Photos & Words by Daniel Garcia.
Bonnaroo 2017 kicked off on Thursday [June 8, 2017], but with the festival’s main stages opening up on Friday (June 9), and with thousands of more festival goers arriving to Manchester, TN, the party rose up to a new level.
While rap fans had to stay patient, as Travis Scott, The Weeknd, Chance The Rapper and more don’t hit the stage until the second half of this year’s festivities, “Broccoli” rapper/singer D.R.A.M. and Major Lazer both put on stellar performances.
The first stand-out performance of the Friday came from the new G.O.O.D. Music signee, New York pop act, Francis and the Lights. With co-signs from Drake and Kanye West, the Francis Farewell Starlite-led project has been embraced by the hip-hop world, and rap fans especially came in numbers to the What Stage to see him perform live. Francis’ set included performances of tracks like “See Her Out”, “Friends” and for a big finale, Chance The Rapper surprised fans to join Francis on stage for their collab “May I Have This Dance”.
Known best for his Lil Yachty assisted single “Broccoli” and his catchy dance record “Cha Cha”, Big Baby D.R.A.M. gave his case for why fans should get to the arena early, when attending Kendrick Lamar’s forthcoming DAMN. Tour this summer, with D.R.A.M. scheduled to support the tour. The always smiling and entertaining, D.R.A.M., rocked the crowd Friday with tracks like “Cute”, “Cash Machine” and more. Hip-hop acts were few and far between for the first half of the extended weekend at Bonnaroo, but D.R.A.M. held his own, and then some.
To close out the second night of the festival, electronic superstar trio, Major Lazer, brought the party to the Which Stage. But to put on a great party, you always need to bring some great rap and hip-hop. Luckily Diplo had some Yeezy in his Serato, as the crowd went wild when Major Lazer played remixes and tracks from rappers new and old. Also playing some of their big collaborations with rappers like Travis Scott, Nicki Minaj and Quavo, for a few DJs, Major Lazer showed why rap music will always reign supreme.
Check out our gallery of photos from Day 2 of Bonnaroo 2017, as some of the big names in rap and Hip-Hop are set to take the stage on Saturday (June 10) and Sunday (June 11).
Video courtesy of Red Bull TV
