You may have heard of Coachella and Lollapalooza, but now there is a festival geared to soul, R&B, and the rap/alternative scene. Camp Flog Gnaw is the brainchild of Tyler the Creator, who has become one of the most influential people in 2018’s Alternative Hip Hop scene. His album Flower Boy dropped a year ago which was very successful album and his fashionable clothing line, GOLF, is prospering.

Some people may consider this festival the R&B and Alternative version of Coachella. The tickets are a bit on the pricier side, a general admission ticket costs around $275 for the two days, but people say it is worth the money. The first ever Camp Flog Gnaw festival began in 2012 in LA. It was formerly known as the Odd Future, but ended up changing to Camp Flog Gnaw over time the group end up falling out and separating but are still great buds till this days.This year’s lineup featured Tyler the Creator, A$AP Rocky, Lauryn Hill, Brockhampton, and Post Malone. There was also a wide variety of musicians that ranged from Indie to Hip hop such as Flatbush Zombies, Jorja Smith, Playboy Carti, The Internet, and Kali Uchis.

Tyler the Creator was the main event of day one. I’m a Tyler fan and I know a good chunk of his songs. In his set, he had props of a treehouse with a bunch of trees surrounding it and the background was lightened up with bright colors, it was aesthetically pleasing. He played most of his songs from the most recent album Flower Boy, but the one I was excited for was “She”.

Seeing Tyler live was unbelievable you see him in pictures and hear his music on streaming devices, like his photos on social media but, seeing him live was way better. During his set he gave an motivational speech that affect me in a good way. He said, “Never give up on your dreams because look at me now.” It put in perspective of being a go getter. He finished his set with one his popular songs “See You Again ft. Kali Uchis”. It was one of the most satisfying parts of the whole festival to hear that certain song live the lighters waving the air, the crowd knowing every lyric, it was just beautiful moment.

Day 2 was the most exciting day for me. I was thrilled to see Kids See Ghost (the duo group with Kanye and Cudi), a new artist Jorjia Smith, the group FlashBush Zombies, the rap and R&B queen Lauryn Hill, and unintentionally Post Malone. I was kind of bummed out I didn’t see Bane’s World, Earl Sweatshirt, Domo Genesis, and Brockhampton.

The artists I was most pumped for was Kids See Ghost. When their album dropped that was the only album I would listen to during that month.I was excited to see Kanye and Cudi together performing. As soon as I saw curtain open I screamed in excitement. They open up to “4th Dimension (feat.Louis Prima) and it went wild. For their set they were in a glass box elevated from the stage and pretty much performed in a floating box. It was something I never seen before. As much as I’m a Kanye West fan, he didn’t know the own lyrics to his own songs because he was mostly just humming to his songs. This was a big disappointment for me, but he did do a crazy dance that went viral and was very funny. When they performed “Ghost Town” I felt a content with life in general. That song makes you want appreciate life more. Overall, I was very happy to be the one of the first people to see them perform their album.

Overall, the experience blew me away. I would definitely revisit this festival again in 2019. It was good experience to go and venture out and listen to people who you like. I got to listen to great artists and I made new friends who have the same taste of music as me, which was nice since most people I know don’t share my musical tastes.