After an elaborate introduction involving stunt doubles skydiving from a plane behind the stage, headliners Yeat and Don Toliver debuted several new collaborative songs during their first live performance as a duo yesterday (June 20) at the Lyrical Lemonade Summer Smash festival outside Chicago. The rappers alternately performed several songs in a row on their own and then in tandem, while mixing in favorites from a variety of other projects.
Yeat and Don Toliver had only released two songs together in the lead-up to the event, but fans were treated to at least two fresh creations last night, thought to be titled “SËCRET” and “SCRËWED UP.” The tracks are more upbeat than their predecessors “GEEKED UP” and “Heavystunts,” with Toliver singing a bit more than usual and the production featuring plenty of claps and bounces, ala Yeat’s surprising decision to rap over EDM-leaning remixes of his own songs at Coachella in April.
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In another nod to the collaborative spirit of the set, Toliver at one point rapped “No Idea” over the instrumental of Yeat’s “Out the Way,” and then Yeat did the same in reverse. Toliver also teased a second JackBoys album while playing “WHAT DO DO” and “GANG GANG” from the Travis Scott-led side project’s self-titled 2019 debut, as well as a cover of Scott’s “CAN’T SAY.”
The set further included Metro Boomin’s “Too Many Nights,” Internet Money’s “Lemonade” and Yeat welcoming rapper SahBabii for “Viking.” As of now, there’s no concrete information about an album or other music coming from he and Toliver, but last night’s performance made good on their creative potential.
Other day one highlights included the festival debut from rising rapper Benji Blue Bills at the ECCO, while SoundCloud-reared rapper Che debuted the new songs “Die Young,” HELLRAISER” and the set-closing “Lemon Glow.” Nettspend, who performed in a tent here in 2024, was elevated to the main stage this year and premiered several new songs (“Against Me,” “Just Listen”) from his upcoming album, Early Life Crisis.
Despite his pants falling perilously close to the ground on several occasions, Trippie Redd welcomed BloodHound Q50 for versions of their “Triple 3” and “Don’t Blink or Stare” and also covered the late XXXTENTACION’s “Fuck Love.”
With so many different varieties of hip-hop on display at Summer Smash, it’s inevitable that some sets don’t land quite how the artist may have hoped. Such was unfortunately the case in the ECCO tent for Weiland, who was better-known as a rapper on his earlier releases but has shifted into more indie pop territory on his latest EP, You Can’t Climb the Mountain in N.Y. The crowd was restless and possibly confused by the change in style, but backstage before the set, Weiland told SPIN he’s still crafting his ideal blend of musical elements.
“With the album I’m working on now, I’m still evolving my style and getting better always, but I want to merge it with my old shit,” he said. “I want to incorporate other people from the underground and that type of sound.”
Summer Smash continues today with performances by Future, Lil Tecca, Destroy Lonely and Sexyy Red.
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