Hot 97’s annual Summer Jam always kicks off the summer season with a bang, and this year did not disappoint. The show moved away from its fully outdoor experience at Metlife Stadium and into a hybrid approach at UBS Arena in Belmont, NY.
Summer Jam started outside of the arena with the Warner Records Stage, featuring up and coming artists in the hip hop world and guest appearances from some of hip hop’s biggest names. NLE Choppa, who was a main stage performer, joined 2Rare on stage to perform their hit song “Do It Again,” and French Montana, another main stage act, came out to greet the crowd and get them hyped for the full day of music.
After a couple hours at the Warner stage, the show moved to the inside of the arena. NLE Choppa opened up as fans started to fill in their seats. Choppa performed some of his most popular tracks including “Walk Em Down.” After Choppa, Bed-Stuy’s Lola Brooke took the stage with a high energy performance complete with a dance team and guest appearances from BreezyLYN and Billy B. By the time Lola’s set was finished there was not an empty seat in sight.
This year’s event had an emphasis on women in rap, and every female act that took the stage shined a bright light onto the future of the rap game. Coi Leray, one of the biggest female stars in hip hop today, took the stage following Lola Brooke’s performance. Coi’s smooth choreography helped boost her performance as fans went word for word singing her hit song “Girls Is Players Too.” Dancers were doing flips and using red solo cups as props during Coi’s set and matching her every move as she graced the stage.
Last year’s headliner and East Flatbush native Fivio Foreign followed Coi and turned the crowd up to another level. It was only fitting that Fivio opened up his performance with “City of Gods,” his song that features Alicia Keys and Kanye West, and refers to New York City as the City of Gods. Fivio then brought out two New York Rappers to assist his performance: Brooklyn’s Sleepy Hallow and Bronx’s Lil Tjay. Sleepy performed his popular tracks “2055” and “Deep End Freestyle.” Lil Tjay joined Fivio in performing their track “Zoo York” and stayed on stage to support Fivio as he performed “Big Drip.”
Up next was Bronx Rapper Ice Spice. Her performance on the Hot 97 stage was action packed to say the least. Ice Spice brought out numerous guests and received a gold plaque for her song “Munch (Feelin’ U)” while on stage. She brought Lil Tjay back out to perform their song “Gangsta Boo,” and she also brought out Flo Milli, Kali and Kenzo B. The crowd welcomed the guests with open arms as Flo Milli performed “Conceded” followed by Kali and Kenzo B performing their viral song “Area Codes.” Ice made sure to show appreciation to the New York City crowd, thanking them for her recent success.
In between sets, Hot 97’s DJ Funk Flex played tunes to keep the fans engaged. But after Ice Spice’s set, Funk Flex brought out another surprise artist. DaBaby joined Flex in the DJ booth before taking the mainstage to perform his new hit “SHAKE SUMN.” DaBaby then went into the crowd to play “SHAKE SUMN” a couple of times and his song “Suge.”
After DaBaby, French Montana took the stage. Like many other mainstage acts, French also brought out many surprise guests, including: Luh Tyler, Capella Grey, Remy Ma and NLE Choppa. Montana played many of his most popular tracks including “Unforgettable” and his verse on “All The Way Up.” Following French Montana, The LOX took the stage for their 50 years of Hip Hop performance. Their set brought fans back to the earlier days of hip hop with tracks like Jadakiss’s “Who Shot Ya (Freestyle)” and “We Gonna Make It” Even with their nostalgic performance they too had special guests, Rakim and Scar Lip.
Closing out the action packed night was Washington Heights native Cardi B. Cardi’s performance featured numerous pyrotechnical visuals with fire and smoke shooting out of the stage. Cardi followed the trends of Summer Jam by also bringing out a surplus of surprise performers, her guests were Kay Flock, Glorilla, Latto and 21 Savage. She had the crowd going to all of her tracks as she went through her discography for the sellout crowd. Her performance showed the New York fans that Summer Jam will continue to be a staple in hip hop culture and although the event moved, its high quality performances stayed the same.
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