Abel Tesfaye is the perfect man for the job, but Doja Cat’s performance right before his headlining set had plenty of fans asking… why didn’t just she just take the final slot? Not only did Doja come on point, with multiple outfit changes, tons of incredible choreography, and even a collaboration with Taco Bell (might this be the one she warned us about?), but she also brought out fellow female rapper Rico Nasty to perform their early joint track “Tia Tamera.” And that song, mind you, is an ode to Doja’s own set of twins. Girl power, right? Check out footage of the pair performing together below.
Coachella’s day-two lineup of hip-hop acts branched out from the two main stages (Coachella stage and the Sahara tent) to encompass some of the smaller tents and even take over some of the corporate activations. This was mostly a good thing but did make seeing some counter-programmed artists a little more difficult than day one. For instance, Flying Lotus playing a set at the Heineken House coincided with catching one of Brockhampton’s final performances at the Sahara stage.
Freddie Gibbs’ Gobi set also crossed Rich Brian’s at Sahara, meaning catching both would have taken a huge chunk out of both as well. For what it’s worth, Gibbs made the most of his placement and probably could have filled the Mojave tent, as his crowd spilled out of the back and sides. Despite not having Madlib – who had to miss the set for other obligations – Freddie smoothly held court himself, bantering with the crowd and his “hype man,” a bunny mascot. His big gag was pretending that the bunny had somehow bum-rushed the stage, a joke that delighted the crowd as much as his high-velocity, one-breath raps.
Another impressive set was JID’s. The Dreamville firecracker’s set at Sahara was also full to bursting, promising a warm reception for his upcoming follow-up to DiCaprio 2. He didn’t offer many extras on the bigger stage, but his exuberant energy filled the space, while he was cheered on by his Spillage Village compatriots Earthgang from the DJ booth. At one point, fellow Coachella performer Denzel Curry popped out to a massive roar from the crowd. It would have been cool if he could have used the stage more, though.
Something I forgot to mention in my day one recap is how moving most of the hip-hop acts to the Sahara stage was a smart move because it allows for more elaborate stage designs. Brockhampton especially took advantage of this, bringing along the big blue gorilla and canyon set from their tour. While things almost took a turn for the worst when the high desert winds nearly “skinned” the big guy before they could start their set, the crew was able to get things nailed down in time for the rowdy “boy band” to take the stage.
Their second-to-last set as a group showed all the hallmarks of their usual chaotic performances, but the crowd – mostly 20-somethings – gave them more energy than I’ve seen since I first saw Brockhampton at Flog Gnaw in 2017. They certainly stoked this “one night only” energy with repeated declarations that they wouldn’t be reuniting anytime soon. You could tell no one believed them – or maybe no one wanted to believe them – but it is a shame that they seem to be packing it in as they’ve hit their stride as performers.
21 Savage also used the Sahara tent to the fullest, using LED screens and raised platforms to turn the stage into a subterranean lair, perfect for evoking the menacing, horror-thriller vibe of his favorite movies. Savage, like Lil Baby from day one, showed that he has also entered the league of rap’s most-improved performers, projecting much more force than his laconic raps would suggest. His crowd was one of the biggest of the night, and when Post Malone popped out to perform “Rock Star,” I admit I got a little nervous about a potential crowd control situation.
Fortunately, the crowds at Coachella are a little more mellow than some of the younger bunches at other fests. Another huge crowd that focused more on having fun than pushing forward was the one for Megan Thee Stallion, who preceded day two’s closer, Billie Eilish. Like 21, her set was a briskly-paced showcase for some of her bigger hits. Unlike his, hers incorporated a wardrobe change to a mini-DJ set of some of her mixtape favorites. Her set also included a confrontational new track that seemed to take some verbal jabs at a male antagonist – something that’s sure to have fans buzzing for the next few days.
