Rolling Stone’s Future of Music Showcase at SXSW Had Stars from Around the World and Lines Around the Block
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Over four nights in March, Rolling Stone’s Future of Music showcase at SXSW brought the stars of tomorrow to Austin’s famed ACL Live at the Moody Theater. Each night, the 2,750-seat venue was packed — not just inside, but outside, too. Ahead of the second night’s bill, which was topped by música mexicana superstar Peso Pluma, lines of fans stretched for blocks, including, reportedly, the longest line in SXSW history. (One fan got in line at 4 a.m. for a show that didn’t start for more than 14 hours; he later got to meet Peso.)
Nearly 40,000 fans RSVP’d for the event; 12,500 attendees made it in and witnessed a cascade of genres over those four nights — urbano, Southern rock, Afrobeats, hip-hop, amapiano, soul, funk, and however you’d like to classify Teezo Touchdown. The event came in conjunction with Rolling Stone’s Future of Music issue, the cover of which — featuring Peso Pluma — debuted a day before the showcase started. Peso helped curate the issue’s Future 25, Rolling Stone’s annual list of the stars of tomorrow, many of whom took the stage at the showcase at SXSW, including Teezo, Young Miko, and Faye Webster.
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The Moody was an ideal venue, with crisp sound and a giant screen behind the stage flashing idiosyncratic visuals and, for several of the artists, recent Rolling Stone digital covers. Over the four nights, DJs Rosegold, Gabby Got It, L3ni, and Disko Cowboy kept the vibes high between performances, which featured 19 acts in all.
Opening night featured a flurry of hip-hop and R&B goodness: Chase Shakur, an east Atlanta rapper who turned to singing a few years ago and found that people responded to his “R&B shit,” as he put it; Karrahbooo, another fast-rising talent from the A, whose playful talk-rapping translated well onstage; Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn’s Lola Brooke, who’s been making an energetic bid to join the canon of New York rap with releases like her debut LP, Dennis Daughter; and Detroit’s Veeze, who showed off an understated but engaging presence as he performed songs from his studio debut, Ganger, making you listen close for his sneaky punchlines. “Shout-out to Rolling Stone for having me here,” Veeze said at the end of his set. “I am the future of music!”
Teezo Touchdown, the first night’s headliner, made a striking figure onstage: black leather boots, pants, jacket, and gloves, and lots of his signature nails in his hair. But it wasn’t just the clothes. It was his physicality, the way he moved deliberately and then wildly, running with a floral bouquet that doubled as a mic in his hand, demanding attention like the rock star he is. After telling a story about busking at SXSW in 2018 — spilling his soul right on Sixth Street till the cops made him leave for performing without a permit — Teezo performed the majority of his 2023 album, How Do You Sleep at Night?, in order, from the anthemic pop-punk of “OK” to the alternate-universe Eighties balladry of “UUHH” to the motivational synth jam “Impossible” and more. Teezo showed off his gawky-smooth moves for “Modern Jam,” his song from Travis Scott’s Utopia — capably doing both his and Scott’s parts. Petals from the bouquet-mic were all over the floor. The crowd was loving it. The future felt like it was happening right then and there.
The event was presented by StockX, the leading global platform for trading and consuming current culture. Also joining on-site was ~Pourri, which outfitted the theater’s restrooms, and Bacardí, which served up a signature-specialty mojito cocktail. In support of mental-health initiatives in the music industry, Rolling Stone and the Hi, How Are You Project displayed merch and the iconic mural painted by the late Austin legend Daniel Johnston.
Peso Pluma was the biggest name on Night Two, but the evening’s lineup proved there was something for everyone, setting the room on fire with the wildly eclectic promise of Latin music. Puerto Rican artist Pink Pablo won over the crowd with his infectious enthusiasm, giving them a taste of the alt-urbano sound he’s become known for, with songs that pulled from a wide range of influences, including indie rock and reggaeton. J Noa came out swinging with “No Me Pueden Parar,” a fitting start for the Dominican rapper. If anyone in the audience didn’t know her name at the outset, by the time she got to “Spicy,” they were chanting it on repeat. The vibe took a turn when Mexican crooner Kevin Kaarl stepped onstage with his guitar in hand. While Noa had hyped up the audience, Kaarl hypnotized them, holding them in rapt attention.
Even before Young Miko set foot on the stage, the crowd was chanting her name. Within a few minutes, the Puerto Rican star had turned the Moody Theater into an all-out dance party. Years ago, Miko made a name for herself through her savvy collaborations, proving she could stand toe-to-toe with some of the industry’s rising talents and established superstars. Now, it’s clear that she’s the main attraction.
After Miko left, the screen began to play a hype reel set to Kanye West’s “Black Skinhead,” as Peso’s band assembled onstage. Finally, Peso appeared, wearing a black ski mask. This is the power of El Doble P; even masked, he can completely take over a room, with every single person waiting to hear his signature raspy voice. As he took the stage, his manager’s assertions that he’s a “Mexican Mick Jagger” came into focus. With his band behind him, it was almost cinematic, like he was the main character in an action film, with a live orchestra behind him.
