To be clear: As far as we can gather from publicly available information, Kanye West does not wear diapers. That hasn’t stopped Jack Antonoff from jokingly making that assertion about Ye, though. He did so in a Los Angeles Times interview from February, and he did so again yesterday (April 16) on Jimmy Kimmel Live!.
The discourse started when Kimmel rattled off a list of some of Antonoff’s collaborators, all of whom were women. He jokingly asked what Antonoff has against men, and then more seriously wondered if there’s something that makes him more inclined to work with female artists over male ones.
Antonoff attested that he works with a lot of men, too. He then went on to try to explain his perspective to Kimmel, and after a couple of unsuccessful attempts at getting Kimmel to understand, he eventually said:
“I think men… There’s two people that I think are are almost too over-sensitive to even function, and it’s men and members of the music industry. The amount of sensitivity… it’s sort of like watching Kanye. By the way — and Jimmy, you might like this because I know that you have your own relationship with the right and how you interact with them, and you’re much closer to how I see these things than other people. I don’t like going to people and, ‘You do this, you do this, blah blah blah,’ because that’s what they want, you know, this sort of type of over-sensitive man. So I just do more of this, like… like if I saw Kanye, I would run up to him and be like, ‘The diaper… your diaper is so full, we have to change your diaper. Your diaper needs to be changed, there’s a huge problem.’”
He then compared that mindset to Kimmel’s famously antagonistic approach to Donald Trump and his supporters, assessing that, like Kimmel, he prefers to “up the trolling” instead of being “overly offended.”
Antonoff’s band Bleachers also performed “Tiny Moves” on the show, by the way, so check that out below.
New music festival alert: The inaugural Sudden Little Thrills Music Festival is going down on September 7 and 8 at Hazelwood Green in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
The lineup is bringing the heat, too: The Killers and SZA are headlining, and also performing across the fest’s two days and three stages are Melanie Martinez, Wiz Khalifa, St. Vincent, Fletcher, Omar Apollo, Yung Gravy, Girl Talk, Crowded House, Ethel Cain, Del Water Gap, Hoppi Campus, Juvenile, The Frive Era, Lupe Fiasco, Kenny Mason, Royel Otis, and more. The fest is also putting an emphasis on local performers, including Pittsburgh artists Feeble Little Horse, Corook, Fedd The God, and Krunk And The Center Of Life Band.
Your 2024 Lineup has dropped Sign up now for a presale passcode at https://t.co/2uKzly4zQO to guarantee access to 2-Day GA Tickets at the lowest price. Presale begins Thursday, 4/18 from 10am-11am ET. Prices increase at 11am when the public on-sale begins pic.twitter.com/nKHRVBaTCu
— Sudden Little Thrills Music Festival (@SLT_Fest) April 16, 2024
Regarding tickets, the pre-sale runs on April 18 from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. ET. After the pre-sale, prices will increase for the public on-sale, which starts immediately after the pre-sale. Those interested can sign up now to receive a pre-sale passcode, via the festival website.
As for the name of the festival, a press release explains, “Inspired by Pittsburgh’s arts and culture legacy, the name Sudden Little Thrills embodies the ethos of the festival — to be present and open to sudden moments of fun, joy, and inspiration, and selecting Hazelwood Green as the festival’s home expands on that philosophy.”
New music festival alert: The inaugural Sudden Little Thrills Music Festival is going down on September 7 and 8 at Hazelwood Green in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
The lineup is bringing the heat, too: The Killers and SZA are headlining, and also performing across the fest’s two days and three stages are Melanie Martinez, Wiz Khalifa, St. Vincent, Fletcher, Omar Apollo, Yung Gravy, Girl Talk, Crowded House, Ethel Cain, Del Water Gap, Hoppi Campus, Juvenile, The Frive Era, Lupe Fiasco, Kenny Mason, Royel Otis, and more. The fest is also putting an emphasis on local performers, including Pittsburgh artists Feeble Little Horse, Corook, Fedd The God, and Krunk And The Center Of Life Band.
