This morning, hip hop and rap lovers were treated to the news that global hip hop festival brand Rolling Loud would be heading their way to Australia in the new year, for the very first iteration of the festival in the Southern Hemisphere.
Rolling Loud is already a huge part of the American festival calendar with artists like Kendrick Lamar, Future, Cardi B, Migos and Lil Wayne taking over Miami, San Francisco and LA since the festival's first year in 2015.
Sydneysiders are the lucky ones in 2019, with Rolling Loud hitting Sydney Showgrounds on January 27.
The festival's first headliners are due to be announced later this week, but we're impatient AF so here's our wishlist for the bill.
childish gambino
Upset Childish Gambino fans who bought tickets to his headlining tour this November, only to have it cancelled a few weeks ago, are still waiting for any sign of rescheduled dates. We're hoping another couple of months is ample time for Donald Glover to get his injured foot up to scratch and maybe lead the Rolling Loud bill as well a handful of headline shows. We need some This Is America in our lives!
the carters
Yeah, yeah, we know we're dreaming. BUT Jay-Z and Beyonce did just complete a massive On The Run II world tour which RUDELY skipped our side of the globe. There have already been rumours that the pair had Australia in their sights in late 2018/early 2019 so this might be what they had in mind. Anyway, we're willing to sacrifice Jay if Bey just ends up here herself giving us another Coachella-level performance.
janelle monae
Janelle Monae's Dirty Computer this year absolutely flipped the idea of hip hop on its head and her live performances are top-notch, so seeing her head up this bill would be a dream. Having cancelled a tour with Kimbra back in 2014 (which we still desperately wanna see happen FYI), Janelle told Double J recently that she felt "so bad" for cancelling on us and "cannot wait" to return to Australia. We're waiting Django Jane!
kanye west
He's supposed to drop YANDHI later this month so... if that happens, he'll actually have two albums, ye and YANDHI, to bring us. Of course, there's every chance YANDHI will get delayed again. Ye also hasn't toured since 2016's Saint Pablo tour (which notably had many cancelled dates due to him being hospitalised) so it's a little unlikely he'll kick off another chapter of touring in Australia, at a festival no les, but Kanye's never been one to do what people expect of him so we've still got our hopes on this.
cardi b
We know Cardi's here for Origin Fields and Field Day already over New Year's but maybe she'll wanna take a much-deserved Australian holiday and stay for the entire month? There's no doubt in our minds that she's gonna blow punters away during her debut Aussie performances this summer so perhaps an appearance at Rolling Loud to sit around a whole national headline tour.
Rolling Loud Festival will be heading to Sydney Showground on January 27 2019. Head here for more info.
