No Cardi B? No Kevin Gates? No Problem For Scoremore’s Sixth Annual JMBLYA Festival, Which Rocked Dallas’ Face Off With J. Cole, Migos, Young Thug, T.I. And More.
All photos by Karlo X. Ramos.
Turns out, no, a little rain couldn’t hurt JMBLYA — y’know, as if anyone should be surprised to hear that at this point. C’mon, now. Listen, this Scoremore-thrown party has been kicking ass in Dallas since back when it still featured EDM acts, was still being held indoors and was still calling itself Jambalaya. Six years later, it’s basically quintupled in size, taking its Dallas act over to Fair Park and, after years of going down in both Austin and Dallas, holding things down across three cities in Texas now thanks to the addition of a Houston stop to its offering.
Per usual, the fest’s 2018 run kicked off its tour of Texas in Dallas on Friday. And, also per usual, it drew tens of thousands of hyped-up young rap fans out to its Fair Park set-up for an afternoon and evening filled with rap stylings of all stripes. After kicking things off with a surprise set from upstart Dallas rapper Tay Money, the event went off mostly without a hitch: Earlier in the proceeding sets from up-and-coming acts Cozz, Killy, Jack Harlow gave way to better-attended sets from buzzing acts Playboi Carti, Trippie Redd and Ski Mask The Slump God, who in turn handed a primed audience of hypebeasts over to a trio of Houston favorites (UGK legend Bun B, the ever-philanthropic Trae Tha Truth and venerable DJ Mr. Rogers), new Kanye foil T.I., the ever-progressive Young Thug, the no-strangers-to-Dallas favorites Migos and the on-top-of-the-world-right-now J. Cole.
Migos may have run a little late and Cole may have been the only act with a live band backing his efforts, but the crowds didn’t seem to mind. Hell, they barely seemed to notice that Cardi B and Kevin Gates had been swapped off the bill for those T.I. and Young Thug sets. No, they were too busy being hyped up on JMBLYAs ever-flavorful treats to notice, as the above photo set from Karlo X. Ramos shows.
Later in the week, we’ll compare stops of the touring fest and determine which Texas city got the best that JMBLYA had to offer. For now, though, let’s just say this: JMBLYA remains a stew worth enjoying.