Your 2024 Lineup has dropped Sign up now for a presale passcode at https://t.co/2uKzly4zQO to guarantee access to 2-Day GA Tickets at the lowest price. Presale begins Thursday, 4/18 from 10am-11am ET. Prices increase at 11am when the public on-sale begins pic.twitter.com/nKHRVBaTCu
— Sudden Little Thrills Music Festival (@SLT_Fest) April 16, 2024
Regarding tickets, the pre-sale runs on April 18 from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. ET. After the pre-sale, prices will increase for the public on-sale, which starts immediately after the pre-sale. Those interested can sign up now to receive a pre-sale passcode, via the festival website.
As for the name of the festival, a press release explains, “Inspired by Pittsburgh’s arts and culture legacy, the name Sudden Little Thrills embodies the ethos of the festival — to be present and open to sudden moments of fun, joy, and inspiration, and selecting Hazelwood Green as the festival’s home expands on that philosophy.”
The US Department of Justice is about to drop the hammer on Live Nation and Ticketmaster for their longstanding monopoly over concert promotion. According to The Wall Street Journal, the DOJ is preparing to bring an antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation — which it could file as soon as next month — for using its leverage over live events ticketing through Ticketmaster to undermine competition in the space.
Live Nation acquired Ticketmaster in 2010, and since then, consumers have complained of increasing prices and fees, while at the same time, independently owned venues have gone out of business or been absorbed into Live Nation’s network. The issues came to a head with the return of live entertainment after the 2020 shutdown over COVID, with fans experiencing problems buying tickets for <Beyoncé and Taylor Swift’s return tours.
Those problems spawned a href=”https://uproxx.com/pop/ticketmaster-hearing-senators-corny-taylor-swift-jokes/” target=”_blank” title=””>Congressional hearings about Ticketmaster’s business practices, prompted Ticketmaster to revise some of its policies, and even sparked a class action lawsuit from Ticketmaster customers who felt jilted by hidden fees, website breakdowns, and vastly inflated prices. Separately, but probably relatedly (we have eyes), several musicians’ tours across genre were canceled or shortened by low ticket sales in the past year, with social media users pointing out that prices have just gotten too high to afford for most people.
Meanwhile, Live Nation’s head of corporate affairs Dan Wall has argued that artists set prices, that those prices are subject to high demand and low supply, and that the majority of the fees charged go to venues (failing to mention, of course, who owns an outsized and growing proportion of those venues).
As noted by WSJ, the federal government did not try to block the merger between Live Nation and Ticketmaster but did agree to a settlement in which Live Nation and Ticketmaster would incur steep fines if they were found to be retaliating against venue operators making use of competing ticketing services by doing things like blocking Live Nation artists from playing those venues. Of course, in 2019, Live Nation was found to be violating exactly those terms, forcing an extension of the settlement terms to 2025. It looks like it still wasn’t enough; now, Live Nation could find itself in an even more precarious position.
Every week, Billboard unveils the top 10 songs on the latest Hot 100 chart. The most recent rankings, for the chart dated April 20, are out now, so let’s run down who had this week’s biggest hits.
10. Noah Kahan — “Stick Season”
Kahan’s hit just had one of its best weeks, returning to the top 10 and matching its previous peak at No. 10.
9. Future, Metro Boomin, Travis Scott, and Playboi Carti — “Type Sh*t”
Future and Metro have been dominating the music landscape lately, and their Travis and Carti collab is one of their two top-10 songs this week.
8. Ariana Grande — “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait For Your Love)”
Grande’s former No. 1 single still has some life left, jumping up a spot to No. 8 on the latest chart.
7. Jack Harlow — “Lovin On Me”
Speaking of former No. 1 hits, “Lovin On Me” has been in the top 10 for seemingly forever and it doesn’t appear to be in danger of departing the region any time soon.
6. J. Cole — “7 Minute Drill”
J. Cole actually regrets this song, so much so that he took it off of streaming services, but it did well enough to debut at No. 6 on the new Hot 100. As Billboard notes, the song was removed from streaming on April 12, a day after the end of the new chart’s tracking week. So, the song’s removal didn’t have any impact on the its commercial activity during its debut week.
