New York’s presence was heavily felt at Rolling Loud Festival Miami’s Ciroc Stage on Friday night (July 23) when A$AP Rocky and Bobby Shmurda arrived on the scene.
At nearly 9 p.m., Shmurda sauntered on stage and watched a roaring crowd scream his name “Bobby” emphatically. The deafening chants drew smiles from the former embattled star. Upon arrival, he returned the love and graced the crowd with his touted classic “Hot N—-a.” For Shmurda, Rolling Loud marked his first concert performance since his return from prison last February.
Despite Shmurda’s set only being 15 minutes long, it had several high moments. Not only did he unleash his signature Shmoney Dance to the crowd’s delight, but he previewed two new records, as well.
“I’ve been out here all week,” he exclaimed before his preview. “We been shooting videos for y’all all week. Y’all wanna hear some new sh–?”
Though he was caught in the studio with Meek Mill and DaBaby over the last few months, the pair of hard-hitting tracks he performed found Bobby riding solo without any features. Before he exited, he did dish out two more fan favorites: “Bobby B–ch” and “Computers” sans Rowdy Rebel.
Following Shmurda’s performance, fans received a high-octane showing from Lil Baby, who graced the Ciroc Stage before the night’s closer A$AP Rocky. Fresh from his Paris Fashion Week trip, Baby didn’t miss a step. From DJ Khaled’s “Every Chance I Get” to his My Turn deluxe standout “All In,” Baby hit all cylinders.
Besides delivering a springy effort on the solo front, Baby also didn’t shy away from bringing out special guests. First, he brought out EST Gee for a hearty rendition of their collaboration “Real As It Gets.” Later, he used his time on stage to spotlight his 4PF artists Rylo Rodriguez, 42 Dugg, with the latter performing “We Paid” alongside the burgeoning executive. Chalynn Moneè — 4PF’s first female artist — joined Lil Baby later on to do a smooth performance of Baby and Gunna’s 2018 hit “Close Friends.”
By midnight, the crowd’s screams crescendoed as they waited for the arrival of A$AP Rocky. The Harlem polymath surprised everyone when he kicked his performance off from the audience. After fans floated Rocky’s body onto the stage, his enthusiasm was well-received once he took off his TESTING dummy mask. Though Rocky’s set was cut short due to his late start time, he didn’t shy away from giving fans various records.
“I wanna give them some old school A$AP sh–,” he said. I want these n—-s to know how I be.” Instantly, he dashed back in time to perform classics such as “Lord Pretty Flacko Jodye 2” and “Purple Swag” while also giving his modern-day hits like “Praise the Lord” a nice run on stage.
Rocky didn’t fall short on the stage props either. He had a crew of bodacious dancers twerking onstage throughout his set, most notably during A$AP Ferg’s performance of “Plain Jane” and G-Eazy’s “No Limit,” with having Rocky handling the chorus without the Bay Area star. Again, the Harlem rapper didn’t have a problem sharing the shine, as he allowed his A$AP partner-in-rhyme, Ferg, to boost the crowd’s energy higher with a booming performance of “Work.”
Day one was a great start to what looks to be an action-packed weekend in Miami, with more performances to come from Travis Scott, Post Malone, Megan Thee Stallion, Lil Uzi Vert, DaBaby, and more. Be on the lookout for Billboard‘s coverage throughout the festival.
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