The sixth annual Hopscotch Festival took place in downtown Raleigh last weekend with headliners Erykah Badu, Wye Oak, Beach House, Anderson .Paak, Vince Staples and Sylvan Esso.
Covering a multitude of genres, experiences and styles of music, Hopscotch brought different groups of people together to experience the beauty of rhythmic sound.
Thursday night started out with Wye Oak and Wolf Parade, taking the City Plaza stage as headliners. With venues only a few blocks apart, Raleigh vibrated with music. Saxophones, drums, guitars and mixes filled the Raleigh streets.
With 10 venues booked for the event, the Contemporary Art and Design building was a venue that showcased a variety of talent. After speaking to a few festival goers, some only bought a one-day pass to experience what the CAM had to offer.
First, Raleigh native with a sense of humor Zensofly had everyone asking why they weren’t at Cook Out ordering a tray with her track “Cook Out.” Then Brooklyn-based DJ Kingdom surprised the audience with mixes. JunglePussy took the stage shortly after and lit up the room, and with the audience’s energy high, Shayna made concert goers laugh, cry and feel validated in themselves.
The regal Kelela was the last to perform. “Fight for your dreams, because if you would’ve told me I was going to be here five years ago, I wouldn’t have believed it,” Kelela said at the end of her performance, leaving the audience inspired.
Friday met performances by Anderson .Paak, Beach House and Gary Clark Jr. With a 10 minute neo-soulful intro, people were already yelling in approval even before Erykah appeared. Then she emerged, the crowd went wild and continued to yell, sing and dance for the duration of the set. Big Freedia ended the Friday festivities playing tracks that kept the audience moving.
The last day of the festival ended beautifully. Vince Staples rapped and told the stories of his life while Sylvan Esso gave a light show that was perfectly in tune with every sound that flowed through the main speakers.
Written and photographed by Nifemi Ogunro