While music festivals are known as huge gatherings for music fans from across the country, they have awesome benefits like having all the live music you could ask for across all genres, as well as music’s hottest artists being on display for thousands to see. However, there are some drawbacks like less than stellar accommodations (if you decide to camp out). With winter in full swing and some major music festivals announcing their 2017 lineups, here is a sneak peek of what is to come.
The first major announcement comes from the iconic Coachella music festival which has been rocking the California stage since 1999. Notable acts featured include Radiohead, Travis Scott, Beyoncé, and Kendrick Lamar among others. But, as a hip-hop fan, I am surprised to see how many big/up and coming acts are featured. For example, Mac Miller, Denzel Curry (one of the rappers included in XXL magazines 2016 Hip-Hop Freshman class alongside Lil Uzi Vert, and Desiigner among others), Future, Gucci Mane, ScHoolboy Q, Tory Lanez, and DJ Khaled just to name a few. So, if you’re a fan of hip-hop, and can spare a couple hundred bucks to make a trip down to Cali, it wouldn’t be a bad idea. Coachella also features other big artists like Lorde, Father John Misty, and Bon Iver to mention a couple more.
Along with Coachella, another major festival announced its 2017 lineup, and that’s the Governors Ball. Based in New York City’s Randall Island Park since 2011, it has featured notable acts such as Kanye West and Drake, and after taking a peek at this year’s acts, they are not straying away from featuring big name artists. Notable acts include Lorde, Tool, and Chance the Rapper among many others. However, just as Coachella, it seems very hip-hop heavy, as there are a lot of notable artists of the genre performing this year. Artists like Childish Gambino (hot off his unique album Awaken My Love!), ScHoolboy Q, Logic, Rae Sremmurd, YG, Skepta (a very popular British rapper), and Danny Brown are just a couple. So, as I mentioned earlier, if you are fan a hip-hop, this wouldn’t be a bad festival to attend.
Overall, as more festivals continue to reveal their lineups, it will be interesting to see which big name artists they manage to get, and the hottest stories to come from these music festivals. I’m anxious to see what local festivals such as Seattle’s Bumbershoot have to offer, and how artists structure their acts, and which surprise features they decide to include. Overall, the hype seems to be growing as each festival creeps closer, and this spring/summer looks to be as lit as ever (insert fire emoji’s).