5. Beyoncé — “Texas Hold ‘Em”
Beyoncé’s country favorite had a noteworthy slide this week, falling from No. 2 to No. 5.
4. Teddy Swims — “Lose Control”
“Lose Control” became Swims’ first chart-topper a few weeks ago and it’s still doing well now, hanging onto a top-5 spot at No. 4.
3. Benson Boone — “Beautiful Things”
For the third consecutive week, Boone’s breakout hit has earned the chart’s top Airplay Gainer award, thanks to 57.4 million plays, an increase 14 percent.
2. Hozier — “Too Sweet”
Hozier has returned to “Take Me To Church” territory: His early-career hit previously peaked at No. 2, a feat the “Too Sweet,” his first song to debut in the top 10, has now matched.
1. Future, Metro Boomin, and Kendrick Lamar — “Like That”
For the third consecutive/total week, Future, Metro, and Lamar’s Drake- and J. Cole-dissing hit “Like That” hangs onto the No. 1 spot on the Hot 100. It’s the first song to spend its first three weeks at No. 1 since Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers” was on top for its first six weeks in January and March 2023.
This week’s #Hot100 top 10 (chart dated April 20, 2024).
Uproxx had Aaron Williams and Philip Cosores on the ground at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California for Weekend 1 of Coachella 2024, and among their main takeaways was that the festival had “plenty of surprises.” In a literal sense, Coachella 2024 Weekend 1 staged several surprise guests who easily could have headlined their own sets.
Below, check out the best surprise performances from Coachella 2024 Weekend 1.
Billie Eilish With Lana Del Rey
Friday night’s (April 12) headliner was Lana Del Rey. Billie Eilish made a surprise appearance — although the rumor mill was busy earlier in the day, so it really wasn’t much of a surprise — during the set. They performed Eilish’s “Ocean Eyes” and Del Rey’s “Video Games” together. Eilish showered Del Rey with praise, telling the crowd, “This is the reason for half you b*tches’ existence, including mine.” (Eilish later held a surprise Coachella party of her own, where she debuted music from her forthcoming album, Hit Me Hard And Soft.)
Lana Del Rey and Billie Eilish sing “Ocean Eyes” at #Coachella.
Elsewhere on Friday night, Shakira made a she-wolf entrance during Bizarrap’s set. Of course, she performed their Billboard Hot 100 top-10 hit “BZRP Music Sessions, Vol. 53,” but she really stole the show by announcing her Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran World Tour.
Becky G, Arcángel With Peso Pluma
Earlier on Friday, Peso Pluma and Arcángel released the video for “PESO COMPLETO.” It was all a set up for Pluma’s Friday night Coachella set, where Arcángel joined him for the live debut of the song. Becky G also joined Pluma to perform “Chanel.”
Olivia Rodrigo With No Doubt
It had been nearly a decade since No Doubt last performed before the iconic Gwen Stefani-led band reunited for Coachella 2024. The nostalgia-jammed set on Saturday night, April 13, hit all the right notes — including several “Just A Girl” callbacks (as chronicled by Billboard.) But one brand-new element for the ska band was inviting Olivia Rodrigo to the stage, where Rodrigo and Stefani sang “Bathwater.”
Juvenile With Jon Batiste
Jon Batiste is among music’s most ubiquitous collaborators, so he presumably had plenty of options when deciding who to bring out during his first-ever Coachella set. He landed on Juvenile and Willow to perform “Back That Azz Up” and “Be Who You Are,” respectively.
This one is mostly a joke, but we learned in 2023 that we are not allowed to ignore when Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce appear anywhere. Swift is on her The Eras Tour hiatus, so she did not perform, but she was notably in the crowd (dancing, kissing, singing, swooning) with Kelce for Bleachers and Ice Spice. X (formerly Twitter) and TikTok house unlimited footage.
ASAP Rocky, Charlie Wilson, Donald Glover, And Kali Uchis With Tyler The Creator
It is truly Reneé Rapp’s world right now. She was introduced by the OG The L Word cast and brought out Kesha for an updated rendition of “Tik Tok” in which they shouted, “F*ck P. Diddy!”
