SXSWORLD

3 0 SXS W O R L D | M A R C H 1 4 , 2 0 1 9 | SXSW.COM Now in its fifth year, Rolling Loud has become to hip-hop what the Electric Daisy Carnival is to EDM, a multi-day festival that has become one of the defining industry events of its genre. This year, over the course of three days in Miami, headliners like Migos, Travis Scott, and Kid Cudi and a stacked lineup of up-and-coming talent will perform for 70,000 fans per day. Like most hip-hop success stories, Rolling Loud's popularity is the result of a lot of hustle. 29 year-old co-founder, Tariq Cherif, solidified his love of hip-hop in fourth grade, thanks to the unedited version of Dr. Dre's Chronic 2001 (don't tell his mom). Then, while at Florida State University, he noticed a void in the local hip-hop market and began throwing concerts. Five years later, he booked his first festival, which like most year one events, was a disaster. "The first one was awesome ... it was terrible, terribly awesome," says Cherif. "The amount of rain that Miami gets for the entire month of February, we got in five hours. It was flooding into the venue, the fire alarm was going on the whole time, but 99% of the fans had a great time. It was a great learning experience." It's not surprising that fans enjoyed themselves given the lineup: ScHoolboy Q, Juicy J, A$AP Ferg, Action Bronson, Curren$y, and a young Travis Scott, before he conquered the radio. Supporting him so early has led to a fruitful partnership, with Scott's font size growing on the posters for subsequent fests. "When we first had Travis Scott, he didn't even have an album out," says Cherif. "But we've also always had the underground guys, Robb Banks, Wifisfuneral ... We had Pouya and Denzel Curry from day one." As the festival grew, Cherif and company began attracting even bigger talent, to the point where Cardi B's appearance in Miami this year isn't even getting top billing. Plus, they've expanded to hip-hop epicenters like the Bay Area, Southern California, and Los Angeles itself, Hip-Hop Coachella? Rolling Loud Has Its Own Thing By Dan Gentile Rolling Loud in Miami. Courtesy of Rolling Loud

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