We’ve said it once, we’ll it say it again: Soundset is one of the best music festivals around. The annual Minnesota festival is one of our favorite music productions around because they consistently put together awesome lineups with some of the biggest and best names in Hip Hop that gets people from all over the country to come see.
In the tradition of Hip Hop’s unwritten law about the genre doubling as a sort of endless competition for its throne, we had to give our say as to who were the best artists we got to see at this year’s edition of Soundset.
Find out below who sits atop mount Hip Hop with the top 5 acts we saw at Soundset 2015.
J. Cole
J. Cole was the headlining act last night and he was, hands down, our favorite performance of the festival. Despite the bad weather, thousands stuck around to see one of the top emcees in Hip Hop today and the North Carolina rapper made sure to pay them back for that loyalty with a great set. We saw Cole perform his new album, 2014 Forest Hills Drive, at SXSW just a few months ago but seeing him perform it live at an outdoor fest was definitely a great experience that sits on a whole other level.
Vic Mensa
We have lost count of how many times we have seen Vic perform over the last 4-5 years, but he never seizes to amaze us every time he hits the stage. This was our, and maybe most of the crowds’, first time seeing Vic perform since signing to the Roc. The SaveMoney man performed some of his classics along with some new tracks off the forthcoming project Traffic, with the definitive standout of the whole set being his performance of “U Mad.” The crowd for Vic was one of the most hype out of the whole fest by a long shot, and rightfully so.
Yelawolf
We missed the opportunity to see Yelawolf perform a full set in Chicago since his release of Love Story, so this was an act we weren’t going to miss for anything. The Alabama rapper ran through many of the new album cuts, but he also found time to perform some of his past material like “Good To Go.” Yelawolf’s stage show is still one of the best in Hip Hop.
Ludacris
Ludacris made the cut for our preview post on the top 10 acts to see at Soundset for obvious reasons, but while we weren’t sure if he would make it on to this final Top 5 post prior to actually seeing him live, the ATL rapper’s appearance instantly made us rethink why we even had any doubts in the first place. Ludacris put on a show that helped prove he was undeniably a Hip Hop heavyweight, running through many of his hits to prove he deserves to be considered a great in the genre. Songs like “Move Bitch,” “Southern Hospitality,” “Act A Fool” and many more made his set very memorable.
Vince Staples
Vince Staples was not only a fan favorite, but also an artist favorite. We were able to see him early on in the festival when Sway brought him out on the main stage just to say hi and let us know that he would be performing at the Fifth Element stage. His set was well performed and the vibe definitely escalated as he went through some of our favorite tracks. “Señorita” came on and the crowd went absolutely crazy.
So there are our top 5 performances at this year’s Soundset Festival, but there were many other great moments throughout the day that could have justifiably been included among the elite of the day. Whether it was seeing Logic and DJ Rhetorik do their thing on the main stage, or catching Father open his set with “Look At Wrist,” watching Gibbs and Madlib lighting the Fifth Element tent, or witnessing Ice Cube perform “It Was A Good Day” and many more moments. Looking forward to Soundset 2016.
