There’s no place like home. Last weekend’s STL Fest displayed the foundation the region has built around music, community, and unity.
Reggie Son, Kelocc G, Mike White, and Erick Hubbard launched the showcase last year to honor St. Louis pride and its impact throughout the area.
The second annual showcase featured local acts, both veteran and new, and was originally slated for Saturday, May 21. Severe thunderstorms shut the fun down for a day.
A day later, STL Fest went on under the Big Top in Grand Center.
A new event in 2022 was a family-friendly block party hosted by J Barrz between noon and 5 p.m. Guests were welcomed with games and treats from various food vendors, including Hola! Let’s Birria. Kia Monger, Slow Spread Love, SupaFly Todd, and Lynita Renea performed.
Comedians Willie C and Kelocc G hosted the second part of the festival, which was for the 21- -and-up crowd.
Reggie Son, STL Fest founder and headliner, wowed the audience with a medley of new hits backed by the instrumentation of his Black Bandemic Band. He had the crowd grooving to “The Glide,” a cover of Nelly’s “Luven Me,” and, of course, “Nikki,” an ode to his favorite St. Louis song of the same name by JMC & Ronin.
He eloquently rapped his love and preference for the Black woman’s likeness and essence on “Black Queen,” an instrumental of Lauryn Hill’s “The Sweetest Thing.”
In addition to his all the right vibes set, he included “Coolin,” a cover to Rick James’ “Mary Jane,” and a chill turnup record called “Casamigos,” an instrumental of Kem’s “Love Calls.”
Legendary rap group Da Banggaz, who was popular at the height of the crunk era, was another of the night’s highlights. They took us down memory lane with their hits “Ain’t No [Expletive] In Me” and “Run Up Get Done Up.”
The group had the millennials thinking about hearing those songs in elementary and middle school. They also paid tribute to Huey, and other fallen St. Louis artists with “Pop, Lock and Drop It” and their collaboration “Best In Da Midwest.”
“Before we go, we went through a lot; we’ve been through a lot. This is our first time on stage in ten years,” one of the Da Banggaz members said. “Nonna has been through hellas. She lost her kids in a house fire, and it’s dope to see her back on stage.”
Queens, New York native Lydia Caesar may not be from St. Louis, but she still represented and commanded the stage in a yellow fringe shaky dress.
Her pop-rock gospel-raised powerhouse vocals shined on Michael Jackson’s “Dirty Diana” and “St. Louis,” a song she wrote about her husband Wayne, a University City native she met several years ago. Both were living in New York at the time.
“Shoutout to Black love, I wrote the song about my then boyfriend now husband,” Caesar said. ‘He changed my life, and it’s so crazy I wrote that song about him.”
Nikee Turbo, a former contestant on Netflix’s “Rhythm + Flow” performance, was unconventional but engaging with his theatrical movements. The moment he graced the stage with fellow rapper/R&B songstress, Thre3, the crowd was captivated by their non-typical rap performance.
Their reenactments of a couple professing their love, then her being kidnapped on stage by attackers, and him and the antagonists quarreling in a sword fight were more than unexpected, but they worked in his favor.
Other acts included NandoSTL, WorldTourWoo, Stringz EMB, newcomer Roxx, Dakota Pagan, Stape, Rico Da Mac, and KeKe.
Longtime local artists Zeus Rebel Waters, formerly known as Rukka Puff, Hakeem Tha Dream, Yung Ro, and Junior each performed their megahits, including “Thick Wit It,” “Best Friend,” “Luv,” and “Donk Dat.”
Reggie Son talked about how a 12-year-old named Miyah Blu wrote him a professional email asking to be on the bill for this year’s main event. Having received his big break at 12 when he broke into radio, he gave the young lady and her friend Hailey a chance to perform a dance that featured St. Louis classics, including the blaring sounds of Ebony Eyez’s “In Ya Face,” Ali’s “Breathe In, Breathe Out,” and more.
Rahli concluded the festival with several of his hits, including a male version of the summer ratchet anthem “FNF” by Memphis rapper Glorilla, and his “Sorry Not Sorry” remix, an STL twist on the viral hit by Omeretta that addressed what areas were not considered true Atlanta. Big Weezy also joined his set for his catchy bass knocking tune “Don’t Stop.”
A moment of silence was had for the late Orlando Watson, co-owner of Prime 55 restaurants and music entrepreneur
Michael Brown Jr., an 18-year-old Black male who was killed by a former Ferguson police officer in 2014, would have turned 26 on May 20. He received a birthday shoutout at the festival.
