage last month, when he appeared in one of the most legendary Super Bowl halftime shows in history alongside fellow Compton, California native and collaborator Dr. Dre, as well as Snoop Dogg, Eminem, and Mary J. Blige.
Clearly, the world is ready for more of Lamar’s poetic verses ahead of his appearance at the festival, slated for July 22-24 at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium.
“Kendrick Lamar headlining Rolling Loud without a new album on the way would be insanity,” remarked one Twitter user.
Another fan imagined how disappointing it would be to be in the crowd at the festival and see Lamar take the stage, only to have the beat from 2017’s “HUMBLE” rumble through the stadium, instead of something new.
It was a hard line drawn in the sand for one Twitter user: no new Kendrick album, no way they are going to Rolling Loud.
“Ain’t no way I’m getting hyped for that same DAMN set again.”
Most prominently among those stoking the flames of speculation was the Rolling Loud Twitter account itself.
In a pair of now-deleted tweets, the account wrote, “Kendrick headlining Miami again means exactly what you think it means…It’s been 5 long years,” reported Hip-Hop Vibe. Luckily, the Twitter user @nfr_podcast screen captured the duo of tweets for the world to see.
In a tongue-in-cheek follow up tweet, Rolling Loud remarked Wednesday morning, “It’s been 5 long years since Kendrick headlined Rolling Loud Miami.”
With legendary acts such as Future and Kanye West, the latter of whom is fresh off of his recent release of Donda 2, the festival is sure to be one of the greats. In addition to Lamar, who will no doubt be a dominating force regardless of whether he has a new album out or not, a number of other acts are sure to draw the crowds, including Playboi Carti, Three 6 Mafia, Saweetie, Lil Uzi Vert, Gunna, DaBaby, Baby Keem, A$AP Ferg, and Gucci Mane.
Published: Mar 2, 2022 04:13 pm