Kesha was also spotted going down a gigantic slide with Paris Hilton, so that’s fun.
J Balvin has been a part of several notable moments in the past — as he shared on Instagram ahead of his set on Sunday, April 14 — so why stop now? The Colombian supernova was joined by Will Smith for an all-out performance of “Men In Black.” It was perfectly camp.
if I was dehydrated in the desert at Coachella and I saw Will Smith walk out in a Men In Black outfit I’d 100% think I was hallucinating pic.twitter.com/sNfKITDN4J
Justin and Hailey Bieber enjoyed Coachella 2024 from the crowd (and from Hailey’s Rhode pop-up) like everybody else — until Bieber (and Wizkid) made a surprise cameo with Tems on Sunday night for “Essence.” (Wizkid’s “Essence” featuring Bieber and Tems peaked at No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 in October 2021.) Bieber’s performance felt especially surprising because he has mostly kept a low profile since canceling his Justice World Tour in February 2023 after several postponements due to health concerns.
Tems, Wizkid and Justin Bieber perform “Essence” at #Coachella2024
21 Savage, ASAP Rocky, And Teezo Touchdown With Doja Cat
Weekend 1’s explosive finale came courtesy of Doja Cat on Sunday.
“This year, you brought a full-size Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton to your headlining set,” Uproxx’s Aaron Williams wrote in his review. “Bless you, you demented genius. You are the best.”
Doja also brought out 21 Savage, ASAP Rocky, and Teezo Touchdown. 21 was there to perform “N.H.I.E.,” his track with Doja from his American Dream album, while Rocky (“URRRGE!!!!!!!!!!”) and Teezo (“MASC“) each helped deliver live debuts from Doja’s Scarlet deluxe album.
Thank you for proving me right, Doja Cat. I said you deserved to be headlining Coachella two years ago. This year, you brought a full-size Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton to your headlining set. Bless you, you demented genius. You are the best.
The final day of Coachella 2024 was a bit thinner on must-see artists; while there was still plenty to do and see, there was also enough time to wander and explore between the priority sets. So, rather than rushing around from tent to tent and stage to stage, there was time to poke around, try new things, and make a few observations. For instance:
Philip Cosores
Call me biased, but there is no better backing band in music than a churchy-ass Black band. They have the power to uplift pop singers like Reneé Rapp, who we caught in the late afternoon, and to elevate R&B stars like Victoria Monét to transcendent performances. Monét – who also incorporated soul and R&B staples like The Supremes’ “Stop! In The Name Of Love” and Usher’s “There Goes My Baby” and rap breakouts like Sexyy Red’s “Get It Sexyy” into her early evening set – proved every bit to be a star worthy of even better placement upon her inevitable return to Coachella. And speaking of “Get It Sexyy,” while the St. Louis rapper wasn’t on the bill, her presence was felt at practically every DJ set and activation… Sexyy Red is out. Of. Here.
Philip Cosores
One place her impact was felt was GV Black’s Party In My Living Room activation. An initiative from Coachella promoters Goldenvoice, GV Black aims to promote equity and inclusion at the festival, living up to all those promises brands made back in 2020. It partnered with Inglewood rapper Thurz and his long-running party promotion to present DJ sets from both unexpected names like “Billie Eilish” rapper Armani Black and local LA mainstay DJ R-Tistic. One of the upsides of Sunday being a bit more laid back was getting to pull up on friends here and spend an hour two-stepping to club faves in a fun atmosphere out of the sun and wind.
It also gave the Uproxx team more time to wander and try new food options. While the team typically has faves that we frequent year after year, there, there are still so many other options that it’s worth trying out something new. This year, it was Big Belly Burger, which offered an Impossible version of its signature smash burger. And hallelujah, we may have found a new favorite. With a unique, light sweetness to its spread, Big Belly may even have overthrown some of our usuals.
