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Rolling Loud California: The World’s Biggest Hip-hop Festival Goes West

Nate Louis — Wed, 31 Aug 2022 18:50:55 +0000

Rolling Loud California is back. The festival will return to Los Angeles in 2023 at Inglewood’s revamped 300-acre Hollywood Park next to SoFi Stadium.

Rolling Loud is expanding westward at speeds that would make Lewis and Clark more jealous than a jilted lover — next year, the festival officially returns to Los Angeles for the first time since 2019.

The news arrives this week as the largest rap festival brand in the world has already expanded to three new countries.

Starting back in 2015 with its inaugural event in Miami, Rolling Loud has grown quickly since originally launching in New York City, Los Angeles, and Sydney.

Rolling Loud California

COMING BACK FOR #RLCALIFORNIA

MARCH 3-5, 2023

HOLLYWOOD PARK GROUNDS
ADJACENT TO SOFI STADIUM

SIGN UP FOR EARLY EXCLUSIVE PRESALE
https://t.co/cP6umYgZ5z pic.twitter.com/BRPPMDXYAd
— Rolling Loud (@RollingLoud) August 30, 2022

The festival has since expanded to Canada for the first time (on Sept. 9-11 headlined by Future, WizKid, and Dave), as well as making its European debut in Portugal on Praia Da Rocha Beach earlier this Summer. Most recently, they announced a festival in Thailand, taking the action to Asia for the very first time.

Now, it returns to Los Angeles for the growing festival at the 300-acre, newly-completed Hollywood Park adjacent to the LA Rams’ and Chargers’ SoFi Stadium.

At a press conference this week, Rolling Loud co-founder Tariq Cherif shared his vision for keeping the community first in this partnership:

Tariq Cherif the co-founder of #RollingLoud says the festival is going to deliver a major economic impact to Inglewood, CA #RLCALIFORNIA @RollingLoud https://t.co/52WCdDJySr pic.twitter.com/mhZ0fL7GiW
— HipHopDX (@HipHopDX) August 30, 2022

As Cherif said on the occasion:

“Everywhere we go, we’re in the heart of Hip Hop for that city,We’re putting forward an Inglewood first policy in our hiring. So when we’re hiring staff for the event we’re looking to hire people from Inglewood first and foremost. Every city we go, we do over $100 million in local sales economic impact, bringing jobs and money spenders and we’re very excited to bring that here.”

The festival move, which will take place from March 3-5, is one that RL Co-founder Matt Zingler called ” an important neighborhood in rap history.”

As Inglewood Mayor James Butts added, “We are ready to welcome Rolling Loud and hip-hop fans from all over the world to Inglewood over the course of this three-day event. A festival of this caliber combined with the city’s rich music history is a winning combination.”

The last Rolling Loud California event took place in 2021 in San Bernadino — approximately 60 miles from LA — and sported a lineup that included J. Cole, Future, and Kid Cudi as headliners.

“As the world’s largest hip-hop festival, Rolling Loud will bring fans from around the globe to our Inglewood community,” said SoFi Stadium and Hollywood Park managing director Jason Gannon in a release. “With Rolling Loud as our first music festival, we will further showcase Hollywood Park as a global stage and multifaceted entertainment destination.”

The 2023 Rolling Loud California lineup will be unveiled closer to the festival dates. Stay tuned.

The post Rolling Loud California: The World’s Biggest Hip-hop Festival Goes West appeared first on Boardroom.

Derwin James Takes Charge

Shlomo Sprung — Mon, 21 Feb 2022 20:01:00 +0000

After the Los Angeles Chargers suffered a disappointing end to a promising season, Derwin James looks to the future with Boardroom.

Strong safety Derwin James is an invaluable asset for the Los Angeles Chargers. The No. 17 overall pick in the 2018 draft has broken out in his first three seasons, securing one All-Pro honor and two Pro Bowls in his young career.

After the Chargers narrowly missed the playoffs, losing in overtime to the Las Vegas Raiders in heartbreaking fashion in the final regular-season game, James spent the Friday before Super Bowl LVI vibing and thriving in Santa Monica, California, just one block from the Pacific Ocean.

The Florida State alum was decked out in a fluorescent green Dolce & Gabbana hoodie at a makeshift outdoor skating rink while representing Gillette as part of a new endorsement deal.

“Y’all see the cut. I even got fresh today. New razors,” James, 25, told Boardroom on a picture-perfect Southern California afternoon. “They’ve got the skating rink. It’s in the shape of the Gillette logo. I’m having a good time out here.”

