HOT 97 (WQHT-FM) Summer Jam took place Sunday night at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. HOT 97 partnered with Jersey City Economic Development Corporation and New York City Economic Development Corporation for a special “Get Vx’ed for Summer Jam Tickets” initiative leading up to the concert and provided vaccination incentives for over 2,000 concert goers. HOT 97 also established covid protocols for all working staff with The New York City Department of Health and Hygiene, Scan Harbor and Koacore, for Covid-19 negative results access verification to enter stadium grounds, creating a safe environment.
The evening opened up with a choreography filled performance by Saweetie, followed by Megan Ryte & Friends, a special curated set that featured solo performances from Kranium, Capella Grey and Movado followed by ASAP Ferg surprising the crowd with his hit single “Plain Jain.” As the night continued, Polo G, Dream Doll, Moneybagg Yo, 42 Dugg & more rocked the mic in addition to Latin superstars El Alfa and Farruko.
One of the biggest moments of the evening came from multi-platinum selling rapper Da Baby, who appeared for the first time on stage since his controversial Rolling Loud performance. “Rockstar,” Da Baby played a heartfelt pre-recorded message addressing his return to the stage.
Introduced by Ebro, Laura Stylez & Rosenberg of “Ebro In The Morning,” Swizz Beatz stunned fans with a surprise all-star line up to pay tribute to his friend, the late rapper DMX. Joined on stage by DMX’s children, Swizz Beatz shared stories of DMX while introducing various artists who performed and paid their respects to the Hip Hop icon. Performers included MOP, The Lox, Busta Rhymes, Fat Joe, Remy Ma, Lil Kim and the legendary group, The Isley Brothers.
The tributes continued when A Boogie wit da Hoodie was joined on stage alongside Audrey Jackson, the mother of late rapper Pop Smoke. Boogie rounded out his performance with surprise guest Capella Grey and the two performed their remix to Capella’s hit single “Gyalis.” HOT 97’s Ebro Darden and T.T. Torrez joined A Boogie on stage toward the end of his set to present him with five platinum and gold plaques for various records he’s released.
Stand-out performances included Bobby Shmurda, Meek Mill, French Montana, Fivio Foreign, PNB Rock & Mooski, who performed his platinum hit single “Track Star.” As expected, it was the ladies who owned the night as the audience erupted during Migos set when a noticeably pregnant Cardi B surprised fans to perform alongside the guys followed by multi-platinum Grammy award winning singer H.E.R closing out the show with a sultry rendition of her hit single “Damage.”
