Festival season was back in full swing in Montreal with the kickoff of Festival Metro Metro, the weekend-long outdoor hip-hop festival that took place at the city's Olympic Stadium.
With so many amazing performances here are the most memorable by the day.
Friday
Lil Pump still makes music? Surprisingly, yes, but he's more of a hype man to his own songs than he is the artist performing them. Mumbling atop his sonically redundant hits, Lil Pump rarely got through a whole verse himself, instead opting to ad-lib most of the time. Coming out to "Esskeetit," it wasn't long before Pump demanded a mosh pit from the crowd, one of several throughout his short set. Perhaps most impressive, less than five minutes into his set, over a dozen frazzled fans asked to be removed from the crowd — whether due to its density, the mosh pit or the heat finally taking its toll, we'll never know.
That was just the start of the chaos that followed in the upcoming hours. Frequently, Lil Pump looked confused as to what was happening in the crowd and the reason for security's frenzy. Midway through the set, organizers began asking the crowd to back up and make space between one another. As they demanded that everyone "reculé!" ("step back"), Pump again demanded that everyone form a mosh pit, in complete contradiction to the festival's pleas. Eventually the show went on, but only after several threats of shutting the festival down unless everyone cooperated.
After Pump's set, security opened the gates and forced the attendees at the front to leave their spots to clear up space. Saddened and angry die-hards who had likely been waiting hours for their favorite headliners were sent to the back of the crowd, many with tears in their eyes.
While many may have been upset about Young Thug's circumstances, Trippie Redd proved himself undoubtedly to be a worthy headliner and closer to a beautiful Friday evening. In true Montreal fashion, minutes after the crowd began their never-ending chants of "olé, olé, olé," Trippie Redd took the stage to an eruption of cheers and applause atop his hit single "Dark Knight Dummo." Not long after, the Ohio native took a celebratory puff of his blunt and proceeded to begin an a cappella version of "Holy Smokes" with the crowd.
Trippie Redd was welcomed with open arms after a hectic start to the festival. His laidback demeanor, on-stage smirks and anecdotes in-between songs (he told us about the "damn delicious" ice cream he had before coming) made him feel more like an old friend than an artist to be idolized. His occasional complete cuts from the music in favor of singalongs were always reciprocated with the same delightful energy that he gave to the audience. While his set may have been shorter than planned due to the setbacks earlier in the day, it would be hard to imagine an artist closing the first day of festivities on such a positive note — a much-welcomed closing act by a promising up-and-comer with much more to accomplish.
Saturday
Don Toliver brought the energy to a newly optimistic Saturday crowd who only had to endure 10 minutes of drizzling rain instead of the predicted daylong thunderstorm. Having only gained traction in the rap scene over the last couple of years, Toliver's star-making collabs with several big-name artists have already given him a rather recognizable repertoire of songs to craft a set list from. Travis Scott-assisted tracks like "Flocky Flocky" and "CAN'T SAY" were fan favorites, as was Toliver's feature on Donda track "Moon." Labelmate Sheck Wes, another one of Saturday's performers, also came out to perform "GANG GANG" alongside Toliver. The most-anticipated track was undoubtedly Internet Money's hit "Lemonade," which nearly everyone in attendance sang along to. The setlist was a fitting appetizer for the main dish that was to follow.
While everyone may have bought tickets to Saturday's sold-out lineup to see Lil Baby perform his first-ever show in Canada, most didn't know the real treat that was in store for them. Kicking the night off with "Drip Too Hard" and "Close Friends," Lil Baby put on a stellar show, performing in front of an "Oakland Food Mart" set design, an homage to a corner store from Baby's Atlanta hometown. As his many chains dangled atop his topless torso, Lil Baby was soon ready to introduce a highly-welcomed surprise guest: Drake. Unbeknownst to the crowd, Canada's very own came out to support his friend and perform several songs together. Coming out to "Wants and Needs," the duo followed it up with "Girls Want Girls" off Drake's most recent album, Certified Lover Boy.
At that point, it was clear that it had gone from being Lil Baby's show to Drake's show. The performer took over for most of the remainder of the set, setting the crowd on fire with newer songs like "Way 2 Sexy" and "Laugh Now Cry Later." The crowd was ecstatic when Drake played "Headlines," one of his signature songs, in full for the first time in allegedly seven years; Drake seemed just as ecstatic to be there, saying "I couldn't miss the opportunity to see Montreal face to fucking face." He finished the evening with 21 Savage collab "Knife Talk" before handing the mic back to Baby who closed the show with "Freestyle."
Sunday
While the show got off to a rocky start with a nearly hour-long wait between acts punctuated by multiple boos from the crowd, 50 Cent's entrance to "What Up Gangsta" garnered immediate forgiveness from the once-annoyed crowd. Once 50 started, there was no stopping him. The music flowed from song after song, hit after hit, with no room for banter. "Hate It or Love It," "Many Men (Wish Death)," "P.I.M.P." and "I Get Money" were all blended in effortlessly one after another. Despite being on a time crunch, 50's set extended past the 11 p.m. curfew.
The highlight of the evening was, as expected, "In da Club." As confetti filled the sky surrounding the Olympic Stadium, it felt like a true celebration — a party being put on by old friends making up for lost time.