At the weekend Wireless Festival returned to Finsbury Park with a stacked lineup with some of the biggest names in Rap including Travis Scott, 50 Cent, Playboi Carti and Ice Spice gracing the stage across three days…
Friday
1. Destroy Lonely kicking off the weekend in Style
What better way to kick off Opium Friday than with a set from one of its newest recruits and fan favourite Destroy Lonely. The ATL rapper performed songs like ‘Raver’, ‘if looks could kill’ and ‘NOSTYLIST’ – bringing the energy to the Wireless crowd in the blistering heat, kicking off the weekend in style.
2. Ice Spice with a short but sweet set
Ice Spice has taken the music world by storm in 2023 and her star just keeps rising. The Wireless crowd were excited for the rapper’s first UK appearance, with some wearing orange wigs and some even carrying a pink American flag with Ice Spice’s face in the middle. Her appearance was short but sweet and fired through ‘Princess Diana’, ‘Munch (Feelin’ You)’, ‘In Ha Mood’ and ‘Boys a Liar Pt.2’, bringing out special guest PinkPanthress. It was only four songs but it whetted the appetite for a longer set and no doubt she’ll be back very soon.
3. Metro Boomin’s Surprise Appearance
After Lil Uzi Vert dropped out of the festival, Wireless promised a special guest and they certainly delivered. With rumours circling, in the lead up to Metro Boomin’s set everyone was guessing who the megastar producer would bring out; after all he has worked with everyone from Drake to Kanye West and The Weeknd. Metro had a surprise guest up his sleeve as he dropped ‘Thought it was a Drought’ as Future came out. The crowd went crazy and jumped along, shocked that Future was right there in the flesh. The pair also performed ‘Superhero’ from Metro’s acclaimed recent album ‘Heroes & Villains’ before finishing off with ‘Mask Off.’
4. Yeat’s First UK appearance
Also marking his first appearance in the UK was US rapper Yeat and the ragers couldn’t wait! The set was exactly what the Wireless crowd love; heavy beats and full of mosh pits as Tonka had the crowd jumping to ‘Flawlëss’, ‘Monëy so big’ and ‘Talk’ as he ran up and down the catwalk as pyros lit up the stage. Similar to Ice Spice, Yeat will inevitably be back to the UK soon and a headlining show at an intimate venue would be beautiful carnage with his hardcore fans bringing the energy.
5. Playboi Carti as King of the Ragers
The king of Rager Trap took his throne as the headliner on Opium Friday for an energetic set. After relentless sets from Destroy Lonely, Ken Carson and Yeat in the hot Summer sun, it was a surprise that the London crowd had enough energy left but they took it up a level one last time. Carti performed hits like ‘Off The Grid’, ‘Stop Breathing’ and ‘Wokeuplikethis*’, accompanied by flames and backup dancers which matched his energy. Carti remains one of the most influential rappers of this new wave and the headlining set at Wireless just reinforces his position in the upper echelons of the genre.
Saturday
6. Huge crowd for NLE Choppa at the +44 Stage
One of the first big acts of the Saturday was Memphis rapper NLE Choppa, who brought a huge crowd to the +44 Stage. Arguably he should have performed on the Main Stage after the huge year he’s had; taking his career to the next level with a new album and huge collabs with the likes of Lil Wayne, BTS’ Jimin and Polo G. It was an incredible set with hits like ‘Capo’, ‘Slut Me Out’ and a fitting performance of ‘IN THE UK’ whilst in London. He had great crowd control too, taking the crowd to choir practice to sing ‘Shotta Flow’, which he described as the “national anthem” as everybody knows it, word for word with mosh pits in the rain. If NLE is back next year, it will definitely be on the Main Stage.
7. Headie One’s Homecoming
It was something of a homecoming for the Tottenham rapper, as Headie One would walk through Finsbury Park every morning on the way to school and now he’s performing on the Main Stage at Wireless. He came out in style with ‘Can’t Be Us’, bringing out Abra Cadabra to perform his verse and proving why he is one of the best rappers in the UK with hits like ‘18HUNNA’, ‘Came in the Scene’ and ‘Know Better.’ The Wireless lineup was lacking some of the biggest names in the UK scene but Headie One showed out for London with this set that finished with the crowd favourite, ‘Martin’s Sofa.’
8. Travis Scott taking Wireless to Utopia
Travis Scott was without a doubt the most anticipated performance of the whole weekend and the Houston rapper lived up to the hype and more. As expected from any La Flame concert, the energy was wild, the mosh pits were filthy and the visuals were stunning. He performed hits like ‘Sicko Mode’, ‘Stargazing’ and ‘Butterfly Effect’ which included huge flame and smoke cannons. There were also performances of new songs like ‘Aye’, ‘Trance’ and a new song from ‘Utopia’, ‘Lost Forever.’ The night ended with a firework display during ‘Goosebumps’ which summed up a beautiful and unchained performance that was one to remember! At the end of the set he confirmed the listening party at the Pyramids of Giza, ‘Utopia’ is on the way!
Sunday
9. Lil Tjay and some special guests
One of the best sets of the day was from New York rapper Lil Tjay, who had the perfect balance of energy from hard beats on ‘Run it Up’ and ‘Pop Out’ to softer R&B hits like ‘Calling My Phone’ and ‘Sex Sounds.’ There were also special guests, starting with Brooklyn rapper Fivio Foreign, who came out during a performance of ‘Bla Bla’, from Lil Tjay’s new album and also performed ‘Big Drip’, and ‘Not In The Mood.’ Perhaps the most random guest of the entire weekend was iShowSpeed, who hyped up the crowd and performed his ‘World Cup Song’ whilst doing the ‘Sueyy’ and backflips. It was a fun moment for the crowd and overall an incredible set from the upcoming superstar Lil Tjay.
10. A Rap Icon Gracing the Main Stage
Not many in the history of Rap have had the acclaim, fame and hits that 50 Cent has had over his long and illustrious career. With the New Yorker hitting the Main Stage at Wireless, the set was a journey through his career, starting with ‘P.I.M.P’ right through ‘Magic Stick’, ‘Many Men (Wish Death)’, ‘Disco Inferno’, ’Window Shopper’ and ‘In Da Club.’ It didn’t have the high-octane energy in the crowd that others had generated but still had plenty waving their hands in the air and showed 50 Cent the respect that he deserves. For those that missed 50’s set at Wireless, fear not! The Rap icon will be back on tour in the UK this November.
11. D Block Europe’s Headlining Performance
Closing out the weekend was London’s D-Block Europe, who performed one of the biggest shows in their career with a headlining Wireless set. The Rap group came out to ‘Darling’ and while it took a minute for the crowd to get into the performance, they rapidly did with the help of a number of special guests who were introduced. These guests included Nafe Smallz for ‘Keeper’, Krept and Konan for ‘Self-Obsessed’, Clavish for ‘Rocket Science’ and ‘Pakistan’ and then finally Chip for ‘Whole Summer.’