Philip Cosores
After a calm and cool set from psychedelic funk rockers Khruangbin, Colombian Latin artist J Balvin put on a stellar show at the main stage, complete with an early appearance by Tainy, a surprisingly on-theme surprise pop-in by Will Smith, and an alien invasion storyline straight out of a 1950s B-movie. (Between Balvin, Sabrina Carpenter’s ‘70s thriller set up on Friday, and Tyler The Creator’s own flying saucer on Saturday, they’ve got one hell of a weekend matinee triple feature.)
Philip Cosores
Manwhile, Lil Yachty completely revamped his set from Camp Flog Gnaw in November, tapping into his career beginnings with a big reference to his nickname, Lil Boat, starting the show from the prow of a ship onstage. However, despite what might have been a throwback to his early days, his setlist stuck to the more recent, rock-focused Let’s Start Here and even tapped an indie reference point: multi-instrumentalist Mac DeMarco, who performed two songs, “On The Level” and “Chamber Of Reflection.” Still, Yachty was sure to hit maintstays like “Minnesota” and “Broccoli,” making his set one of the most sastisfying yet.
Now, remember what I said about bands? Doja Cat’s stunning headlining set not only incorporated that signature vamping but took things a step further with a five-part harmony from a South African vocal group, The Joy, paying homage to her roots. Once again, a set was enhanced by understated innovations like a spider cam swooping over the audience and a high-concept, post-apocalyptic sci-fi setup.
Philip Cosores
While Doja’s set did not incorporate a storyline per se, it did a great job of actualizing the things that have been on her mind lately. The eye-popping visuals addressed the public’s preoccupation with her hair, her tattoos, and her heritage; hence, backup dancers draped in Wookie-like wig costumes, South African vocal groups singing in Zulu, and yes, a massive T-Rex skeleton traipsing along her catwalk, aided by a team of puppeteers.
Doja Cat, like Lana Del Rey, Tyler The Creator, J Balvin, and a slew of other artists to rock the stage, showed the potential still remaining to be wrought from the platform provided by Coachella. What she – and they – demonstrated was that it doesn’t take flashy streaming numbers or worldwide name recognition, so much as the imagination to prove that they belong. There’s a whole generation of new stars waiting to be minted, and Coachella gives them the opportunity to make their case – which Doja Cat did with her signature wit and weirdness.
However the flip side of that is you will occasionally be forced to make choices. I had to contend with this obstacle more than once on Saturday, choosing between acts of both similar genres (future-of-R&B girls RAYE and Thuy, booked against each other in adjacent, overflowing tents) and ones that ostensibly have little in common (rap&B vanguard Blxst on the Outdoor Theatre stage vs. Sublime’s main stage Coachella debut with Jakob Nowell, the late founder Bradley Nowell’s son). The imperfection solution? To only catch a fraction of each, missing out on the signature hits in some cases.
Philip Cosores
There were also sets that had to be foregone entirely, like T-Pain’s slammed set at the redesigned Heineken House activation or Billie Eilish’s Billie & Friends set at DoLab. These minor stresses were more frustrating because they were absolutely avoidable. These are the sorts of moments you reserve for the big stages, with counter-programming of equally desirable acts all across the festival to prevent overcrowding, but as third-party activations responsible for their own bookings, they apparently underestimated the response either would have
Philip Cosores
T-Pain is as hot as he’s ever been, bouncing back from a career nadir that saw him become little more than a novelty act. And Billie Eilish JUST headlined the fest two years ago. Just because she wasn’t technically performing doesn’t mean any mention of her appearing wouldn’t equal a stampede (there is probably a conversation to be had about the very weird need to just share space with celebs, even when they are not doing the things for which they’re best known, but I’m not going to have it here. At least Billie let her fans listen to some brand new material, which hopefully made the intense situation worth it).
But ultimately, these really were minor problems in the grand scheme of things – and decent ones to have, insomuch as that can be true. You WANT excitement at the biggest festivals, and these were certainly moments that generated plenty of it. Likewise, every act my editor and I caught on day two brought exactly the right sort of energy to what will be the brightest spotlight for many of them.
