10 Best Sets At Day N Vegas Festival

The desert is unforgiving, and in that way, it is just like hip-hop fans. The temperatures in Las Vegas were sweltering hot during the day but disgustingly cold at night. Fans' temperaments were similar. GoldenVoice, the company behind Coachella, decided to create a new festival that took place after all the Summer fests had come to a close. The small window of time in the Fall that allows for weather that isn’t unbearable left GoldenVoice with an early November date. For Day N Vegas' three days, hip-hop fans existed in this bi-polar weather. The massive festival had more acts than any one man could keep up with, but we tried. Certain acts only got a few moments coverage before we had to hop over to another stage to watch an equally popular artist. Some artists caught our attention due to their massive fan bases alone, while others earned our respect for playing in the early hours, before a crowd was present-- including artists like JID and Earthgang.

For fans, the three days could be summarized as follows: Friday: Dreamville Day; Saturday: Trap Day; Sunday: TDE Day.

Friday festival-goers were blessed with performances by almost everyone in Dreamville while Saturday was a trap-filled extravaganza with artists like Future, Lil Baby, and 21 Savage (below) taking control.

On Sunday, fans were blessed with TDE performances during various points of the day, culminating in Kendrick Lamar (below) closing the big stage. There was something for everybody at Day N Vegas, if they were prepared to deal with the weather. It was a dizzying weekend rushing from stage to stage, the adrenaline is still pumping. It was no easy task compiling a list of the 10 best performances at the festival, but we did it. Some are expected (J. Cole is always exceptional live), but others were a delightful surprise (Megan Thee Stallion is a goddess).

Check out our list of the 10 best acts of Day N Vegas, and feel free to chime in if your favorite performance didn’t make the cut.

All photos captured by Infanint James for HNHH.

I seemed to be surrounded by many 6lack fans who had never seen him live before Day N Vegas. As a fan of the young artist, it was amazing to witness so many people really connect with him on stage. I heard several sentiments along the lines of “he’s amazing live,” and “wow, I wasn’t expecting that,” after he was finished. Without much glitter and glam, 6lack took to the stage and easily glided through some of his hits as well as some lesser-known album cuts. He was as cool and smooth as an ice cube, taking his time with each note and lyric as if he had an endless set. He appeared unworried with the sun beaming down on him as he swerved around the stage smoothly. 6lack brought a neo-soul coolness to a hot desert afternoon, and impressed the crowd with pure talent and no gimmicks.

Reason brought fellow Los Angeles rapper Boogie on stage, and that alone cements his spot on this list. Boogie performed earlier in the day, but cut his set short due to technical issues. Reason, being that kind of guy, made sure Boogie got a chance to get a moment back on stage. Lo and behold, the TDE representer blessed fans with a bass-heavy set then gifted us with a collaboration with Boogie. Reason’s instrumentals almost drowned out his lyrics, but his hard-hitting bars floated just one frequency above the bass. It created an ambiance where you felt like you were submerged in the beats and Reason’s voice was the only thing stopping you from drowning. Although he doesn’t have the name recognition like several other members of TDE do, Reason outperformed almost every other member of his clique during Day N Vegas. His energy wasn't too over the top, his cadences were spot on, and the enjoyment etched on his face displayed his true love for the craft and his fans. 

Kali Uchis is a problem, in the best way. She has the sex appeal and the allure of Beyonce, yet she has the Latin vibes and music to match Shakira. Her ability to reach a massive audience was clear the moment Kali yelled “does anyone speak Spanish?” to a packed crowd. The deafening roars of approval were a clear sign that Kali has an enormous Latin fan base, but that also didn’t deter her English speaking fans from having fun. Kali blessed the stage with a band and backup dancers, the only female act to have professionally trained back up dancers all weekend. It created a diva-like aura around her set, and anyone passing by her stage couldn’t help but to stop and stare at Kali and her dancers putting on a show of Grammy level excellence. 

YBN Cordae is stuck in between two generations and he knows it. On the one hand, he makes the type of music that inspires mosh pots and mild violence. On the other, he makes lyrically potent music meant for healing and thinking. He brought both of those energies to Day N Vegas. Cordae had moments where he performed hits that made the crowd go crazy like high schoolers during their first weekend away from their parents. Then he would sit on a stool and kick some deep lyrics while rapping in a soothing tone. His ability to hit so many emotions in such a short set was astounding. Calculated and cool, Cordae performed like a well trained veteran although he is relatively new to the game.

