The arc of Chicago’s Lyrical Lemonade is honestly the evolution of the hip-hop industry writ small. The media empire’s first kernel was a somewhat low-budget, experimental music video, and as the imprint stares down 10 years, there aren’t many corners of the landscape they don’t have their hands in. Their Summer Smash Festival is their premier entrant into the live experience category, and for their 7th edition in 2025, they’ve got some true heavy hitters on tap.
As promised in our title, the headline for our purposes and headliners for Lyrical Lemonade’s is a collab performance between Don Toliver and Yeat, a sensible combination for the brand’s new-age identity and given each artist’s shared catalog (a home-and-home swap of “GEEKED UP” and “Heavy stunts” on their most recent full-length LPs). Though there is some precedent for the Texas and California natives sharing the studio, co-lead duties on the same stage usually come for artists with more intertwined career paths, leaving a ton of intrigue for how the superstars will approach this challenge.
Rap Caviar And Chicago A-Listers On Tap For Summer Smash 2025
Shifting over to Atlanta, Future and Young Thug, superstars in their own right, are the draw for a slightly older crowd. The former hitmaker will turn in his first live performance since 2022, the date of his incarceration, adding a ton of built-in anticipation. Sticking in this vein of artists, Lil Yachty, Sexxy Red, Quavo, Nav and Ski Mask the Slump God will make return appearances, many of them also veterans of the Lyrical Lemonade enterprise outside of Summer Smash.
While many of these names should read familiar for any hip-hop fan, the final contingent of artists on tap are a crop of Chicago natives, emphasizing the Summer Smash focus on delivering for local fans. (Chief Keef headlined in 2024 in his official return to the greater Chicago area). Chance The Rapper, Saba, G Hero and Famous Dex make up this list, helping demonstrate the rich tapestry that the midwest metropolis brings to the rap landscape.
While the initial ticket drop for Summer Smash sold out instantly, the festival will be delivering a fresh batch of three-day passes via their official site, available at noon CST on March 28th.
Elsewhere in hip-hop, J Cole – cLOUDs sees the titan link up with Wiz Khalifa for their first-ever collab.