Other rap acts that made an impact thanks to the new streamlined hip-hop format at Coachella include Isaiah Rashad, who used his time to address the leaked video that surfaced on social media recently, Rich Brian, who double-dipped as part of 88Rising’s main stage set, and Masego, who set the tone early as one of the midday acts on the main stage that drew in masses of curious onlookers. Although there still wasn’t very much discovery on day two – at least, not for me – what I saw was an encouraging survey of rap music that showed how far so many of the top acts have come in the last few years.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Last year was a great year for Isaiah Rashad. After nearly five long years, he returned with his sophomore album The House Is Burning. Thanks to features from Lil Uzi Vert, Jay Rock, SZA, 6lack, Doechii, and more, The House Is Burning stood out as one of the better rap projects in 2021. This year was supposed to be an even better one for Rashad, but things took an unexpected turn when his alleged sex tape was leaked. The incident was another example of social media’s cruelty, but through it, the good side of it was shown as a large number of fans made sure to send him love after the leak.
Rashad held his first performance since the leak at this weekend’s Coachella festival and it’s here that took the opportunity to respond to the alleged leak. He did so through an introduction video that he played before beginning his set. “The purpose of doing that was to embarrass him,” a voice in the video said. “However, it backfired. When his video leaked, his streams and everything went up. He’s up on the charts now.” The video also featured clips from The Game, Joe Budden, Akademiks, and more
He would go on to play highlights from The House Is Burning like “RIP Young” and “Headshots.” Rashad also brought out Doechii for “Wat U Sed” and her new song “Crazy” and SiR for a performance of “Rope // Rosegold” from The Sun’s Tirade.
Isaiah Rashad gets emotional during his performance, “I’ve seen y’all messages and shit, y’all niggas kept me alive these last couple months” pic.twitter.com/Cdc3vKRGMZ
“I see all the messages and all that sh*t, all the positivity,” Rashad said before closing his set. “Y’all n****s done kept me alive these last couple months.”
You can watch the video from his Coachella set above.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Wherever she goes, Megan Thee Stallion makes news. So it’s not that surprising that the Houston hottie was making waves even before she took the stage at Coachella 2022 by letting fans know she was planning to debut a brand new song. Megan is
constantly giving fans new music, as her most recent collaboration with Dua Lipa, “Sweetest Pie,” clearly proves, and tonight’s new song might be called “Dick Don’t Run Me.” As she already predicted on Twitter, this one really goes out to the ladies and resonates with women most deeply, with a message of female empowerment and a kiss off to an ex lover.
I got this song that I recorded and every time I play it for a woman they start jumping and clapping I think I wanna perform it at Coachella for the first time before I actually drop it
After her disappointment that the fest was initially canceled way back in 2020, The Stallion was clearly more than ready to take the stage this evening. And with her unique combination of spitfire bars, incredible breath control, and all that twerking, her set was a highlight of the night, preceding headliner Billie Eilish by just a few hours. Check out footage from Megan’s set below, particularly these clips of her brand new song. Odds are, this new single is going to hit streaming services sooner than later, so keep an eye out for updates on that, too.
After three years away, Coachella returned to Indio, CA this weekend. And while some might have expected young fans to rage across the polo fields with all the angst of two previous cancelations in the rearview mirror, the sense on site was a lot more tepid, as if everyone wanted to get their feet wet before fully diving in. It’s far too early to say if the past few years have changed Coachella’s identity or changed how young people approach these massive cultural events, but the initial sense is that things have slowed down a little, and the traditional revelry has given way to something more appreciative and understated.
All that said, the fashion-forward appeal of Coachella remains. There were costumes and skin, lots of transparent lace and vibrant colors. With years of opportunities to show off festival fashion squandered by a pandemic, fans dressed their best and made 2022’s edition count. Below we have some photos of our favorites, who returned to one of the world’s best festivals with a commitment to show off exactly why Coachella is what it is. As they prepared for a day that included Harry Styles, Arcade Fire, Lil Baby, and more, everyone looked predictably great with the giant art structures and palm trees as a backdrop.
With the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival returning for the first time in three years, it looks like the organizers’ have adjusted their hip-hop strategy. While in past years, the festival has gambled a bit more on rising stars in the genre like Aminé and Dej Loaf, this year, the focus shifted to providing more established stars like City Girls, Cordae, and Lil Baby.
This isn’t a bad thing at all, though. While day one of the 2022 Coachella Festival only sported a handful of rap acts, by honing in on more proven quantities, the festival offered an excellent cross-section of samples of where the genre currently is, with one or two glimpses at where it could be going.
