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The 2017 JMBLYA Music Festival Shows Us That Everything Is Really Bigger And Better In Texas

Posted on May 11th, 2017
by
Staff Editor


Everything is bigger in Texas and this notion was proven at this year’s 5th annual sold out JMBLYA music festival. With close to 50,000 total attendees and a lineup for the history books, which included Chance The Rapper, Gucci Mane, Migos, Steve Aoki, Young Dolph, Lil Uzi Vert, Pell, Snow Tha Product, YFN Lucci, 6LACK and DJ Mr. Rodgers, JMBLYA 2017 owes us nothing.

The festival took place deep in the heart of Texas, taking over Dallas and Austin; the Karen Civil team attended the grand finale on Saturday in Austin, Texas. The weather was perfect and so were the vibes – Austin is all about keeping things “weird” and is known for having some of the most wholesome and loveable locals in The United States Of America. This includes the ScoreMore team, who is responsible for throwing JMBLYA and plenty of other hip-hop and indie shows all over Texas.

The festival was very well organized with a phenomenal staff and all sorts of amenities for us to enjoy. These are things you should appreciate during festival season. JMBLYA had everything from the “Fur Coat” VIP area, to Whataburger’s tasty patties, to enough Lone Star Beer and Tito’s vodka for everyone.

Houston’s own DJ Mr. Rogers from IHEARTMEDIA’s 93.7 The Beat curated the vibes. The show opened up with Snow Tha Product, YFN Lucci, Pell, Young Dolph, and 6LACK, who provided the calm we all needed before the extra lit storm. 6LACK performed hip-hop ballads from his most recent project, Free 6LACK and likely had folks in the crowd texting “wyd” to their exes that have been calling.

Photo By: Breanna Loose (@SayBrea)

Photo By: Breanna Loose (@SayBrea)

Next up was Lil Uzi Vert, who hopped on the stage and blew the crowd away like the rockstar that he is. Uzi brought an undeniable energy that likely forced you to do the “eye roll and shoulder” dance at some point during his set. Like he did at Rolling Loud, Uzi at one point climbed all the way up a very high side pole on the stage and performed his song “Of Course We Ghetto Flowers.” Uzi closed out his set with the summer smash hit “Xo Tour Life”, and then it was time for a water break.

Photo By: Breanna Loose (@SayBrea)

Photo By: Breanna Loose (@SayBrea)

Photo By: Breanna Loose (@SayBrea)

The fun didn’t slow down one bit when arguably the hottest rap group at the moment, Migos, hit the JMBLYA stage. The trio’s set was blessed with an intro video from DJ Khaled, followed by energetic performances of “Bad & Boujee”

Photo By: Breanna Loose (@SayBrea)

Photo By: Breanna Loose (@SayBrea)

The festival’s goal is to bridge the gap between hip-hop and EDM and this year they brought out the one and only, Steve Aoki. Fans ran as close to the front as possible in hopes of getting “caked” by the legendary DJ. During Steve’s set, he shot a scene for an upcoming music video and brought out Migos for a collaboration. We had a chance to catch up with Steve backstage and this is what he had to say about this year’s JMBLYA festival:

“By far one of the most exciting festivals for me. When you play with a bunch of DJ’s all the time you kind of already have an expectation. This is great, this is different for me. There isn’t a single DJ on the lineup, it’s just all hip hop artist. Time wise is great for me too because I’m dropping my new album Kolony and on the album, there are a lot of hip hop artists and three of which are on this festival. Those three are Gucci Mane, Migos, & Lil Uzi Vert. – Steve Aoiki

“I’ve been coming to Texas for a while, especially Austin because of SXSW. I’ve been coming out here since 2003. Before I DJ’d I had my own label and brought out my artists on my label out and had our own showcases. Austin has the richest live music history in America. Everyone wants to play here. It’s lit out there, it’s hot.” – Steve Aoiki

Photo By: Yusef Naseer (@_ucef)

Gucci Mane aka GUWOP gave us all the classic hits and that late night kick everybody needed considering he was the second to last to perform. All 25,000 spectators embraced the legend with open and waving arms. The highlight of his set was when everybody sung “I Think I Love Her” and “Lemonade” word for word. Witnessing the influence Gucci had such a large crowd was surely something, and now I understand why he’s looked at as the big brother or father figure to the new wave of trap artists.

Photo by: Breanna Loose (@SayBrea)

Photo By: Yusef Naseer (@_krrw_)

The show ended with Chance The Rapper taking us all to church, per usual. Chance was the perfect ending to the night, making us all realize how blessed and alive we truly are. To watch an entire crowd sing along to such motivational, uplifting, and hopeful songs was the best part of the entire festival. So many people have a large following and the ability to influence but are not using it the right way. Chance is using his influence to save young lives, clean up tainted souls, and give his fans a sense of hope while turning the hell up at the same time! Confetti fell while the crowd sang their heart out to “Blessings”. The same humbling feeling that a lot of us feel after partaking in church, family gatherings, or meditation is exactly how the crowd was left after Chances set at JMBLYA.

Photo By: Breanna Loose (@SayBrea)

Photo By: Breanna Loose (@SayBrea)

Photo By: Breanna Loose (@SayBrea)

Photo By: Breanna Loose (@SayBrea)

JMBLYA 2017 was another one for the books, we can’t wait to see what they have in store for next year!

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