Despite having a deep love for hip hop and R&B, I hate most “urban music” festivals that come to Australia. The only one that has really won me in the past decade was Soulfest 2014, which was co-headlined by Maxwell and D’Angelo with the likes of Angie Stone, Anthony Hamilton, and Common in tow. It was the first and probably only time I’ve seen people outside of Australia express their absolute envy at our line ups. It was a big deal.
But sadly, Soulfest didn’t last long. A line-up that many would walk over glass for was lost (ie, wasted) on this country. And while I always try and resist cynicism, it’s hard to be positive about the quality of line-ups we get down under year in and year out. Especially when they’re always recycled.
Juicy Fest 2024 is a bit of a different beast. While there’s still a great deal of stuff that people like Kyle Sandilands and Abbie Chatfield would vibe to, there’s a clear, concerted effort to put together credible, exciting line-ups to balance things between fickle commercialism and culture.
I don’t know any discerning hip hop fan that’d look at next year’s line-up and not get excited about the likes of Mase, T.I. and Fabolous making very rare appearances on our shores.
While you can check the full line-up below, these three names should be major drawcards for hip hop fans. While influencers will “get lit, fam” to bangers from the likes of The Game, T-Pain, Mario, Ashanti, Keri Hilson and Cassie. Everyone wins, and that’s how you program a festival of this size and scale.
Assuming no last-minute replacements are needed, Juicy Fest, which travels to nine cities across two countries in January, should go down as a major win for lovers of hip-hop and R&B.
Check the dates and line-up below and hit the link after the jump for tickets.
T-Pain
T.I.
Ashanti
The Game
Trey Songz
Mario
Fabolous
Keri Hilson
Bone Thugs N Harmony
Mase
Cassie
Juicy Fest 2024
January 3: Queen Elizabeth Park, Christchurch
January 5: Hutt Park, Wellington
January 6: North Harbour Station, Auckland
January 7: Bay Venues, Tauranga
January 12: Melbourne Showgrounds, Melbourne, VIC.
January 13: Accor Stadium, Sydney, NSW.
January 14: Fremantle Oval, Fremantle, WA.
January 19: Stage 88, Canberra.
January 20: Doug Jennings Park, Gold Coast.
Tickets are available at juicyfest.com.
