JMBLYA Festival // Live in Austin, TX // 5.14.16

Article and Photos by: Joshua Guerra

JMBLYA was back in Austin, Texas for its fourth annual Texas tour on May 14th.  The show was sold out weeks before the event and brought some of the biggest hip hop acts today as well as up and coming artists. The event was delayed by at least thirty minutes due to the weather but this did not stop festivalgoers from getting to the site early to be front row.

Starting off the festival was up and coming rapper Jazz Cartier. Known for always going the extra mile in his live sets, he got the crowd feeling ecstatic for the rest of the night by jumping into the crowd. He performed some of his popular songs such as “Red Alert,” and “100 Roses,” which he recently released a virtual reality music video for. Other rising artists that performed and brought the energy up at the festival were hip hop duo Trill Sammy and Dice Soho, and Keith Ape.

Kehlani brought the hype down a little bit with her soft, soothing vocals performing some of her popular songs such as “FWU,” “You Should Be Here,” and “Did I.” Rising rapper Kevin Gates was on the stage next, who recently released his debut album Islah this past February. The crowd was all in for Gates performance as he performed a few of his classic songs including “Satellites,” from his Stranger Than Fiction mixtape. With his debut album recently released, he had to come out and perform his 2 hit songs from the album and give the crowd what they wanted to hear with, “2 Phones,” and “Really Really.”

DJ Carnage kept the crowd vibing for a while with Keith Ape until the first special of the night guest Post Malone was ready to perform. He performed just a few songs including his debut single, “White Iverson.” Malone was very mellow during his performance but still had the crowd going. Rae Sremmurd brought the hype and energy they always bring to all of their shows. They got the crowd energized with their hit songs, “No Flex Zone,” “No Type,” and “Come Get Her.” As the artist performing right before headliner Future, they made sure the crowd was ready for him. Future showed up to the stage carrying a bottle of champagne, and immediately got the crowd hyped. He threw it back old school to perform “Racks,” a song he was featured on with YC in 2011, long before becoming well known. Other notable songs he performed were, “Where Ya At,” and “Fuck Up Some Commas.”

Unexpected by the fans in attendance, Travis Scott made a special appearance and did a small performance, which included his hit song “Antidote.” Earlier that day, Scott opened for Rihanna at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin for her Anti tour.

This years JMBLYA music festival attracted over 27,000 attendees in both Dallas and Austin combined. The festival moved to a larger location in both cities to accommodate more guests. Bringing some of hip hops biggest and upcoming names, we should be in for a treat for JMBLYA 2017 and see how it can top this year’s lineup.