JMBLYA fest took place this past weekend, and in its’ the sixth year has grown to be quite the hip-hop festival. Scoremore annually takes the festival all over the Texas triangle, Dallas, Austin, and Houston over a three-day span. This years festival was quite the jump from the parking lot at the Statesman. This not only was it at the Circuit of the Americas but this year the implementation of two stages came into play.

Young Thug Takes Cardi B’s Place At JMBLYA

The intended lineup for JMBLYA this year was quite the billing with heavy hitters like Bun B, Kevin Gates, Carti B, Migos and J. Cole was sure to make this years event the one to top them all. Unfortunately, not everything always goes as planned. Young Thug was a last-minute substitution for a recently announced pregnant Cardi B. While that was a significant hit to the billing, Young Thug was an impressive alternative that the crowd reacted to with enthusiasm.

Now if the absence of Cardi B was not enough, Kevin Gates announced one day before the festival run began that he would not be able to perform. This hit to the bill was a tad bit harder to replace with only a days’ notice. Whom did they get with such short notice? The diamond-studded Atlanta based hip-hop legend, TI. While it has been quite some time since TI has had a Top 40 hit, that did not stop him from keeping the crowd going, even with a generational gap. Even on my way to the media lounge to check out my footage(thank you ScoreMore for taking care of us!), I could see teenagers singing along to hits like “Whatever You Like” and “Rubberband Man.” Overall, the move to bring him in was a good move in my book. Great job JMBLYA!

Migos Captivated The Energy Of Everyone In Attendance

The next moment of the night for me was the set by Migos. This would be my first time seeing them, and they surely did not disappoint. Quavo, Offset and Takeoff appeared to hardly break a sweat as they walked across a stage embellished with strobe lights and haze. They began to unload the massive load of hits they have compiled in just a few years. It would not be right if they did not play their bangers “Fight Night,” “T-Shirt”, and of course “Bad and Boujee.” As I worked to get my shots in the barricade, I took a moment to take in what was going around me. It was like I was slowed down in time, watching the crowd around me going wild. It was as if the fans had waited all day specifically for Migos to take the stage.

As I began to head to the next stage, I noticed something. I could not get through the crowd at all, as they were all lined up to see J.Cole. The sea of people went as far as the main stage to the vendor area. It was clear that the best was yet to come with J. Cole’s performance coming up next.

Cole’s poetic ability was something that was actively apparent from the very beginning of his set. By getting the crowd going with the chorus of “Motiv8” and vibed portions of “ATM” The vibe of J. Cole had set a whole different tone with the crowd. Everyone seemed to embrace each other through the music, leaving everyone in unity.

ScoreMore Kills It With This Years JMBLYA Fest At Circuit Of The Americas

Overall, the festival was a great experience, and I had a blast mingling with the crowd. The production team over at Scoremore and the guys and gals with the Code 4 team both killed it. The only real pitfalls for the event was due to it being the hottest day of the year so far. There were more overheated medical calls than the fantastic medical team was prepared for. Thankfully, their response to the calls was impeccable, and everyone was taken care of. I can not wait to see how they build on things for next years JMBLYA