JMBLYA 2017 Highlights & Recaps
JMBLYA celebrated its fifth year in 2017 with another amazing two-day music event that featured world-class hip-hop and EDM acts. The festival took place this past weekend on May 5th and 6th in Dallas and Austin, respectively and hosted sold-out venues in both cities with 50,000 total attendees.
The 2017 festival was headlined by Chance the Rapper, who recently won three Grammy Awards this year, including Best Rap Album and Best New Artist, following the success of his highly applauded mixtape, Coloring Book. Chance’s performance in Dallas saw various surprise appearances, including Migos, Gucci Mane, and Slim Jxmmi of Rae Sremmurd
The event started in Dallas at the Coliseum Parking Lot at Fair Park, which saw an expanded footprint and a sold-out crowd of 25,000 fans. The two-day festival then rolled into Austin on May 6th at a brand new event location, Circuit of The Americas (COTA), which we were able to attend. The award-winning facility hosted a sold out crowd of 25,000 festival attendees of all ages, while offering free parking to all fans, which everyone really appreciated.
Also performing at the two-day event were one of today’s most exciting breakout hip-hop artists, Lil Uzi Vert, whose collaboration on Migos’ hit single “Bad and Boujee” resulted in his first number one single this January on the US Billboard Hot 100 and R&B sensation 6LACK, who was named last November to Rolling Stone’s monthly list of “10 New Artists You Need to Know.” Additional artists included Memphis-based rapper Young Dolph along with DFW’s own Snow Tha Product, Atlanta-based hip-hop artist YFN Lucci, and rapper/singer/songwriter Pell. The celebration also saw several notable guests, including Ezekiel Elliott of the Dallas Cowboys, former NFL quarterback Vince Young, and UT alum Myles Turner of the Indiana Pacers, among various other Texas tastemakers.
The lineup also included Atlanta-based rapper Gucci Mane, who in Dallas brought out earlier performers, Migos, for a rendition of their recent collaboration “Sippery,” and in Austin welcomed hip-hop legend Bun B to join him on stage. Migos’ highly anticipated performance at the festival set the crowd ablaze with a string of hits, including several from their recent platinum-selling album, Culture. Acclaimed DJ/producer and founder of Dim Mak Records, Steve Aoki, brought his own cake-branded party to Texas and kept the energy high all weekend long.
Geeks of Color would like to thank ScoreMore Shows and various partners who helped to make JMBLYA 2017 possible, including Grounded in Music, 97.9 The Beat (KBFB-FM) in Dallas, Whataburger, Lone Star Beer, Red Bull, Tito’s Handmade Vodka, Pepsi, Fresh Empire, and Electric Sky Wine.
