Rolling Loud started out as an indie rap and hip-hop festival in Miami. Through grit, hustle and the vision of its two founders Matt Zingler and Tariq Cherif, the event has become the hottest live music brand in the concert world, bar none.
But like so many other festival companies, Rolling Loud has felt the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and has had to shift its star-studded lineups and party-positive vibes to the online sphere. Over the weekend, rap’s premier festival brand partnered with Twitch to broadcast “Loud Stream,” a live virtual festival hosted by Druski, Jenesis Sanchez, DJ Scheme with debut performances of new material by Swae Lee and Ski Mask The Slump God.
Organizers are now reporting that the weekend series attracted 4.4 million total live viewers who tuned in for 12 hours of explosive sets featuring Polo G, NLE Choppa, and Lil Keed, along with leading ladies Kaash Paige and Tay Money. Programmed with additional commentary, interviews, and DJ sets, Loud Stream hit a high of 60k concurrent viewers tuning it for the series.
More than 25,000 fans participated in the festival’s livestream chat, with fest organizers welcoming the virtual crowd and Zooming in a wall of fans directly from their living rooms, “which the artists could see and vibe with while performing their sets,” according to a release.
“Loud Stream” is the first of three virtual festivals Rolling Loud has planned as part of their new exclusive partnership with Twitch. Dates for the next two will be announced soon. Rolling Loud’s new partnership with Twitch also includes daily live hip hop-driven programming, offering special guests and original live shows like The Rotation and Loud Gaming. During “Loud Stream,” Cherif teased upcoming guests for this week’s slate, including Jaden Smith, Swae Lee, and Pouya. See Rolling Loud’s full slate of Twitch programming here and see more highlights from this weekend’s performance on Instagram.