Festival—Say It Loud!
Photo credit: Christian Carter-Ross/Candid Compositions
In June, Live Nation held their very first Queer led and centered music festival called Say It Loud! June is pride month, so it’s a no brainer to celebrate the contributions that Queer artists have given to the genre but this festival deepens that relationship with their fans. The lineup included Destin Conrad, Umi, Syd and Kehlani; a variety of R&B’s rising talent. And to no surprise all four sets were incredible.
The show opens up with Destin performing a handful of records for his day one fans and about 5-6 records of recent releases like “Day Party”. About half way through his set he tells the story of his Jamaican roots and his mother’s love of Wayne Wonder’s “No Letting Go”. He then goes into a cover of that classic and the crowd follows along. Destin’s set ends just before sunset begins and Umi graces the crowd with a moment of meditation. The meditation coincides with a much needed breeze and it creates this moment of peace and connection. Umi, like Destin, performs a mixture of day one records, along with recent releases. Somewhere in the third quarter of her set, she breaks out in a monologue telling us to love ourselves more and she guides us in a duet of Corinne Bailey Rae’s smash hit “Put Your Records On”. During this duet, she’s looking for her most passionate fan, that happens to be beside me in the crowd. The young woman is invited on stage to run the song back with Umi, living the fantasy of all the other Umi super fans in the crowd. A solid move on Umi’s part for bringing her stardom down to earth and elevating the experience for her core fans.
Photo credit: Christian Carter-Ross/Candid Compositions
The sun has finally set and Syd approaches the stage in a cool and angelic like fashion. She hasn’t uttered a word and yet everyone is screaming at the top of their lungs. With every phone pointing in her direction, she begins to groove to her hit collaboration with Kaytranada “You’re The One”. The first half of her setlist was made up of solo records including “Fast Car”, “Control” and “All About me”. We didn’t get a cover sandwiched in her performance, but we were given a run down on the history of her career and how being a studio engineer for Odd Future catapulted her to an opportunity to write for Beyonce. Syd ended her set with several verses from Internet records including “Special Affair” and “Girl”.
Kehlani hits the stage immediately performing the fan favorite “Any Given Sunday”. Throughout the hour of her performance, she never lowered the temperate on stage, delivering classic after classic. At one point, she blew the roof off with a cover of DMX’s “Party Up”. Towards the end of her set, she was accompanied by Syd to perform “Out Loud”, giving the fans an extra side with their meal.
Before heading out, I noticed Destin and Umi in the back of the crowd and I had a moment to share love with both of them. We snapped a few pics and they sent me on my way. I showed up for dope music, and left in deeper solidarity with our marginalized loved ones. This is a festival I’d absolutely attend next year.