“The Doble P is back, motherfuckers!” he told the crowd. Ripping off his mask, he promised the crowd one of the most memorable nights of their lives, and he delivered, tearing through hit after hit. Throughout the high-octane set, he rarely stood still, constantly bouncing across the stage, headbanging, and even getting into the pit and moving through the crowd as they went wild trying to get close to him. “As long as I’m alive, we’re going to keep breaking records,” Peso said, winding up the crowd as he spoke about not caring what the press has to say about him. “Que vivan los corridos, que viva Mexico, y que siempre, por siempre de los siempres viva la puta Doble P!”
The next evening, the showcase pivoted in another, no less-potent, direction, mixing up hip-hop with innovative sounds from Ghana, South Africa, Nigeria, and more. Preacher, a.k.a. Keite Young, came out and showed he wasn’t messing around. Flanked by a five-piece band and 10-member choir, the singer launched right into a cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah,” and later delved into an energetic mix of funk, blues, and rock.
“If you love Afrobeats music, make some noise!” Nigerian star Pheelz shouted as he took the stage next. Pheelz began as a producer — at one point he reminded the crowd that his résumé includes Burna Boy, Davido, and Wizkid — then scored a hit in 2022 with the fantastic “Finesse.” On Thursday night, he bounced around the stage, tried out his supple croon, and sat on a stool and strummed an acoustic guitar for “Stand By You,” which he introduced as “one of the most beautiful love songs I’ve ever written or ever heard.” He closed with “Finesse.” “This song changed my life,” he said, before singing a chorus good enough to change yours, or at least get lodged in your head for a few days.
Flyana Boss were pure light and energy — and fun as hell. The duo of Bobbi LaNea and Folayan Kunerede make gleefully raunchy songs that rewire the bar-trading zip of early hip-hop for a new, fully online generation. Uncle Waffles, a Swazi-born DJ and record producer based in South Africa, came on and changed the vibe again, in a cool way. Waffles, born Lungelihle Zwane, has become a big name in amapiano, the South African style of dance music that’s exploded in recent years, and on Thursday night she kept the crowd moving with a hypnotic, free-flowing set.
Headliner Flo Milli took the crowd at a pivotal moment — and not just because she was the night’s headliner. “This night is so special to me,” she told the crowd, “’cause the album is dropping in a few minutes.” It’s true: The Alabama rapper’s second LP, Fine Ho, Stay, literally came out while she was onstage in Austin.
Milli has been a rapper to watch — and wildly fun to listen to — for years. But late last year, she scored a chart hit with “Never Lose Me,” a more-chill love song. Near the end of her set, she said, “I got a little treat for y’all,” and played the brand-new remix — featuring Cardi B and SZA — while hopping offstage and taking photos with fans for several minutes. And just when it seemed the night was over, the confidence came back as “In the Party” blared. Milli hopped back onstage to perform the 2019 track, full of not-so-love-song boasts like “I smoked all his weed and I told him to leave.” It was one more hyper-confident moment in a career that should be full of them.
The final night was all about guitars, bringing together acts from indie rock, country, and more who love the instrument. Ahead of a tour with Slash, Austin native Jackie Venson kicked off the showcase with some bluesy psychedelic rock to set the vibe. She shredded her guitar on tracks like “All the Crazy Things,” “‘Rollin’ On,” “Don’t Lie to Me,” and “Keep On,” and served up a mesmerizing “Back to Earth.” Another Austinite then took the stage. Dylan Gossett hasn’t even been releasing music for a year, but he already has a major following, having recently signed with Universal Music Publishing Nashville. The crowd at the Moody wore light-up cowboy hats and took videos, singing along to Gossett’s unique blend of Texas country and Americana.
If they didn’t announce it onstage, you’d have no idea that Madrid duo Hinds were about to perform their 12th of 15 shows at SXSW. They bring the energy of a thousand rock bands, entrancing the crowd with their searing indie riffs, the constant interlocking of guitars and smiles, and deeply charming banter. They dedicated their punk-rock kiss-off “Just Like Kids (Miau)” to all the young women in the crowd, while discussing their own treatment in the music industry, then closed with a raucous cover of the Clash classic “Spanish Bombs.”
The Red Clay Strays are in a brief, ultraspecific moment in time for their career, when their unexpected hit is more well-known than their own band name. “Wondering Why” was released in 2022 but went viral on TikTok last winter, giving the band its first Billboard Hot 100 hit. It currently has more than 75 million streams on Spotify, and it showed at the Moody, where a sea of phones lit up to capture this sweet red-dirt love song. The rest of the band’s set mixed searing Southern rock, Delta blues, rockabilly, and more, a sound they’ve referred to as “gothic country.”
Faye Webster doesn’t usually talk much during her shows, but she took the time to say a few meaningful words before it started. While she addressed her hometown of Atlanta and the Stop Cop City movement, a majority of her statement regarded SXSW’s controversial relationship with the U.S. Army and her support of the Palestinian people, joining a chorus of discussion and critique at SXSW 2024. The Night Four headliner’s Rolling Stone digital cover story explored her sound — a unique blend of indie rock, R&B slow burners, and wistful folk — and Webster and her bandmates delivered that to listeners on a bed of serene pedal steel, played by her longtime guitarist Matt “Pistol” Stoessel. It all felt like a late-night serenade — and a fitting way to end four action-packed days.
(Full disclosure: In 2021, Rolling Stone’s parent company, P-MRC, acquired a 50 percent stake in the SXSW festival.)
Launch Gallery: Rolling Stone's Future of Music SXSW Showcase 2024: Backstage and In the Crowd
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