Wireless 2018 on paper promised to be the king of the day festivals in London this year, with heavyweights from the hip hop and R&B scene converging on a weekend in the Finsbury Park sunshine. We arrived on Friday excited for what was in store, and were not disappointed. 

 

Friday:
We were welcomed by the “The Godfather of Grime” (to give his full title), who launched straight into his summer anthem Wearing My Rolex. Reports he was indeed wearing his Rolex are unconfirmed at this point, but it got the crowd hyped. After some more bangers from the grime legend, we waited the arrival of one of hip-hop’s most respected artists in Big Sean.

Taking us through his major hits, Big Sean showed why his career continues to go from strength to strength. The high point was Bounce Back, and truly went beast mode on the Wireless faithful.  

Post Malone might be the hottest property right now in the music scene, and he showed it here. Taking the crowd through the songs that put him on the map (White Iverson, Congratulations, I Fall Apart), through to a collection from his new album (Paranoid, Candy Paint, Psycho), the crowd was hyped and ready for the headline act to draw the curtain down on the first night.

Enter J Cole. Bounding about the stage with energy and passion, the North Carolina rapper who showed just why he was chosen to return to the headline slot at Wireless. His incredible lyricism was on show, and energised the crowd desperate to hear J Cole deliver his latest album.

Sunday:

67 have been making noise on the UK scene with their energetic brand of drill music popularised in Chicago. And they made some noise here in Finsbury Park. Despite some controversy around the scene here in the UK, 67 showed why there’s a place for them on the UK music scene.

Onto Giggs, the veteran of the grime scene, who took us through a plethora of bangers. From what made him famous in Talkin The Hardest and Look What The Cat Dragged In through to his latest hit, London Town. He closed with KMT, a song he is the feature on with none other than…

Drake – reports earlier in the day confirmed DJ Khaled would not be arriving for his headline set. Understandably, there was worry at what the festival organisers could do at such short notice. But they came through with the biggest hip hop star in the world. Not bad at all. He blasted through songs from his new album, including God’s Plan and Nice For What, whipping the crowd into a frenzy and bringing to a close a quite stunning weekend of music.

With a billion streams in A WEEK, there is no denying that Drake sits on top of the music scene right now.

And that was it for Wireless. Again delivering as the hottest day festival right now in London. Until next year.