Young Thug is set to perform live for the first time since his 2022 arrest, as Lyrical Lemonade confirmed on Thursday that the Atlanta rapper is set to headline this year’s Summer Smash festival just outside of Chicago.
Thug is headlining day three of the festival on Sunday, while the duo of Don Toliver and Yeat will play Friday night, and fellow Atlanta rapper Future will headline Saturday. The festival will take place from June 20 to June 22 at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview, Illinois. Chance the Rapper will also has a Sunday night slot. The rest of the Summer Smash lineup includes Quavo, Lil Yachty, Sexyy Red, Ski Mask the Slump God, NLE Choppa and Soulja Boy, among others.
Young Thug’s last live performance was back in March of 2022 at South by Southwest, according to his Setlist.fm page. He was arrested on RICO and gang charges in May of that year, in a case that kept the rapper in jail for over two years until he was finally released late last year as part of a plea deal that put him on 15 years probation. The case was one of the biggest stories in all of hip hop, particularly highlighting the controversial use of rap lyrics in criminal trials. Thug has a reputation as one of the most influential artists in hip hop, and he released his third studio album Business is Business in 2023 while he was still behind bars before the trial.
This year’s festival marks the seventh edition of Summer Smash. Tickets for the upcoming festival will go on sale on Friday, March 28, at noon CT. Tickets will be available to purchase through the festival’s website.
We are excited to present the seventh edition of the largest independent hip-hop festival in the world and can’t wait to show the fans what we’ve been working on,” Berto Solorio, founder of SPKRBX and co-founder of Summer Smash, said in a statement.
As Cole Bennett, fellow co-founder of the festival and the founder of Lyrical Lemonade, added: “I feel lucky to be able to throw the party of the year with my best friends. May this be the best one yet. Lucky number seven.”