My Thoughts on Rolling Loud 2021

 

                Hey everyone, I hope you all are doing well. This week is definitely a late post and I apologize for that. But this might be good timing because this past weekend was crazy, and while I didn’t see much of it, I did have some thoughts to share.

                I’m sure you all know, but this Rolling Loud this past weekend was the first rap festival post COVID to restart the whole live sector of rap music. With the attendance at max, I assumed that there was going to be something different or special for this festival given a whole year of inactivity. Unfortunately, I didn’t see much of that, and it kind of bothers me. I’m currently a graduate of the Sociology program at UCSB and I’m trying my hardest to enter the music industry. I particularly want to enter the live sector portion of it because I find concerts and festivals amazing to put it simply. I’ve been to as many as I could’ve gone to once I was exposed to it during my senior year of high school, and with every performance was something unique to witness. The last concert I saw was the “Astroworld” tour with Travis Scott here at the Forum in Los Angeles, and it revolutionized my perspective on live performances. While there were people on the ground and in the seats singing the songs and raging along with Travis, there was a ROLLERCOASTER above everyone’s head for those who were willing to ride it. For me, this blew my mind because this was the first time I saw something this radical in a concert for the purpose of enhancing the concert experience for the audience while pushing the concept of what “Astroworld” meant to Travis Scott.

                This was in 2018 I believe. A whole three years have passed, and I still remember the day like it was yesterday. All it took was one artist to believe in his work so much to the point where he wanted to add a simple rollercoaster to help his project and fans and boom… he made what I think is musical history. The reason I bring this up is because when I was watching footage of Rolling Loud 2021, I didn’t see anything that was different than what came two years before this. The lineup is amazing sure, but what else is there for the attendees? Yeah, you can throw in a couple carnival rides in the back and some minigames, but there could be so much more done to enhance the MUSICAL experience of Rolling Loud. We live in a world where we have the technology to implement amazing effects in music videos but it’s rarely taken to the live sector. Those in charge of Rolling Loud and any other festival should be thinking about this each year. What else is there to think about? It’s a festival that serves one purpose: connecting the artist to the fans. But each and every year I as music lover have to witness the bare minimum for these live performances. I’m not expecting something crazy like a spaceship to land in the middle of the performance, but I would definitely appreciate some effort on making each year special. If they can’t think of any ideas, why isn’t there a forum dedicated for festival attendees to let them pitch ideas and criticisms?

                I’ll tell you why, and the answer is pretty simple. They don’t care. The lineup alone is enough to make music fans feel forced to attend, and that attendance gives management companies confidence to do it again the next year. Wherever the money is, that’s where these companies will line up at. Why invest in creating a better experience at the cost of less profit? This is why we need a new age of music lovers to step up and make notice of these things. The music industry isn’t full of music people, and it shouldn’t be that those who only care about money are given the position to make decisions that can affect thousands of other fans of music. I’ll work my hardest to at least create pathway for new ideas in the live sector, but it’ll take time. Until then, let’s hope something happens in the meantime. Again, I’m just ranting, I’m still very much grateful for what I’ve attended so far and these are just thoughts from someone who wants to do a lot if given the chance. I know I come off a bit too much here, but I know this can and will eventually happen in the future. The key is to just be optimistic and to always dream!