Philip Cosores
From RAYE employing a 19-piece band to Blxst blowing out his late afternoon set, it seemed everyone was crystal clear that Coachella still constitutes a huge opportunity for any artist’s career, no matter what snarky commentators on Twitter may pretend for the amusement of their followers. Even the Billie & Friends and T-Pain sets, as cramped as they got once the word spread, created the sort of moments Coachella is famous for – and will continue to be famous for, apparently.
Here’s another prediction: Ice Spice will almost certainly headline Coachella in the near future if her trajectory continues. Phil, my editor, joked that going to the Sahara tent from other side of the polo grounds might as well be an actual trek to the Sahara (“pack a bag,” he said), but many braved the journey for Ice’s 8 o’clock set, looking for all the world like a human sandstorm stirred by the blustery desert winds on its way to take in the TikTok phenom. Again, this was despite social chatter that’d suggest that she shouldn’t even have been booked for the tiny Sonora tent (someone should do a study on the sheer bitterness of the remaining denizens of Elon Musk’s latest money suck).
Philip Cosores
The people danced. They rapped. Every word. Her mic was ON. She had immaculate breath control. Her set design, consisting of inflatable subway trains and a giant Ice Spice head, built a world. She is what hip-hop has needed all this time. Stop hating.
Philip Cosores
Speaking of mics being on, Gwen Stefani ‘s mic certainly was during her reunion with No Doubt, a moment she divulged she thought would “never happen.” Whether or not they actually thought that their reunion was truly an impossibility, they showed no signs of rust, providing the near-universal draw that brought the same (presumed) Sublime millennials together with the (presumed) Billie Eilish zoomers in an astonishing assemblage that didn’t have any competition for either – unless you count Coi Leray, who proved more than up to the challenge as she played the Mojave tent opposite the genre-bending Gen X rockers.
Philip Cosores
Another rapper I was surprised to discover in that time slot was multicultural lyricist Saint Levant. Hailing from Jerusalem, the Palestinian-Algerian rapper came correct with a set that drew from his multiple heritages (he’s also French and Serbian) and included a timely call for peace in Gaza. It’s actually a shame that such an important moment was confined to one of the smaller tents, Gobi, and played against the splashier appearance of No Doubt. There are several poignant metaphors there.
Again, I dipped out on an engaging and fascinating performance full of cultural set pieces and thoughtful statements to check out another artist. While Coi’s set was less politically timely, its energy was impressive. Coi’s choreo was on point, her conditioning was honestly jaw-dropping, and despite the obvious differences between them, she could have given Ice Spice a run for her money when she showed the crowd her twerking skills.
Philip Cosores
As Saturday’s headliner, Tyler The Creator didn’t really have any other acts to contend with, but if he had, he made sure that he would have stolen the show. He shocked fans right at the outset with a high-flying stunt that saw him enter the stage like a human rocket blasting through the side of a camper van. The move immediately set a tone that he somehow maintained through a procession of guests (ASAP Rocky, Charlie Wilson, Donald Glover, and Kali Uchis all joined him onstage to perform their collaborations with him) and a three-act set structure that demonstrated the thought and care he puts into all of his works. From playing the hits to reminding the nostalgic zoomers of his wild Odd Future days with a mini-set of classics in the middle, Tyler showed what a headliner is supposed to be. I hope the whole world takes notes — and that anyone who puts that much care into their Coachella set actually gets the room to be seen.
Coachella is still the best place to discover music that you otherwise wouldn’t or couldn’t. For example: on Friday, the first day of this year’s festival, the handful of hip-hop acts that I saw were mostly by accident (as the hip-hop editor, I would normally prioritize those, right?). But on my editor’s recommendation – and as a function of most of the rap acts being booked at the far-flung Sahara tent – I spent as much time taking in pop and indie acts as I did rappers (a random sighting of Tyler The Creator at Faye Webster notwithstanding).
From the headliner, Lana Del Rey, to artists I had little to no experience with (hi, Chappell Roan!), my experience was younger, more melodic, and hey, let’s face it, whiter than in past years – though still surprisingly diverse. For what it’s worth, Sabrina Carpenter’s late afternoon set brought a level of storytelling that made her unfamiliar music that much easier to engage with.
