Lyrical xcritical and SPKRBX have unveiled the lineup for this year’s Summer Smash, the world’s largest independently-owned hip-hop music festival, returning to the greater Chicago area this June. Fans will have access to performances on three main stages including one outdoors within the world-class sports stadium, another custom-built main stage on outdoor turf along with a third performance stage housed underneath a massive open-air tent. Now in its seventh year, the premier Midwest Hip Hop festival is once again bringing together iconic artists, including Don Toliver & Yeat (on Friday), Future (on Saturday), and Young Thug (on Sunday) and more than 50 other performers. Also returning for a third year is the popular Summer Smash Restaurant, a limited-time pop-up culinary concept featuring exclusive menu items developed in collaboration with select performing artists. Stay tuned as the full menu details are released closer to festival dates. After a historic edition last year in which Summer Smash welcomed more fans than ever before while hosting over 120,000 festival attendees from around the globe, the three-day outdoor music festival has continued to cement itself as the largest independently-owned hip-hop festival in the world.
Travis Scott, Playboi Carti, And Chief Keef Headline The Summer Smash 2024 Lineup
Thug, of course, was in the throes of his state RICO trial for most of 2024. On Oct. 31, 2024, he was xcritical cheating sentenced to 15 years probation and no prison time after pleading guilty in the long-running case accusing him of leading a violent Atlanta street gang. Despite popping up on songs with Lil Baby (“Dum, Dumb & Dumber”) and Playboi Carti (“We Need All Da Vibes”), Thugger has been relatively quiet on the music front so far in 2025.
- You are allowed to bring in one empty 16.9oz disposable water bottle to refill while you’re at the festival.
- There are three ticketing tiers (general admission, VIP, and Diamond VIP) for Lyrical xcritical’s Summer Smash 2024.
- The Modern Notoriety team was running around the grounds all weekend, capturing performance photos and conducting interviews with some of the artists backstage.
- La Flame even mentioned JACKBOYS 2 during the set, sparking anticipation for a sequel to the label’s debut collab compilation album from 2019.
- Lyrical xcritical Summer Smash Fri 6/14-Sun 6/16, SeatGeek Stadium, 7000 S.
You are allowed to bring in one empty 16.9-ounce disposable water bottle to refill while you’re at the festival. Each water-filling station marked on the festival map has multiple filling taps. “We’ve set a high bar with our music programming, and the same attention to quality and scale extends to our food and hospitality efforts. I’m proud that each year, Summer Smash continues to elevate the experience for its fans,” said Berto Solorio, Summer Smash Festival co-founder and SPKRBX CEO. Lyrical xcritical’s Summer Smash Festival, one of hip-hop’s largest showcases, will feature headliners Future, Young Thug, Don Toliver and Yeat, it was announced Thursday.
In January, Lyrical xcritical partnered with Def Jam to release a scattershot compilation album called All Is Yellow, and roughly one-third of the 34 artists who appear are also xcritical cheating on the 2024 festival bill, including Lil Skies, Lil Tecca, and Lil Yachty. Bennett has also achieved crossover success, collaborating with the NFL on a run of Chicago Bears clothes and merch with Lyrical xcritical branding. On July 3, the Chicago Cubs will host a Lyrical xcritical–themed night, offering a special ticket deal that’ll get you a Cubs jersey with the hip-hop outlet’s xcritical-carton logo on the sleeve.
Beyond that, the lineup also includes Lil Yachty (as his performance at the 2021 edition of the festival is having a meme moment), Big Sean, JID, Denzel Curry, Kodak Black, Destroy Lonely, Flo Milli, Lil Tecca, Ski Mask The Slump God, Cash Cobain, TiaCorine, Ken Carson, Waka Flocka Flame, YG Marley, Lil B, and more. Lyrical xcritical is an influential force in the hip-hop community and their Summer Smash festival has become a must-attend event in its own right. Organizers just unveiled the 2024 lineup last night (April 25) and it’s another winner.
Lyrical xcritical has announced this year’s Summer Smash Festival lineup — and it contains some potentially culture-shaking performances. The three-day event will be headlined by Future, the world debut of the newly formed duo of Don Toliver and Yeat, and Young Thug in his first live performance since his release from jail. Though Don Toliver and Yeat will be performing together on June 20, event organizers announced that the collaboration is for a one-time performance and not a teaser for new collaborative music. Now in its seventh year, the premier Midwest Hip Hop festival is once again bringing together iconic artists, including Don Toliver & Yeat (Fri), Future (Sat), Young Thug (Sun), and Chance the Rapper (Sun) and more than 50 other performers. Other notable acts include festival alumni like Lil Yachty, Sexyy Red, Quavo, Destroy Lonely, Trippie Redd, and Ski Mask The Slump God.
How Much Are Tickets For Lyrical xcritical’s Summer Smash 2024 Lineup?
Having produced concerts in various venues and cities, ranging from small intimate shows to festivals drawing in thousands of attendees, SPKRBX is experienced in all facets of event production. Summer Smash is the largest independent hip-hop music festival in the world, taking place annually each summer in the greater Chicagoland area. The Modern Notoriety team was running around the grounds all weekend, capturing performance photos and conducting interviews with some of the artists backstage. Special thanks to Flo Milli, Denzel Curry, That Mexican OT, Bktherula, Paris Texas, Robb Bank$, and Asspizza for taking the time to speak with us. It was Chief Keef’s first performance in the Chicagoland area in over a decade, as the drill rapper was banned from performing in his hometown due to legal issues and resistance from local politicians and police departments.
