Here Are Some of the Biggest Moments From HOT 97’s Summer Jam 2022
HYPEBEAST was in attendance – and backstage – for one of the summer’s biggest music festivals.
Passionately touted as “Hip Hop’s biggest concert,” the annual HOT 97 Summer Jam took place this year in Rutherford, New Jersey, at the MetLife Stadium.
Thousands of attendees and music fans gathered under a warm, open sky to see their favorite rappers, artists and musicians play Top 40 hits and underground, cult classics. The star-studded lineup for this year’s showcase featured Lil Baby, Lil Durk, Fivio Foreign, Roddy Rich and many more.
Revving up the festivities, rising artists B-LOVEE, and Dougie B provided fireworks for their performance and were joined onstage by music veteran Cardi B to sing their hit song “Shake It.” Other talented young performers including Cordae, NLE Choppa, Yung Bleu and Saucy Santana also lit up the festival stage as the late afternoon turned to night.
Inside the arena – on the main stage – Lil Baby moved the crowd with his adrenaline-pumping performance of the chart-topping hits “Drip Too Hard” and “Yes Indeed.” Also taking the main stage was Lil Durk, who surprised the crowd with guest appearances from French Montana, Nardo Wick and Meek Mill. West coast favorite Roddy Rich later performed “High Fashion” and “The Box,” while female rap stars City Girls ignited the crowd with their hits “Twerkulator” and “Act Up.”
In between sets, HYPEBEAST caught up with industry legends Jim Jones, Maino and Papoose, who spoke exclusively about the night’s festivities, street style and the current state of hip hop. Commenting on their joint music venture – collectively known as The Lobby Boyz – Maino and Jones stated: “The industry needed more quality music and leadership, so we wanted to inject a bit of our legacy back into music, as a unit. We talked about teaming up 10 years ago because our paths are both similar. And as Black men, we wanted to come together, show music unity and stand as kings.”
Chilling backstage after an all-star tribute to the late DJ Kay Slay, Juelz Santana shared that he was excited to perform at this year’s Summer Jam and looks forward to bringing more heat to his fans. “I have a bunch of new music dropping real soon, along with some film things in the works. As well, my brand ‘I Can’t Feel My Face’ is fire and doing well with the fans because everything is built on a good foundation,” says Santana.
Inspired by the legacy of DJ Kay Slay, industry icon Papoose – who gave a moving tribute performance alongside his wife Remy Ma, The Lox, Fat Joe, Busta Rhymes and Dipset – revealed that he got into the music business because of Slay’s encouragement and dedicated mentorship. “He put me on the radio and the rest was history. The reason I’m in the game is because of Kay Slay, and together we got a $1.5 Million USD record deal. I would go to the radio station and give him my CD and he didn’t play it the first time, but I stayed consistent and eventually he played my records,” said Papoose. “Never give up on your dreams, always follow through, and don’t let anybody tell you what you can or can’t do,” he added.
As the night drew to a close, the main stage lit back up with a show-stopping performance from Fivio Foreign who performed the anthemic hits “City of Gods” and “What’s My Name.” He surprised the audience with guest appearances from Chloë Bailey, Coi Leray, Jnr Choi, Rowdy Rebel and Skillibeng.
Full performances and the complete lineup of 2022 Summer Jam artists can be found on HOT 97’s website.
Elsewhere in music, Dream Doll, Rubi Rose and Kash Doll joined rising artist ShantiiP on the viral TikTok track “ABOW.”
