Hip-hop promoter Matt Zigler doesn’t necessarily accept the premise that firing off a t-shirt bazooka at one of Rolling Loud’s stadium shows would be the pinnacle of success, but he’s open to the idea on one condition.
Neither he nor business partner Tariq Cherif will take the first shot alone.
“We will have two bazookas and shoot them simultaneously!” Zigler told Billboard in a recent interview, riffing on the success he and Cherif have enjoyed while always finding a way to have fun and keep things on the level. That includes announcing the formation of Rolling Loud Presents, their new national touring company with Live Nation that builds off the success of their festival company with events in the Bay Area, Los Angeles, New York and Miami.
Today the two promoters are announcing that 22-year-old rapper Rod Wave’s SoulFly tour will be the first national outing for their new venture, with more to follow.
“We came into the game producing shows in Florida in 2010, so we really cut our teeth in touring,” Cherif tells Billboard. “We even produced a nationwide tour in 2015 with Robb Banks under our previous company Dope Ent. Since then, we’ve built Rolling Loud into a worldwide brand and it felt like the right time to expand our reach from our flagship festivals to nationwide tours, filling in the gaps between our festivals.”
Zigler explained that the move into touring will help artists build out their live business and develop new strategies for growth.
“Each tour we take on is given the same attention as a Rolling Loud Festival,” he explains. “We strategically work with the artist team and our local partners to ensure a good turnout while not being over ambitious with the room capacities. If an artist really wants to grow they need to go out and build. Every market they go to helps build their fan base. Over time you will get to the Drake and Travis Scott level. Even those acts have been tour support and played in 500 cap rooms. I know because we booked Travis Scott in a 1500 cap room.”
Few genres push the culture of music forward and into new depths like hip-hop, but building a steady business and live music facing brand within the hip hop community has been eluded most promoters. Rolling Loud — which launched a streaming performance channel on Twitch in 2020 — “has always been an amazing marketing platform for talent and new emerging artists. It only made sense to continue to use our platform to promote and assist artists on a national touring level.” Zingler tells Billboard.
The company is expecting a busy 2021, with Rolling Loud Miami headlined by A$AP Rocky, Travis Scott and Post Malone kicking off July 23-25, followed by Rolling Loud NYC Oct 28-30 and Rolling Loud LA set for Dec. 10-12 in Los Angeles. Zingler says that additional major tour announcements for the company are on the way.
Rolling Loud Presents Rod Wave: SoulFly Tour are below.
Fri Aug 27 – Houston, TX – Bayou Music Center
Sat Aug 28 – Austin, TX – Stubb’s Waller Creek Amphitheater
Sun Aug 29 – Irving, TX – The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory
Tue Aug 31 – Tuscaloosa, AL – Tuscaloosa Amphitheater
Wed Sep 01 – Atlanta, GA – Coca-Cola Roxy
Fri Sep 03 – Charlotte, NC – Charlotte Metro Credit Union Amphitheatre
Sat Sep 04 – Portsmouth, VA – Atlantic Union Bank Pavilion
Sun Sep 05 – Raleigh, NC – Red Hat Amphitheater
Thu Sep 09 – Jacksonville, FL – Daily’s Place
Fri Sep 10 – West Palm Beach, FL – iTHINK Financial Amphitheatre
Sat Sep 11 – Tampa, FL – MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre at the FL State Fairgrounds
Mon Sep 13 – New Orleans, LA – Fillmore New Orleans
Wed Sep 15 – Louisville, KY – Iroquois Amphitheater
Fri Sep 17 – St. Louis, MO – Saint Louis Music Park
Sat Sep 18 – Minneapolis, MN – The Armory
Wed Sep 22 – Chicago, IL – Byline Bank Aragon Ballroom
Thu Sep 23 – Detroit, MI – The Fillmore Detroit
Fri Sep 24 – Cleveland, OH – Jacobs Pavilion at Nautica
Sat Sep 25 – Indianapolis, IN – TCU Amphitheater at White River State Park
Mon Sep 27 – Cincinnati, OH – The Andrew J Brady ICON Music Center
Wed Sep 29 – Pittsburgh, PA – Roxian Theatre
Fri Oct 01 – Bridgeport, CT – Hartford HealthCare Amphitheater
Sat Oct 02 – Brooklyn, NY – Coney Island Amphitheater
Sun Oct 03 – Washington DC – Echostage
Tue Oct 05 – Montclair, NJ – The Wellmont Theater
Wed Oct 06 – Philadelphia, PA – The Fillmore Philadelphia
Fri Oct 08 – Baltimore, MD – MECU Pavilion
Sat Oct 09 – Boston, MA –House of Blues Boston
Tue Oct 12 – Kansas City, MO – Uptown Theater
Thu Oct 14 – Denver, CO – Fillmore Auditorium (Denver)
Fri Oct 15 – Salt Lake City, UT – The Union Event Center
Sun Oct 17 – Phoenix, AZ – The Van Buren
Tue Oct 19 – Los Angeles, CA – Hollywood Palladium
Wed Oct 20 – San Diego, CA – Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theatre at SDSU
Thu Oct 21 – San Francisco, CA – Bill Graham Civic Auditorium
Sat Oct 23 – Seattle, WA – WAMU Theater
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