BJ the Chicago Kid first learned what it takes to captivate a Lollapalooza crowd in 2019, when he performed on a Bud Light-sponsored side stage called The Dive Bar.
The platform may have been modest, but the impact was massive.
“It’s breathtaking,” said the 40-year-old singer, who grew up on the South Side but now lives in Los Angeles. “It is energetic. It’s a part of that dream you had when you were little, to have all of those people vibing to your music, whether they know the lyrics or not — to have that energy exchange.”
The Grammy-nominated artist will get the opportunity again this year on a bigger stage at the four-day event at Grant Park. He will perform Thursday, the first day of the fest, as part of the Chicago Made Showcase of homegrown talent, organized by the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events.
“I would love to just add to the magic,” he said.
BJ the Chicago Kid is one of the chosen few, especially as an R&B artist.
Despite Chicago’s rich contributions to R&B and soul, some music insiders feel that the style of music has yet to get its due at Lollapalooza. The genre was initially absent from the event, which began as a tour more than 30 years ago before becoming a permanent festival in Chicago in 2005. Although R&B acts have appeared more consistently in the last 15 years, they typically only account for a small share of each lineup, which leans more heavily toward rock, hip-hop and electronic dance music.
Organizers have booked some R&B and soul veterans, including Mavis Staples and Erykah Badu in 2010, as well as CeeLo Green in 2011. But only a handful of R&B performers — or pop artists with major R&B hits — have headlined a closing set. Those coveted slots have gone to Frank Ocean, the Weeknd, Bruno Mars and, most recently, SZA.
This year, BJ the Chicago Kid joins a smattering of R&B performers among the more than 170 acts, a list that includes Durand Bernarr (Thursday) and T-Pain (Friday), as well as Chicago native Ravyn Lenae (Friday) and Mariah the Scientist (Sunday). But none in the genre will close out any nights on the main stages.
Some artists, publicists and programmers say Lollapalooza is leaving plenty of legacy and local talent untapped and attribute the gap to a variety of factors. Even as the festival has made some progress in diversifying its menu of artists, the unbalanced lineup is influenced by industrywide issues such as airplay, chart appearance, audience demographics, financial considerations and what some believe to be fewer artists making R&B. (Lollapalooza representatives did not immediately respond to the Sun-Times’ request for comment.)
“We’re missing the mark,” said Swank PR firm owner Briahna Gatlin, who works with several R&B artists in the city. “We’re missing a big part of Chicago too, because Chicago is a very soulful city. There’s a lot of soul influence in a lot of bands that come from here. I feel like we could definitely use a little more seasoning for Lollapalooza.”
The lineup for the fest has been racially diverse for many years, but unlike R&B artists, rappers have regularly garnered headlining slots.
“Hip-hop is the new rock ‘n’ roll,” BJ the Chicago Kid said. “That’s why it dominates so much. Honestly, that popularity is much bigger than ours.”
But he doesn’t take it personally, he said. Instead, he uses it as motivation, pointing to SZA’s ascension to the main stage in 2024 — nearly 10 years after first appearing at the festival.
“Imagine how hard she had to work, because she’s a singer, not a rapper,” he said. “You work your way to that place. It’s a part of the game that I love.”
To keep the crowd’s attention, R&B artists must have catalogs that are large and appeal to a wide swath of people, BJ the Chicago Kid said. He suggested Usher and D’Angelo as fitting choices for the future.
“I think they go with what’s popular,” he said. “It’s not just about personal opinion, but you’re picking for everyone, and that’s what slims it down.”
Gatlin recommended Lollapalooza tap into legacy R&B acts, such as Al Green, Stevie Wonder, Chicago native Chaka Khan, Anita Baker, Sade, Janet Jackson and Mariah Carey. “I feel like they don’t think they’re going to draw in a lot of people,” she said. “But I can’t see someone not wanting to see Usher, Mariah Carey or even Sade.”
“It should be a legacy R&B artist each night,” said bassist Tony “Chicago” Russell, who has worked with Usher and Jamie Foxx and who serves as the music director for this year’s Chicago Made Showcase. “Without them paving the way, there wouldn’t be any festivals, especially for us,” he added.
As for younger R&B artists, Gatlin suggested Summer Walker, Brent Faiyaz, Ari Lennox and Coco Jones. And while the Chicago Made Showcase has given a platform to local R&B artists, Gatlin said she would like to see even more, such as Tink, Josh K and Jeremih.
Josh K said the local R&B scene is growing, but larger exposure still is tough to achieve.
“If you’re in the nightlife scene, mostly every event you see is an R&B night nowadays,” said the singer, 32, of Bronzeville, who has written for Chris Brown and Teyana Taylor. “We just aren’t getting the opportunities to get on the major stages.”
But the demand is there, Josh K said, citing Tink’s sold-out R&B-driven Winter’s Diary Music Festival last December at the United Center.
But Russell, who splits his time between Chicago and Los Angeles, said he thinks hip-hop, including drill, overshadows R&B locally.
“The R&B scene is kind of shaky,” the West Side native said. “They’ve got to get back into making the music and stay consistent.”
City Winery Program Director Vanessa Robinson said both radio play and chart position are key factors considered by festival planners, as are acts who will keep a target demographic on-site all day.
“It’s a hard beast, man,” said Robinson, who plans shows for the winery’s Chicago and St. Louis branches and runs Shoe Fest, a three-day camping and music festival in Manteno, Ill.
In a post-COVID landscape of smaller staffs, higher production costs and declining ticket sales, it can be difficult for festivals to devote attention to scouting artists and taking risks, she added.
In the meantime, Robinson encourages Lollapalooza attendees to support the R&B artists who made it to this year’s lineup.
“Hopefully, people will go see it, and the buyers will say, ‘Look at all these people seeing this set. Let’s do more of this,’” she said.