Philip Cosores
Whereas rap acts are usually spread pretty evenly around the festival grounds, this year, it appears there was a more streamlined concept. The majority of the rap acts who appeared did so on the Sahara stage; the only two exceptions were Princess Nokia and Lil Baby. Nokia was upgraded from the tiny Sonora tent to the main stage, albeit for an early afternoon set, while Lil Baby played a primetime set on the main stage that felt too early in hindsight.
Philip Cosores
Lil Baby’s impressive set appeared to incorporate some of the lessons he’d learned during his recent Back Outside arena tour. The set design was more ambitious, depicting a busy trap house motel, and Baby’s performance was much more fluid and animated, suggesting that he’s grown in confidence and settled into himself as a showman. Though it was light on guests, Gunna did appear to perform “Drip Too Hard” and “Pushin P,” to a predictable massive crowd pop.
However, when compared to the much more low-key Daniel Caesar set that followed, it felt like Baby perhaps should have been the penultimate performer ahead of Harry Styles. The drop in energy coincided with a drop in temperatures as the desert wind picked up; I think going with the higher energy set into the headliner could have improved the reception of both.
Philip Cosores
Meanwhile, on the Sahara stage, a strong lineup started with City Girls, running through Cordae, South African DJ Black Coffee, Baby Keem, and Big Sean. The only thing that seemed out of order was not starting with Cordae. His live band-backed set was as strong as any I’ve seen, but by the time he hit the stage, the exuberant crowd from City Girls had thinned considerably.
Understandably, curating a massive festival like this takes work. But it does seem that a more experienced hand could have benefitted the sequencing for the hip-hop acts to keep the energy building. Fans who enjoyed upbeat renditions of tracks like “Twerkulator” and “Said Sum” (with surprise guest Moneybagg Yo) didn’t stick around to watch Cordae perform Lost Boy staples like “Thanksgiving” and From A Bird’s Eye View cut “C Carter” — maybe they should have because Cordae’s versatility is always impressive and perhaps City Girls fans would enjoy high-energy fare like “Scottie Pippen” and “Kung-Fu.”
While I’m sure there’s at least some overlap between Cordae’s fans and those of City Girls, that part of the Venn diagram is thin enough that booking them back-to-back wound up appearing awkward – at least, until Cordae’s more hardcore fans and curious heads finally filled the Sahara tent back up.
Getty Image
What did work well was concentrating the hip-hop acts to one or two stages and spreading them out sufficiently enough to allow someone interested mostly in seeing hip-hop to take in most of the sets. I missed Baby Keem, but only because I was so curious to see how Daniel Caesar would handle the big stage with some mellow tunes (the answer is “not well,” but not because his performance wasn’t good. It was just stuck after an electrifying performance from Lil Baby). Ideally, this could be the strategy in the future, too.
Obviously, spreading the acts more evenly between the main stage and Sahara could encourage more movement for hip-hop heads to check out other genres, while omnivores wouldn’t have to zigzag all over the polo grounds. Instead, the hip-hop acts could simply be a home base to return to at either end of the field. As long as someone in booking has a grasp of where acts are in their careers and how their respective sounds compare and complement each other, this new, streamlined strategy could make finding hip-hop at the biggest festival easier and more enjoyable than ever.
Getty Image
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Anitta is having quite the big week. Just a few days ago, the Brazilian singer released her fifth album Versions Of Me. The project arrived three years after her fourth full-length effort Kisses. After celebrating the release of Versions Of Me, Anitta brought her talents to Coachella for a flavorful set with some special guests. She made her entrance to the stage with Snoop Dogg by her side and later on she brought out Saweetie so that they could do a brief performance of their collaboration, “Faking Love.” Elsewhere, Anitta’s backup dancers later got into a “funk battle” with Diplo who was spinning on the DJ booth.
Anitta’s Versions Of Me features her viral TikTok track, “Envolver,” which she also performed during her debut set at Coachella. Versions Of Me itself arrived with 15 songs and features from Ty Dolla Sign, Afro B, Khalid, Saweetie, YG, Cardi B, Myke Towers, and more. Anitta’s Coachella performance also comes after she and Saweetie stopped by The Late Late Show With James Cordento perform “Faking Love.”
