Itzy launched their first-ever world tour last year, after a long wait in which the pandemic kept them away from their fans while their career blew up. “I really want to take a selfie with the crowd,” member Lia told Rolling Stone in 2021. “I just miss them,” Chaeryeong added. In Queens, they were happily reunited.
Backstage with Indonesian rapper Rich Brian, who’s been one of 88rising’s marquee stars since 2016.
SoCal bass music phenom ISOxo brought the beats to Queens.
Raveena Aurora, whose Asha’s Awakening was one of the best albums of 2022, gets ready to go onstage. “Me tapping into my body was such a big part of me wanting to explore dance through music,” she told RS last year. “I think I’d forgotten about that part of myself, and it was really beautiful awakening it.”
Japanese girl group ATARASHII GAKKO! strike a pose by the tour buses.
XG (short for “Xtraordinary Girls”) are a Japanese act making waves in South Korea — and they sounded great in New York.
DPR Ian and DPR Live — two of the stars making Dream Perfect Regime a major force in Korean rap — share a quiet moment in their trailer. “I wanted to do something where people would look at it and be drawn to it regardless,” Ian, who spent time as a K-pop idol before going solo, told Rolling Stone last year. “To create a new system and a new lane for creatives and artists.”
Pop act Veegee, who released her debut on 88rising late last year, performed on the festival’ second day.
San Diego dance music artist Knock2 hangs backstage.
Korean American R&B act Hojean brought his bedroom vibes to the festival’s first day.
Indonesian pop singer NIKI is one of 88rising’s top acts, and she headlined Sunday. She recently told Billboard that Taylor Swift was a big early inspiration for her: “I was like, ‘Oh, people can write songs,’ and I wanted to try that.”
MaSiWei, from the Chinese rap group Higher Brothers, was styling in Supreme backstage.
Spence Lee (left) and MaSiWei hang out backstage. They each performed their own sets at Head in the Clouds, as well as joining forces onstage.
Rich Brian’s headlining performance was a highlight on the festival’s first night.
Filipino-American artist Yeek, who’s won fans with super-catchy, self-produced songs like 2021’s “Back N Forth,” stands by the side of the mainstage.
Raveena’s acclaimed 2022 release Asha’s Awakening is a concept album about a Punjabi space princess.
Beabadoobee, a.k.a. Bea Kristi, in a candid moment backstage. She told RS last year that one of her biggest goals is “to be that person I really needed when I was growing up, for girls that look like me, that feel like me.”
New Jersey rapper Spence Lee is an up-and-coming star on 88rising, and he’s also working with producerMike Will Made It. “I feel like the world still hasn’t even heard me,” he said in a recent interview with Joysauce. “That’s the exciting part of the journey. People still discover who I am and I love that.”
Itzy are making their own lane. “We don’t have a role model,” member Yeji told Rolling Stone in 2021. “We just want to be Itzy.”
DPR Ian takes the stage, and the fans in the front row go wild.
ISOxo’s career is hitting new heights lately: He has a debut album on the way, and he recently got to perform with Skrillex, who he’s called his hero.
Knock2 brings the beats on night two.
Backstage with Veegee, who performed on the festival’s second day.
ATARASHII GAKKO! were part of the festival’s grand finale, along with Thai rapper Milli, at left.
Backstage with Milli, who launched her career by covering Nicki Minaj’s “Super Bass” on a Thai TV show at age 16.
“Coming from a family where my immigrant parents had worked all their lives in businesses, all by themselves — being able to come to where I am now, verified on multiple platforms, a million plays in multiple songs — I never thought I’d be able to get here,” Hojean told The Anti in 2021.
Who else but Rich Brian could close out the festival? He performed with a number of Head in the Clouds’ other standout acts as the second night wrapped.