James is more of a rollerblader himself. The last time he went skating was about a year-and-a-half ago when he was back home in his native Florida.

“I definitely like the skating vibes,” he said. “That was our thing growing up where I was from — go out to the Skate World, Skate Zone, and everybody was turning up Friday night.”

In a Q-&-A with Boardroom, James brought the energy that made him a Pro Bowler last season while discussing L.A.’s phenom quarterback Justin Herbert, his love of fashion and gaming, and why he doesn’t spend any of his salary from the Chargers.

Obviously, Super Bowl LVI was at SoFi Stadium, your home stadium. What are your favorite things about the place?

It’s got to be all the screens, and you can see and hear everything. The audio’s really good. And then the locker rooms, the hot tubs, everything is just first class. Everything is new, so it’s not like the other spots that we go to. I’m definitely more of a hot tub guy than a cold tub guy. I’m hot. I don’t like anything cold. No cold weather.

So you must love Los Angeles

I love L.A. I’m from Florida, I’m spoiled with the weather. We’re out here, so I’m getting used to it.

Obviously, the season didn’t go the way you wanted it to in the end. But what do you take away from the season and how you guys performed?

I feel like we’ve got a great foundation. We didn’t win it all this year, but I feel like we built and established ourselves —our team and what we can be. Next year, we’ve just got to add a couple more pieces and just put it all together.

A big piece of that is Justin Herbert. When did you know that he was legit?

Day one. The first day I saw Justin Herbert, I told everybody, my coaches, that he’d be great. And now, look at him. It was the way he carried himself. First of all, you see a guy 6-foot-5, 6-foot-6 just walking, you know he’s gotta be doing something right. The first time I saw him throw the ball, I was like man, it just whistled, and I said this man’s different. And just his humbleness, how he works and competes, he’s got all the intangibles to be great. And he put it all together, Rookie of the Year.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Justin Herbert (@justinherbert)

And then you guys are putting it together on the defensive end to help him out.

We’ve gotta do more for him. I feel like the reason why we weren’t in the playoffs is that we’ve got to give him more on defense. We’re gonna get it done this year for him. I can’t wait.

Right now you’re living off your endorsement money and not your salary. What made you decide to do that?

Because I feel like it’s smart. You’ve got to invest in something because you’re not going to be playing and making this type of money forever. So when football is done, you’ve got to have something you could fall back on. I’ve always been a guy who knows how to save and manage my money. And I think I’m doing a pretty good job of it. I’ve got a whole team with financial advisors, marketing, an agent, everything.

What investments and stocks have you gotten into these days?

I can’t tell you all my stocks and bonds and stuff. But I’m in a lot of them, a lot of money invested. I’m in a couple of storage companies.

Are you into the NFT and crypto space at all?

So, I’ve been hearing a lot about it. I’m still doing my research. A lot of my friends have put all their money into it, but I’m not going to do that. You learn more every day about these different things, so you’ve got to keep educating yourself on it.

You were in the Madden Bowl during Super Bowl week. Are you a big gamer?

Big gamer. One of the best Madden players out there in the NFL. It’s just fun to be a part of it. To be in the game and be able to play the game is pretty cool. I also play any EA Sports game, like Madden, 2K, Fight Night.

What else do you like to do outside football?

dj said they got next pic.twitter.com/5eeT63vIAh
— Los Angeles Chargers (@chargers) February 18, 2022

I like to just chill. I’m like a granddad. I like to be at the house. I do like getting out with my friends, but I like to be on my game, chillin’ in the house, relaxing the body. I do like to shop. I like fashion. And just music.

You’ve got the Dolce & Gabbana sweatshirt, the flashy Nikes, the chain, the watch…

You know I’ve got the chain, icebox. The watch, Zo Frost. I’ve got the Gucci belt. It’s not too much, but something light. My favorite fashion brands? If I mention them, they’ve got to come holler at me. I really like Christian Louboutin, Dior, Dolce & Gabbana, Gucci, Louis Vuitton.

Are you all about the sneaker culture?

I’ve got a lot of sneakers, so really I had never worn these, so I’ll wear these today. I’m a big sneakerhead. I’ve got all types of shoes. I just gave away like 100 pairs. I have some in Florida at my house, some in California. Really everywhere I go, I try to leave shoes — at least two pairs.

If you could rep or endorse one brand that you don’t endorse yet, what would it be and why?

See, that’s hard. I’m gonna make somebody mad, somebody jealous. I can’t answer that one. That’s a trap question. I want them all. Come holler at me.

