As autumn breezes start to cool off this overly humid summer in Seoul, the last of the summer concerts are here! From water festivals and returning city festivals after years inside due to COVID, this summer has been jam-packed with all kinds of festivals. We have been reviewing as much as we can for you and today we’re discussing the most anticipated Hip-Hop festival, Rapbeat!
The annual Rapbeat festival is a large two-day festival showcasing the best of Korean Hip hop & R&B as well as international acts that usually act as headliners. This is the first one in several years and it did not disappoint. It had headliners consisting of CL, Simon Dominic, Loco, Amine, Lucky Daye, and Audrey Nuna performing over a two-day festival at Seoulland. All of the bigger festivals, like the recent NFT festival, have been held on their picnic grounds and have been filled with thousands of people.
This festival was held on the main grounds as well as at three smaller stages spread throughout the amusement park. Most of the main acts were held at the "Rapbeat Stage" with some of them at an amphitheater deemed the "Chillax Stage" a bit of a walk away. Smaller acts performed at the "Phooey Stage" at the front of the park with DJs constantly performing all day at the "Boogie Stage" (where you can boogie all day, of course!) Before attending, many attendees planned to hop between stages, but it proved to be hard to do because of how far the stages were from each other.
The fan-favorite acts of Saturday were definitely CL and PH-1, both performing on the main stage. PH-1 performed early in the day to tons of adorning rap fans and CL was the first headliner later in the night. 2NE1 fans waved their light sticks while hip-hop fans jumped along to her solo songs. She has defined quite a career in the last year or so since she left YG and performed some of her newer works as well as old classics like "Dr. Pepper". Check out one of her performances below!
(CL, Rapbeat Festival 2022)
Lucky Daye was the main headliner of Saturday and we got an exclusive look into his life. We got a seat in the VIP lounge for his set. The clear view above all the fans was amazing! He had such a great stage presence and a velvet-like voice. He performed for close to an hour in a red leather suit that had most of the girls swooning as he sang his Grammy-award-winning love songs. He closed the show and everyone was left wanting more.
(Lucky Daye, Rapbeat Festival 2022)
Saturday night, we had the chance to actually meet Lucky Daye at the official afterparty at Club LIVIN in Gangnam. Turns out he was a friend of a friend from America! He was so kind and carried the same on stage persona and charisma. We hung out at the afterparty with several other celebrities where the club catered to everyone with bottles and great care. It was truly a reminder that if you want to see a piece of the limelight, head out to Gangnam for a night out! You’ll never know who you will see!
(LIVIN Club, 2022)
The festival continued on Sunday! The "Chillax Stage" had Shaun and Bloo performing, so we made sure to head over there during those times to relax and enjoy! Shaun performed with his former bandmates from his band The KOXX and serenaded the crowd early in the day. But sadly shortly after his set, a typhoon came in. The festival quickly turned into a water festival as heavy rain and strong winds came and even knocked out the power to the stage!
(Since, Rapbeat Festival 2022)
At this point, many fans were worried that the festival would be canceled. But Korea doesn’t stop for anything, not even a typhoon! Soon everyone got ponchos and umbrellas to power through the storm (Though it should be noted that while you couldn’t have an umbrella at the "Chillax" or "Boogie Stage", you could at the main stage.). Fans jumped and danced in the pouring rain as if there was no care in the world. It was amazing to see! Artists asked if the fans were okay and all of them begged for the show to go on. And so it did!
(Deepshower, Rapbeat Festival 2022)
Saturday’s headliners were Simon Dominic and Amine! Simon Dominic commanded the stage with great presence! He has been performing for over 10 years and it really showed with how naturally he performed, even taking out his ear piece to show how he can perform without it. You could really hear the male fans rapping along, they were the loudest in the crowd! He did have his fair share of girls screaming about how handsome he was too.
(Simon Dominic, Rapbeat Festival 2022)
The final performance was Amine and we were shocked by how many fans he had. During Lucky Daye’s performance, a lot of the crowd had dwindled out as it was the last show, but Amine’s crowd was packed. He performed with high energy, often jumping all around the stage. He reassured the stage with a call and response, “You’re Beautiful!” “I know!” The crowd screamed their response and giggled with how silly it was, but it kept the mood and energy up in the drenching rain. His positive energy definitely ended the festival right.
(Amine, Rapbeat Festival 2022)
It was truly a festival that can proudly say it came back with a bang. Every artist performed wonderfully and the show went on through a typhoon. There are some extra performances below that you can check out! Let us know which was your favorite and if you would like to go next year!
(Bloo, Rapbeat Festival 2022)
(Shaun, Rapbeat Festival 2022)
(Loco, Rapbeat Festival 2022)