Rolling Loud 2024 Day Three: Playboi Carti Teases I Am Music

The final day of Rolling Loud on Sunday came with less rain and more raging as the Cult of Opium was in full attendance, easily identifiable thanks to their all-black clothing, face paint, reverse NBA jerseys, and crazy masks. It was undeniable that the record label had these kids in the palm of their hands, and that mosh pit culture had evolved a lot thanks to Playboi Carti and his goons.

Speaking of Carti, after teasing that he would preview new material off his upcoming album, I Am Music, the rapper kept his promise, delivering a set chock-full of unreleased music to close out the festival.

Other day-three performances include a homecoming set by Carol City rapper Denzel Curry and a much-needed laidback show by Lil Baby, who brought out British rapper Central Cee.

Check out all the highlights from the third and final day of Rolling Loud below. Missed New Times' previous coverage of the festival? Read the Friday and Saturday recaps.

Shaboozey

Country music has finally crept into Rolling Loud. On Sunday, Shaboozey hopped on stage, bringing tales of late-night drinking and cowboys to South Florida. I didn't know if the crowd would be receptive, considering that Rolling Loud is infamous for its hostile crowds letting performers know how they feel (Kid Cudi), but the kids were kind enough to let Shaboozey do his thing. His set included performances of "Drink Don't Need No Mix," which he did later with BigXThaPlug, and "Last of My Kind." Interestingly, a few cowboy hats and boots could be in the crowd, so some fans were in attendance. Of course, the crowning moment was when he played "A Bar Song (Tipsy)," and everyone started to sing the number one song together. Overall, it was a solid debut from the Virginia native and shows that maybe country music can ride with hip-hop after all.

Destroy Lonely

Out of all the Opium artists that played, Destroy Lonely probably had the weakest set. I'm not saying that it was terrible, but compared to Homixide Gang's set that preceded it and Ken Carson's appearance later in the day, Destroy didn't necessarily have the crowd whipped up into a frenzy. He also has some of the weakest stage presence, with his performance mainly consisting of him running up and down the stage, barely singing his verses. All Opium members are guilty of this, but somehow, he manages to put in the least effort to rap while on stage. Sure, there were still a lot of kids in the pit going nuts, but compared to Carti and Carson, it was child's play.

Denzel Curry

Carol City's finest, Denzel Curry, came out hitting hard, bringing out Robb Banks for the classic track, "Threatz." It was South Florida to the max after that as he came through with that Zel flow going through Zuu's "Ricky," anthems like "Ultimate," and newer tracks like "Hit the Floor." It was hyped and energized with Zel interacting with the crowd, trying to find his favorite side between VIP and general admission, which led to "Fuck VIP!" chants and vice versa. Zel kept asking the crowd to give him their energy, and they obliged during songs like "Black Flag Freestyle" and "Still in the Paint," during which he brought out Lazer Dim 700 and Bktherula. It turned into a real party as the "Hard in the Paint" horns started playing, and it turned into an even bigger party when A$AP Ferg came out to perform "Plain Jane" before transitioning into "Hot One" with TiaCorine in attendance. Closing out with "Clout Cobain," Zel cemented his place as one of the best performers at this year's Rolling Loud.

Ken Carson

It can be argued that Ken Carson is just as hyped as Playboi Carti, but he still hasn't achieved mainstream crossover. Sunday's show proved that he's easily the prince of rage and only second to Carti in the genre. About ten seconds after the first giant mosh pit opened up, there was a line of people trying to escape the crowd while I heard so many kids screaming and laughing along to "SS." Carson continued to pull out all the bangers with performances of "Yale" and "Overseas." Closing out with "Fighting My Demons," Carson proved he's learned a lot from his mentor, Carti, but has been able to distinguish himself by breeding a special kind of chaos.

Lil Baby

Lil Baby gave the crowd a break from all the raging by delivering a more traditional hip-hop set. It was just vibes, with Baby going through mostly a catalogue of hits that went as far back as "My Dawg" as well as new material like "Band for Band," bringing out Central Cee to perform alongside him. It was the first time the two had performed the track together, but you wouldn't have realized it from their natural rapport on stage. Cench stayed a bit longer to perform his 2023 hit "Sprinter" before handing back the show to Baby. The rapper later brought 42 Dugg to perform the quarantine-era hit "We Paid." He continued running through the hits with performances of "Emotionally Scarred" and "Close Friends," the latter to which I saw a few security guards crying and singing. They weren't alone, though. Almost everyone rapped along to "Yes Indeed" and "Sum 2 Prove." If you were questioning if Lil Baby's star is waning, it seems he's still a star at Rolling Loud.

Playboi Carti

Referred to as the "King of Rolling Loud" by his entourage, Playboi Cart came out and gave the performance he promised as a group of team members covered the scaffolding on stage while his guitarist and MC went down the runway to the front of the crowd. Carti had a classic hype man who helped him introduce much of the new material on I Am Music, the rapper's forthcoming album. The project, featuring the likes of Metro Boomin, Travis Scott, and F1lthy, lived up to the hype, making the crowd lose their minds the second they heard the first scream from Carti. One quick observation was that he rapped songs over the already released track, while, during performances of the unreleased stuff, he stuck to just screaming over it. It was fine, though, as the elaborate stage production was just insane to witness, complete with scaffolding, a custom hand chair which he was rolled down the catwalk, and some of the best song transitions I heard all weekend. He also didn't shy away from playing classics like "Shoota," "Rockstar Made," and "Sky."

It's wild to think Carti took such a risk of playing unreleased material for a headlining set. From what was previewed, it sounds like he's been taking notes from guys like Metro, Kanye West, and the Weeknd, creating a booming bass sound combined with pop accents and soulful choirs. It honestly felt like being in church, with some of the most fervent followers already knowing tracks like "Evil Jordan" purely off of snippets teased online. Carti chose "Carnival" to close out the show, screaming, "Every song I'm on is my song!" as the fireworks pop off during the unreleased Weeknd collab, apparently titled, "Lose You." I'm unsure if Carti is the "King of Rolling Loud," but he might give Travis a run for his money once I Am Music drops.