Philip Cosores
And sets like that of The Beths’ certainly did remind me of adolescent Saturdays spent watching The Adventures Of Pete And Pete on Nickelodeon, while the Deftones kicked me all the way back to my mid-’90s skate rat days. I could feel my nostalgia for that era peaking along with my anticipation for more of that feeling at future sets from No Doubt and Sublime (Beach til I die, y’all).
Philip Cosores
Crowd-wise, you would probably be forgiven for thinking Beyoncé was giving a reprise of her memorable 2018 Beychella performance with all the country-western paraphernalia permeating the crowd. Cowboy hats and boots adorned just about every combination of ‘chella ensembles you could imagine – and a few that left almost nothing to the imagination. Those looks eventually gave way to “baked potato chic” thanks to the insane high winds as the sun fell and folks opted for the warmth of thermal foil blankets over trying to maintain the cute of cutoff shorts and mesh dresses.
Philip Cosores
Of course, there was still plenty of my usual wheelhouse to check out. Lil Uzi Vert took to the big stage like a duck to water, complete with a headset mic like mid-’80s Madonna. They put it to good use with some crowd-pleasing voguing, and while it would have been nice to see a little more world building from Uzi‘s set, they pushed the boundaries of what future rappers could do with the big stage and proved worthy of the primetime set by sheer crowd draw alone; the field in front of the stage was so empty at first, that my editor and I actually remarked on it. Three songs later I couldn’t move more than a couple of inches in any direction. Let that be a lesson to Coachella’s bookers…hip-hop is still a huge draw at the festival, even when it seems absent.
Philip Cosores
The trick to finding it this year was broadening horizons and checking for other cultures. Young Miko, a Puerto Rican rapper brought a surprising update to the traditional New York boom-bap sound, while Bizarrap found tons of space in his EDM-centric set for Latin trap and remixes of Travis Scott classics (and a surprise Shakira appearance). My Spanish isn’t as good as it should be for someone born and raised in Los Angeles county but even if I couldn’t catch every bar, I definitely caught a vibe – and so did the overflowing crowds at both sets.
Philip Cosores
Meanwhile, the award for “Most Dramatic Set” undoubtedly goes to Peso Pluma, who enraptured social media with a seemingly incongruous combination of traditional Banda music and hip-hop-influenced dancing. Bookended by verbal interludes by MORGAN FREAKING FREEMAN, Peso illuminated an oft-overlooked and misunderstood cultural artifact. What is more hip-hop than that?
Philip Cosores
However, if there was a runner-up on that category, I’d be more than happy to give it to Lana Del Rey for pulling up through the crowd on the back of a motorcycle at the head of a line of bikers who rolled in to the sounds of her unreleased song “Jealous Girl” (which is still somehow a hit). She even went all-out with a hologram of herself that ruffled a few unlikely feathers.
Philip Cosores
A lot has been made of whether or not Coachella has fallen off in recent years (it’s a circular discussion, one we’ve heard for the past decade). Friday proved that there’s still plenty of road ahead – and that the festival is still the best place to discover your new favorite music, as long as you keep an open mind.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
“A Bar Song (Tipsy),” Shaboozey’s new single, is an unfairly catchy country ditty that will have listeners bopping along to the beat and nodding along to relatable lyrics in equal parts. Shaboozey laments his ever-growing list of expenses and wonders aloud, “This 9-to-5 ain’t workin’ / Why the hell do I work so hard? / I can’t worry about my problems / I can’t take ’em when I’m gone.”
Once the chorus hits, Shaboozey seeks a good time to take his mind off his harsh realities at the local bar: “Pour me up a double shot of whiskey / They know me and Jack Daniel’s got a history / There’s a party downtown near 5th Street / Everybody at the bar gettin’ tipsy.” As the song progresses, he swears he “ain’t changin’ for a check” and admits to waking up still drunk at 10 a.m., but that won’t stop him from regrouping to do it all again because it’s too much fun. Who doesn’t love good, clean escapism?
Watch Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” visualizer above.
