Rolling Loud NYC 2021 in pictures

Manny Sanchez

Friday night's headliners truly showed how diverse hip-hop is at the moment. On one stage, Playboi Carti shook the ground (quite literally) with mosh-pit anthems from his new album Whole Lotta Red. Several hundred feet away, J. Cole brought his thoughtful lyricism and storytelling to the main stage, exhilarating a crowd of fans who rapped along to every song while dodging heavy rainfall. The downpour started just before J. Cole's set began, and it made for a visually stunning backdrop to his performance. It's not every day that you get to see a performer like J. Cole live, and it's even more of a treat to see him with Mother Nature raging up above with lightning, thunder, and hurricane-level winds twisting things up for Day 2 of Rolling Loud.

Mixing fan-favorite songs with his latest releases from The Off-Season, J. Cole treated his supporters to surprise appearances from Dreamville's finest rappers, including J.I.D, Bas, and Lute. This performance proved that the North Carolina native is one of hip-hop's greats, and it was a treat for those who stuck around despite the wet weather. [HotNewHipHop]

Rolling Loud's 2021 edition wrapped up on Saturday at Citi Field's parking lot with sets from Travis Scott, Roddy Ricch, Lil Tjay, A$ap Ferg, Fivio Foreign, Young Nudy, Griselda, Armani Caesar, Nav, Sheck Wes, Action Bronson, City Morgue, Maxo Kream, Key Glock, Lil Keed, and many more.

Day two, Friday, featured sets from Kodak Black, Rod Wave, Ski Mask the Slump God, Flipp Dinero, Kaash Paige, Trippie Redd, City Girls, Lil Yachty, Rick Ross, Wale (who brought out Q-Tip), Morray, Bas, Pouya, Chief Keef, and more, and the fest kicked off on Thursday with Lil Uzi Vert, Gunna, Gucci Mane, Jack Harlow, Polo G, Moneybagg Yo, Joey Bada$$, Pooh Shiesty, Young M.A, J.I.D., Fivio Foreign, Dave East, Rico Nasty, Flo Milli, EST Gee, and more. That's an excerpt of HotNewHipHop's Friday review above. They also touched on DaBaby's controversial guest appearance during 50 Cent's Thursday headlining set, which coincided with Lil Durk's no-show:

Day one's headlining situation was a little bit of a mess. Fans expected to have options once the end of the night rolled around but with Lil Durk no-showing his set without explanation, crowds rushed over to the Deleón Stage for a nostalgic drive through 50 Cent's biggest hits over the years.

The New York legend performed some of his most beloved tracks, including "P.I.M.P." and "Many Men," before inviting some more of the city's favorite characters on stage. A Boogie wit da Hoodie was the first surprise guest, lighting up the crowd with a dedicated 5-minute run through his radio hits. Then, A$AP Rocky came out on stage to join 50 before one of the festival's most questionable moments. DaBaby was the next surprise guest, returning to the Rolling Loud stage following his homophobic comments at the Miami leg of the festival several months ago, to perform three songs. He introduced himself as "the n***a you thought you weren't going to see on stage anymore" before 50 took over again and closed out the night with a medley of his classics.

See pictures from the whole weekend by Stephen Han below.