You started the Safety Corner Foundation with Jalen Ramsey. Why is that so important to you?

Me and Jalen, my brother who I went to college with, we’re both out here in L.A. We’re both making plays on the field. So we said, Why not come together? Let’s impact kids and families across the L.A. area that have it hard, that don’t have it as good as other people. So we wanted to come together and help some kids out who are less fortunate than we are.

With the Olympics ongoing, what event winter or summer do you think you could win a gold in?

Probably weightlifting. But if I really had to pick one, probably something during the summer like basketball. I’m a hooper a little bit. If I was a couple of inches taller, I feel like I would’ve made the NBA. Anything I put my mind to, I feel like I can do. And you should always feel like that, too, as a person.

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Super Bowl LVI: A Look Inside SoFi Stadium

Randall Williams — Sun, 13 Feb 2022 01:00:33 +0000

Scenes from Super Bowl week preparations at the Inglewood venue the Chargers and NFC champion Rams call home

The NFL will finally return to Los Angeles County for a Super Bowl on Sunday at SoFi Stadium, the Inglewood home of the Los Angeles Rams and Chargers. Boardroom took a tour of the state-of-the-art facility this week as preparations for the big game took shape.

The stadium, whose overall project came with a reported $5 billion price tag, is being outfitted to match the theme of this year’s game — fans will find palm tree graphics with vibrant colors both inside and outside of the building. NFL Senior Director of Live Event Operations Katie Keenan said this was by design.

“You feel like you’re in Los Angeles when you’re inside and it has a Hollywood vibe, ” she told Boardroom. “The silver, and then you add the beautiful decor that our team has been able to add on here with the LA sunset, it’s going to be a great night.”

To those who have only seen the stadium through pictures, videos, or broadcasts the facility appears from the exterior like a traditional dome. In reality, the playing field actually sits 100 feet below ground level; if the entire building sat above-ground, it could risk interfering with planes flying into Los Angeles International Airport from the east.

That means fans who enter the stadium must take stairs or elevators down to their seats.

“This is one of our greatest accomplishments from an architecture standpoint,” said Keenan. “There are so many different ways we can activate in the space, and it feels like a stadium but almost doesn’t in some parts because depending on where you’re sitting it can feel like you’re outside. They will have no issue filling this building in years to come.”

And although the stadium is underground, wind also blows through the stadium from one side to the other due to the fact that the dome is not closed off on its sides. SoFi regularly hosts 70,000 seats, but is expandable to 100,000 for major events like the Super Bowl and concerts.

And outside of the game on Sunday, SoFi will host next year’s College Football Playoff National Championship and WWE’s WrestleMania — and the Summer Olympics’ opening and closing ceremonies in 2028.

Painting the playing surface at SoFi Stadium ahead of Super Bowl LVI in Inglewood (Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

This was also by design. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell told reporters on Wednesday that “we needed to have a state of the art stadium that gave us the ‘wow’ factor. That gave us the ability to put on these big events and attract other events other than the Super Bowl.”

Arguably the most notable feature within the stadium is the dual-sided video board attached to the roof. Only an elite group of executives knows what the huge technology structure costs. Jerry Jones’ video board at the Cowboys’ AT&T Stadium cost $40 million in 2009 — but the dollar figures aren’t the only staggering numbers. The video board itself:

Weighs 1,100 tons (2.2 million pounds)
Stretches 120 yards in length
Houses 268 speakers
Contains 70,000 square feet of LED lighting

All of these features enable the board to be the largest in global professional sports. To put that in perspective, a Rams executive told CNBC three years ago the board is three times the size of the Cowboys’.

Workers install a glass-paneled partition at SoFi Stadium ahead of Super Bowl LVI in Inglewood (Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

The Super Bowl LVI is just the beginning of plans in and around SoFi Stadium and the broader Inglewood community. Ongoing and upcoming projects include a 300-room hotel, apartment buildings, a retail center, and a 6,000 seat performing arts venue. The stadium complex will also welcome another new facility in 2024, the Intuit Dome, the future home of the Los Angeles Clippers that reportedly cost $1.8 billion.

But for now, all eyes are set on Sunday when the Bengals face off against the Rams in the second consecutive Super Bowl in which the NFC champion is playing in its home stadium. Tickets for the game cost a fortune, but over 100 million viewers around the world will tune in to watch the game, the commercials, the halftime show, and the trophy presentations and develop a proper appreciation to the sheer scope and ambition of the work that goes into putting on sports’ biggest spectacle of the year.

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