As the gates opened for day two of Summer Smash, Saturday, June 15th, festivalgoers once again sprinted in under the Summer Smash welcome arch, excited to listen to all the big artists of the day. Many attendees began the festival by filling up their water bottles and hydration packs at the water stations to properly combat the heat before making their way to one of the three stages to stake out their spot for the upcoming performers.
The day started with exhilarating performances from DJ Preme and Robb Banks dominating the Lyrical Lemonade Stage and Dionysus and Fastmoney Ant rocking the SPKRBX Stage. At the Drink Lyrical Tent, early artists had some surprises for festival goers. $am brought out lip-sync and comedy YouTuber/TikToker triplet Chris Sturniolo to spray the audience with a water gun. DJ Bonerboy then made everyone in the crowd jump with his upbeat and enthusiastic performance before 2Rare came on and surprised the audience by jumping over the gate and singing to the crowd within the crowd itself, a fun and engaging move that left fans raving. Freddy Got Magic wowed the SPKRBX audience by bringing on stage Qari who performed on day one and had undoubtedly earned some new fans. This monumental moment was a partial reunion of the rap group Hurt Everybody which included artists Freddy Got Magic, Qari, and Mulatto Beats.
While these performances were happening, Summer Smash teamed up with the NFL to host a flag football competition in the Bridgeview Sports Dome. People attending Summer Smash could take a break from listening to artists and instead go into the air-conditioned Dome to compete for a chance to win free Chicago Bears season tickets, Summer Smash tickets for 2025, and custom jerseys made with the collaboration of Mitchell and Ness and Lyrical Lemonade. Each team had 5 players and played until they were knocked out of the competition, leading to a thrilling battle between the top flag football festivalgoers that only added to the excitement of Summer Smash.
Xaviersobased mesmerized the crowd at the Drink Lyrical Tent as he jumped off stage, stood on the barricades, and sang his heart out. Shortly after, Cash Cobain took over Lyrical Lemonade Stage with his newly released songs “Attitude” and “Grippy” that went viral earlier this year. Bay Swag even shocked the crowd as he appeared on stage to perform “Fisherrr” with Cash. There was no “Bad Sport” in the tent when Baby Kia got the mic for his set and lit the crowd on fire. He similarly surprised the Summer Smashers with rising hip-hop artist MAF Teeski from the south suburbs of Chicago who joined him to spit fire.
The evening saw superb performances by alternative hip hop duo Paris Texas and later rapper, singer, and songwriter Nettspend at the Lyrical Lemonade Stage. Solid sets from DJ Oreo in the stadium and DJ and record producer Zack Bia in the Tent kept the momentum going before Bia, the rapper and singer who first came onto the scene in the tv series Sisterhood of Hip Hop, performed at the SPKRBX stage. Fans in the Tent went crazy when Rich Amiri performed his infamous song “One Call,” and when the set ended they rushed over to hear Lil Skies play “Lust” inside the increasingly full stadium. As Lil Skies finished, Lil Tecca drew a huge crowd at the Lyrical Lemonade Stage. The 21-year-old rapper who rose to fame at the shockingly young age of 16 with his song “Ransom” also performed some of his other famous songs, including “500lbs” and “Number 2” that proved to be fan favorites.
The last two performances of the night at the SPKRBX stage included big names Lucki and Ski Mask The Slump God. The rapper, record producer, and Chicago native Lucki shot up to fame with his album “FLAWLESS LIKE ME” and gave a similarly flawless show to the thousands of eyes watching. Ski Mask The Slump God further amped up the crowd when he played his song “Babywipe”, and he paid tribute to the late XXXTentacion who passed away in 2018 and was a close collaborator of his.
Warming up the Lyrical Lemonade Stage before the final act was a performer that festivalgoers knew would be a sensation. Kodak Black blew fans away when he jumped off the stage and started rapping up and down the gated photo pit wings that put him in the crowd while holding a GoPro camera, explaining that he had made a deal with the company to show off the product in a star-studded way. He pumped up the festivalgoers as he performed all his most famous songs, including “ZEZE” and “Wake up in the Sky.” Afterwards, music video director and record executive Cole Bennett came out and surprised the audience and Kodak Black by singing happy birthday to him. After the wholesome moment, Kodak gave the vibing crowd a few more songs, including “Skrilla” and “Super Gremlin,” ending things with a bang.
Finally, the infamous Playboi Carti, the act that day two Summer Smashers had all been waiting for, came on stage to close out the night in brilliant style. The 28-year-old honored his roots by playing “wokeuplikethis*” which had helped him rise to fame in 2017 before proceeding to rock the black-and-white strobing stage with fan favorites “Carnival,” “Type Shit,” “Sky,” “FE!N,” and many of his other famous songs. Carti is also known for founding the rap collective Opium that includes three artists that also played at this Summer Smash: Homixide Gang, Ken Carson, and Destroy Lonely. The audience cheered wildly as Carti stunned everyone by bringing this entire group out for massive, fire-filled performances. You could feel the heat coming off the crowd as they bounced, yelled, and sang to the hot tracks. To close out the stunning set, Playboi Carti gave the festivalgoers a taste of some unreleased music from his new album coming out later this year. Carti’s fans had nothing to be disappointed with after the amazing group’s exhilarating show.
