Riot Fest

Riot Fest is an annual three-day music festival based in Chicago, Illinois, at Douglass Park. In 2021, it was held from September 17-19, where Lupe Fiasco performed on Day 1 on the Radical Stage with songs from his second studio album, Lupe Fiasco's The Cool (2007)."Lupe Fiasco (@LupeFiasco)". Twitter. May 20, 2021. Other headlining acts on the flyer included Joyce Manor, Akaline Trio, Beach Goons, the Smashing Pumpkins, Vic Mensa, Slipknot, and Machine Gun Kelly. According to Chicago Tribue, the event was sold out for all three days."Riot Fest 2021 sells out all three days". Chicago Tribune. May 24, 2021.
== Critical reception ==
Tiffany Walden of The Triibe wrote in their review, "The dramatic weather of lightning and rain made for a perfect opening of The Cool, as the intro track "Baba Says Cool for Thought" began to play. [...] In these festival crowds, many white people rap the N-word without any hesitation, and regardless of any Black person standing around them. The awareness of crowd and place on Lupe's part made me rock with him even more. The thing about performing his album in order is, this particular crowd lost interest around this point in the show. The first half of The Cool is stacked with all the jams; radio singles and tracks that easily could've thrived on the radio at the time. The second half of The Cool are all album cuts; the songs that diehard fans listen to faithfully, without skips, when revisiting the album."Walden, Tiffany (October 5, 2021). "Lupe Fiasco's 'The Cool' has aged beautifully". The Triibe. Vidal Granidos remarked about Fiasco's performance, "It is an album that most casual fans know Lupe by so it was great hearing him perform the entire record, taking some of us back to high school. It can be easy to forget how many bangers Lupe had on that album but rapping the tracks out of order it was refreshing to go down memory lane. As he did "Superstar" it began to drizzle which made the song feel somehow more impactful. After powering through with "Paris, Tokyo" he lead into "Hip Hop Saved My Life" but before beginning the track he shared a powerful statement: 'Rest in peace to everyone who got killed by gun violence in this city. Every rapper, every trapper. From the police to those living in the streets.'"Granados, Vidal (October 5, 2021). "Fans put the "riot" into Riot Fest this festival season". Quip Magazine.
== Set list ==
# "Go Go Gadget Flow"
# "The Coolest"
# "Superstar"
# "Paris, Tokyo"
# "Hi-Definition"
# "Gold Watch"
# "Hip-Hop Saved My Life"
# "Intruder Alert"
# "Streets on Fire"
# "Little Weapon"
# "Gotta Eat"
# "Dumb It Down"
# "Hello/Goodbye (Uncool)"
# "The Die"
# "Put You on Game"
# "Fighters"
# "Go Baby"
== Date ==
Date	Date 	City 	Venue
Fri 	September 17, 2021	Chicago	Douglass Park
== Gallery ==
File:Riot Fest 2021.jpg
File:Riot Fest 2021 (2).jpg
File:Lupe Fiasco - Riot Fest 2021.jpg|Photo by Colin Boyle
File:QRO - Lupe Fiasco.jpg|Photo by Amelia Baird
== References ==
Category:2021 live performances
Category:Festivals