There are 0 acts that can bring the hype like the Flatbush Zombies. While many “hype” acts just jump around on stage while screaming over their own lyrics, the Zombies do things differently. They don’t use many backing vocals so they make sure to hit every lyric on the head. All of their screamo-esque yells and chants were not prerecorded either, which was a treat for fans who came to see Zombie Juice let out those bloodcurdling yelps. Meechy and Erick Arc continuously engaged with the audience, even if the audience wasn’t extremely responsive at times. Their energy almost forced those who may have been just hanging around to turn up, and for those who came just for them, it created a frenzy. Mosh pits were opened, bottles of water were throw in every direction, and for a moment it felt like a rock concert. There was not one artist that was both energetically mischevious and lyrically efficient during that weekend, except for the Zombies. Props.

With many rappers who can also sing, you would expect a ton of backing vocals. It just comes with the territory. Not for Smino though. Of course, he had a few backing vocals here and there, but the St. Louis artist performed his soulful records without much help from prerecordings. His high pitched croon echoed around the festival grounds as he hit high notes and coasted through gorgeous melodies. Songs like “Anita” and “Tequila Mockingbird” really resonated with a crowd that was littered with people who were either new fans or attendees who weren’t super familiar with his music. I have little doubt that Smino walked away from Day N Vegas with a plethora of new followers. He danced across the stage without missing a beat and deployed his slick-talking personality in between songs which added a level of allure to his vibe.

After having J. Cole tell you how proud he is of you on stage, you better come with some fire. After a short appearance during Cole’s set, Da Baby had his own set the following day. The humorous and energetic rapper was entertaining and fun, but I wasn’t too impressed. Da Baby performed his hit “Suge” multiple times, although he has numerous songs he could have put on display. He spent too much time dancing and jumping in the crowd to spend any real-time rapping. If it sounds like I wasn’t a fan of his performance, you’re right. What earns him a spot on this list is how much the crowd rocked with him. Yes, I wasn’t too impressed-- but the crowd was mesmerized. Enchanted even. I stayed only because I couldn't stop watching how engaged and excited his fans were. Da Baby spent possibly 60% of his set in the crowd on fans' shoulders or standing on whatever he could find. Attendees rushed to touch his shoes or even be hit with a drop of his sweat. He had the crowd in the palm of his hands and their lust for his energy earns him a spot on my list. Even if I’m not feeling your performance, to have that amount of control, love, and awe connected to your fans is enough to prove my personal feelings wrong. 

ScHoolboy gets a spot on this list for his stage presence and personality alone. The TDE member struggled with technical difficulties, like many other artists during the weekend. Unlike other artists though, who tried to take attention away from the moment, ScHoolboy hilariously went at the issue head-on. He would jokingly complain that his set was only 30 minutes. “I can’t even get into my hits like “Studio.” That song is for the ladies… I guess I’m not getting a pussy tonight,” he joked.  After each song, he would comment on the time such as, “Damn, just 13 minutes left? What the fuck am I gonna do with 13 minutes.” He asked the crowd which songs they wanted to hear and continued to joke and interact with excited attendees while his DJ tried to communicate with the sound guys. When he did dive into his set, Schoolboy was unapologetic with his gangsta. The fact the ScHoolboy still got the crowd to laugh, cheer and chant his name, pretty much-keeping everyone jovial during what could have been a disastrous few moments, proves how great of a showman he truly is. 

I haven’t been on the Megan Thee Stallion hype train, so I was interested to see what all the fuss was about. Well, the hype is real ladies and gentlemen. Much like a stallion, Megan raced onto the stage with such grace and power that I was mesmerized from the jump. While I had little knowledge of her catalog I couldn’t help but bop along to 100% of her records. She mixed raw sexuality (her whole booty was hanging out of a very short skirt) with extreme confidence, lyrical dexterity, and stage presence. Meg also spent quite some time making sure a group of ladies could make it on stage to twerk along with her… an experience those ladies will not be forgetting anytime soon. Although she did not have a mountain of hits to perform, Meg took control like no one else that weekend and made it feel like it wasn’t a festival, but it was her own show. I’m officially on the hype train.

What more would you expect from Cole? The Dreamville head honcho delivered the best set of the entire festival on Friday evening. Cole came with a full live band and a stage decked out in “The Fall Off 2020” gear, hinting that he is ready to drop his next project. Cole teased fans with the album title back with the release of K.O.D., and it appears that he’s about to enter full promo mode. Although he didn’t give fans any new music, just the sight of the “Fall Off 2020” material was enough to satiate Cole heads around the festival. With the heavy political implications from the gear, I would assume the upcoming election and the state of American socio-economic culture will be the main focus. For his set, as expected, Cole sauntered through a slew of his hit records including “G.O.M.D,” “Can’t Get Enough,” “Power Trip,” and “No Role Modelz.” His band was masterful at recreating the instrumentals and Cole stopped for moments to speak to the crowd about love, maturity, life, and prosperity. And just to add a cherry on top, Cole brought out DaBaby, JID, Earthgang, Coz, Bas, Lute, and Omen to perform selects cuts off Revenge Of The Dreamers III.