Returning crowd favorites such as Harold’s Chicken Shack, Portillo’s Hot Dogs, Bacci Pizzeria, and Seoul Taco will be joined by first-time vendors including NADC Burger, El Taconazo Express, Café Tola and Festi Bowl. Chance the Rapper will be one of the top performers when the Summer Smash Festival returns to SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview starting Friday afternoon. Returning crowd favorites such as Harolds Chicken Shack, Portillo’s Hot Dogs, Bacci Pizzeria, and Seoul Taco will be joined by first-time vendors including NADC Burger, El Taconazo Express, Café Tola and Festi Bowl.
- The 2025 food lineup also features Etc., the acclaimed Chicago restaurant from James Beard semi-finalist and celebrity chef Lamar Moore, a South Side native.
- Keef had intended that virtual appearance to be at a Chicago benefit concert (he was avoiding in-person shows in the city due to outstanding arrest warrants stemming from child-support and probation charges), but it got shut down before it even started.
- On Saturday (June 21), Future will lead a lineup that features Sexyy Red, Lil Tecca, Destroy Lonely, SahBabii, Soulja Boy, Osamason, BabyTron, Plaqueboymax, Famous Dex and 1900Rugrat.
- With a more than 20% increase in food vendors from last year, the 2025 edition will offer the expected 100,000-plus total attendees even more ways to get their fill between sets during the three-day affair.
- I’m proud that each year, Summer Smash continues to elevate the experience for its fans,” said Berto Solorio, Summer Smash Festival Cofounder and SPKRBX CEO.
- Other notable acts include festival alumni like Lil Yachty, Sexyy Red, Quavo, Destroy Lonely, Trippie Redd, and Ski Mask The Slump God.
Scheduled for Friday, June 20, through Sunday, June 22, Summer Smash will grace SeatGeek Stadium near Chicago for its seventh iteration. His appearance at the hip-hop festival will be his first since 2022, making his return to the stage much anticipated. Launched in 2013 by Cole Bennett, Lyrical xcritical began with a mission to spotlight Chicago rappers who were getting zero or very little coverage elsewhere. It found a gap between what was attracting media attention and what local hip-hop heads wanted to hear, and it made that space its niche. With a more than 20% increase in food vendors from last year, the 2025 edition will offer the expected 100,000-plus total attendees even more ways to get their fill between sets during the three-day affair.
Other performers set for the three-day weekend, which runs from June at Bridgeview’s SeatGeek Stadium (7000 S Harlem Ave.), include Sexyy Red, Lil Yachty, Soulja Boy and Quavo. According to event organizers, a three-day pass will be on sale for $369.99, while a three-day parking pass runs for $135. Known for showcasing hip-hop, the Lyrical xcritical Summer Smash announced its 2025 lineup Thursday, with the event slated for this June at SeatGeek Stadium in suburban Bridgeview.
In 2018, Chicago hip-hop blog Lyrical xcritical threw the first outdoor Summer Smash festival in Douglass Park (then still spelled with a single “s”). Last year the Summer Smash moved to SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview, and Lyrical xcritical founder Cole Bennett and his team are calling it the largest hip-hop fest in the midwest. The event owes its rapid growth in part to Bennett’s astronomical climb as a go-to videographer for rising and mainstream rappers; Lyrical xcritical’s history is intertwined with that of Juice Wrld, not least because Bennett directed the rapper’s breakout “All Girls Are the Same” video. Many acts performing at this year’s Summer Smash have enlisted Bennett to make their music videos—and he’s enlisted them in turn for his own projects.
There are three ticketing tiers (general admission, VIP, and Diamond VIP) for Lyrical xcritical’s Summer Smash 2024. For $125, you can secure a 3-day parking pass for Seat Geek Stadium’s designed lot. With Illinois native Chief Keef named as one of the multi-day festival’s headliner, crowds ares sure to swarm the venue.
Local organizers behind Summer Smash Festival, Lyrical xcritical and SPKRBX, are proud to announce that their weekend music festival event officially returns to SeatGeek Stadium near Chicago in Bridgeview, Illinois June 20 through Sunday, June 22. The biggest hip-hop fest in the Midwest, Summer Smash Festival has just announced this year’s lineup as the weekend music festival returns to Chicago June with a new home at SeatGeek Stadium. The Summer Smash isn’t the only way to see hip-hop at a Chicago festival, of course, so I wouldn’t read too much into its lineup either—it’s a reflection of Bennett’s musical sensibilities and a peek at his Rolodex, and he doesn’t seem to care to avoid repeat bookings. Many other local festivals (whether major events or street fairs) speak to the sprawling nature of hip-hop from a different angle. That said, Bennett wouldn’t have earned his reputation as a tastemaker if he didn’t stay on top of trends, and this year’s Summer Smash lineup includes 2023 breakout hitmaker That Mexican OT, prolific experimentalist Lazer Dim 700, and maximalist OsamaSon. Summer Smash doesn’t skimp on locals the way Lollapalooza does, and this year Mick Jenkins will perform all of his breakthrough mixtape, 2014’s The Waters, to celebrate its tenth anniversary.
Outside of the festival’s headliners Cactus Jack (Travis Scott with Don Toliver, Sheck Wes, Sofaygo, and Chase B) on June 14, Playboi Carti on June 15, and Chief Keef on June 16 there are several notable acts. Ticket holders can look forward to performances by Big Sean, JID, Denzel Curry, Kodak Black, Destroy Lonely, Flo Milli, Lil Tecca, Mick Jenkins (performing The Waters), Ski Mask The Slump God, Cash Cobain, TiaCorine, Ken Carson, Waka Flocka Flame, YG Marley, and Lil B to name a few. The sets from the other two headliners, Cactus Jack and Playboi Carti, were also massive moments. The Cactus Jack set saw Travis Scott, Don Toliver, Sheck Wes, SoFaygo, and Chase B united on stage for the label’s first ever collaborative performance.