When Atlanta rapper Young Thug takes the stage Sunday to close out Summer Smash at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview, it’ll be a “beautiful, full-circle moment” for what has become the Midwest’s premier hip-hop festival.
It’ll be the first U.S. performance of the Grammy-award winning rapper since being released from jail after pleading guilty in October to gang, drug and gun charges.
In 2022, Summer Smash’s final year at Douglass Park before moving to Seat Geek Stadium, a rare, joint performance between Young Thug and Young Stoner Life labelmate Gunna was set to headline the festival with Post Malone and Playboi Carti. It was one of Young Thug’s last shows booked before he was arrested during the months leading up to the festival, and he was later replaced by Lil Uzi Vert.
“In a weird way, all of that happened with Summer Smash being one of the shows he was about to do before he went away for a little bit, and now Summer Smash being the first show [he’s doing] fresh out, it is full circle. I just think it’s interesting. I’m definitely glad that moment will be at Summer Smash, where fans will interact with him in person for the first time in a minute. But it’s a beautiful, full-circle moment,” said Elliot Montanez, director of operations for Lyrical Lemonade and sponsorship manager for Summer Smash.
Thug and many other rappers from his YSL record label were arrested and charged under Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. Thug was accused of being the head of a criminal street gang in Atlanta for over a decade and sentenced to serve 15 years on probation as part of a non-negotiated plea agreement. His forthcoming album “UY Scuti” is dropping soon.
The “Money On Money” rapper will be co-headlining the three-day festival on Sunday, with Don Toliver and Yeat on Friday, and fellow Atlanta rapper Future, returning for his second headlining set on Saturday. The weekend is filled with performances by Midwest flagbearers — Insane Clown Posse, G Herbo, Sexyy Red, Sahbabii, Thirteen Degrees, Saba, BabyChiefDoIt, Chuckyy, Adamn Killa, VonOff1700 — and fan favorites Lil Yachty, Ken Carson, Trippie Redd, PlaqueBoyMax, Ski Mask The Slump God, Destroy Lonely, Lil Tecca, Quavo, Soulja Boy and many more.
Since 2018, Lyrical Lemonade and SPKRBX’s annual Summer Smash has grown to become the premier hip-hop music festival of the Midwest.
The festival was created by founder and award-winning video director Cole Bennett and SPKRBX owner Berto Solorio who wanted to provide a platform to local rappers who are historically ignored by industry gatekeepers.
Since then, Summer Smash has showcased both up-and-coming talent as well as the biggest names in the industry.
In that spirit, Lyrical Lemonade is continuing to shine a light on the best spitters in rap beyond Summer Smash year-round through its new YouTube series “Lunch Break.” The episodic series draws from the tradition of rappers freestyling their best bars on esteemed radio shows like Sway in the Morning’s “Five Fingers of Death,” Funkmaster Flex’s show on New York’s Hot97.
The Lyrical Lemonade team adds their spin to the formula by having the artist rap over a remixed instrumental at a lunch table with a lavish spread of the rapper’s favorite foods provided by local restaurants, including staples like Harold’s Chicken, Uncle Remus, Chicago Chicken and Waffles and Italian Fiesta Pizza, to name a few.
Summer Smash performers like Herbo, Saba, Vonoff1700, Lil Yachty, Nino Paid, Lazer Dim 700, 1900 Rugrat and Babytron have all blessed the lunch table with exciting freestyles. At the festival, there will be an art installation of the blue and white lunch table presented and Devin “Lotto” Smith — producer, Lyrical Lemonade’s head of audio, and host of Lunch Break — will perform a DJ set Saturday themed after the viral YouTube series.
Joe Rocha, Lyrical Lemonade’s chief of staff, recalls Bennett gathering the crew around December of 2024 and telling everyone he wanted to do a freestyle series, but was not sure of what it should look like at the time.
“We came to the office that day, [and] we started herding everybody into the conference room and started spitballing,” recalls Rocha.
After an hour of deliberation figuring out logistics, potential artists and the setup, they eventually set out to have platinum-selling South Shore rapper G Herbo be their first rapper to freestyle on “Lunch Break.” It turned out to be a smashing debut for them as Herb’s captivating freestyle over Three 6 Mafia’s “Stay Fly” beat garnered a whopping 4.1 million views on YouTube. It was so big that the “Went Legit” rapper returned for another freestyle back in May.
To Smith, he spoke true to their vision for what the series is meant to be and was someone who could kick things off with a bang.
“Herb is one of the greatest rappers to have come out from Chicago alone. When we talk about the essence of bars and being able to spit and relating to a younger crowd, he touches all of that. Herb was definitely someone who could set the bar high,” Smith said.
This would lead to them having a monumental appearance from the legendary Fresh Prince himself, Will Smith. He gave an exciting freestyle on Lunch Break in April as he was promoting his latest album, “Based On A True Story.”
According to Rocha, the crew had a longstanding relationship with Smith’s longtime manager, Miguel Melendez. When they were informed about the new music he was gearing up to release, Rocha and their head of partnership thought it would be a great moment for the series to have Will Smith give a rare freestyle for the younger generation of hip-hop fans who follow Lyrical Lemonade.
After Bennett gave the green light, Montanez, Rocha and Smith quickly negotiated with the actor’s team, and Smith recalls it all manifesting quickly.
“It came to fruition quickly through the [group] chats. … The idea is to bring light to a couple eras of music,” said Smith.
For Montanez, it didn’t feel real that a cultural icon like Will Smith was coming until he received a picture confirming that his plane landed in Chicago. He fondly recalls the star telling stories about his experiences and gave everyone a motivational speech about appreciating the present instead of being so caught up in “the future so much that 10 years from now, you look back and are like ‘wow, I didn’t enjoy this.'”
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to say SPKRBX owner Berto Solorio is a co-founder of the festival.