You can watch a clip of Anitta’s Coachella set in the video above.
Versions Of Me is out now via Warner Records. You can stream it here.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Daniel Caesar undertook quite a difficult task for this year’s Coachella — he performed right before Harry Styles took the stage. Now, Caesar is a very gifted artist in his own right, an incredibly poised performer, and definitely deserves a late set time at music’s most Insta-famous festival, but even given all that, preceding Harry is no mean feat. His fans are ultra passionate and he recently released a brand new single, “As It Was,” that listeners were keed up to hear live for the first time. With an upcoming album, Harry’s House, looming, and the fact that Kanye dropped out last minute, Harry’s set at the fest is a huge deal.
But, given his talents, it’s also unsurprising that Caesar pulled off the set with aplomb. And to get fans hype for the rest of the night, he even brought out a huge pop star of his own, none other than Justin Bieber. Of course, these two connected on the hit single, “Peaches,” off Justin’s last album, Justice, also accompanied by Giveon, and went all the way to No. 1 with the song. So it only makes sense that Caesar would be thrilled to incorporate it into his set at the festival. Check out some clips of Justin’s appearance up top.
Harry Styles is one of the biggest names on the Coachella bill this year, especially after Kanye West dropped out pretty last minute. Luckily for pop fans, both Harry and Billie Eilish will be holding down the fort in Indio this weekend, along with late addition, The Weeknd, who replaced Yeezy in the eleventh hour. Tonight, for the first night of the festival, it’s all about Harry, and since the release of his first new single, “As It Was” was a huge success, it’s likely going to be a fantastic show.
Then again, we already know all about Harry’s incredible live performances, spaces that become safe havens for his fans, and a place where he also expresses himself in a way he often holds back on social media and elsewhere. During his set tonight, listeners were all queued up to get the first live rendition of “As It Was,” and Mr. Styles did not disappoint. Check out footage of the song’s live debut up above, and keep an ear out for more from this set. There’s always the chance that friends like Stevie Nicks will show up, or that another new song from his upcoming album, Harry’s House, gets aired out.
Next weekend, Coachella will hold its first festival since 2019 after the coronavirus pandemic canceled their 2020 and 2021 iterations. Kanye West, Billie Eilish, and Harry Styles were initially announced as headliners for the upcoming festival which will take over Indio, California during the weekends of April 15-17 and April 22-24. In normal times, Coachella would be conducting last-minute preparations to kick off the first of their two festival weekends, but a wrench was thrown into their plans when Kanye West dropped out earlier this week. This sent officials into a scramble to find a replacement, and luckily they were able to lock in The Weeknd and Swedish House Mafia as the new headliners.
According to TMZ, Kanye West reportedly walked away from an $8 million payout by dropping out of Coachella. He also lost a $500,000 production fee by walking away from his headlining performances. For what it’s worth, Kanye is a billionaire so missing out on the 7-figure payment is most likely not that big of a concern for him. Thankfully for Coachella and all attendees, the situation has been fixed but it didn’t come without some tension during negations. Page Six, which sites a “music source,” says that The Weeknd threatened to also drop out as a headliner if he did not receive the same payment as Kanye.
“The Weeknd came in at short notice to take Kanye’s top spot. But Phil Anschutz [who owns the Coachella Festival through AEG Live] wanted to hold on to Kanye’s money and pay The Weeknd far less, just a few million,” the source told the publication. “The festival would pocket the rest […] Even after Coachella announced the new lineup on Wednesday, a deal wasn’t in place for The Weeknd, who threatened to pull out at an hour’s notice if he didn’t get the same deal as Kanye. Finally, on Wednesday — faced with the prospect of a second headline act pulling out of Coachella at the last minute — Anschutz’s company caved and agreed to pay the Weeknd the same money.”
Page Six notes that another source told them that Anschutz was not directly involved in negotiations to secure The Weeknd as a headliner.
I think I wanna perform it at Coachella for the first time before I actually drop it
stevie wong 
|Harry Styles, performing ‘As It Was’ live from 