Tariq Cherif, co-founder of Rolling Loud, surprised students in a USC Thorton music class with an intimate talk on music entrepreneurship earlier this month. Ushering in excitement and anticipation for the three-day music event happening this March in Inglewood, Cherif shared more than his advice with the Hip-Hop Music and Culture class; he invited them all to attend.
Cherif created Rolling Loud — the largest hip-hop festival in the world — with Matt Zingler, his Florida elementary school classmate. Inspired by the clandestine house parties that Cherif threw at his grandmother’s house, the pair desired to create an environment and musical lineup that unified as many musical subgenres of hip-hop as possible, he explained.
“We started identifying these subgenres and saying, ‘Hey, we put together a lineup that caters to all the subgenres, or at least a good amount of them.’ We make sure that if you’re a fan of any one of those subgenres, you could find at least like ten artists on the bill that you love,” Cherif said.
The festival’s inception coincided with the rise of SoundCloud, a community-based streaming platform that allows artists to create and share music.
“A big reason for our success is us growing at the same time of the emergence and growth of SoundCloud rap,” Cherif said. “SoundCloud rap had a very DIY nature, and we were a very DIY company, and we came up together in Florida.”
Since Rolling Loud’s early days as an underground event, the founders have expanded the festival globally, establishing it as a household name. Following its 2015 debut in Miami, the festival has also been hosted in New York, Los Angeles and Toronto, as well as overseas in Thailand and Germany.
However, Rolling Loud isn’t just about music; it’s a love letter to the hip-hop movement. As the festival has grown and evolved, Cherif and Zingler have also added activities that immerse fans in the creative and visual outlets of hip-hop culture, such as sports, skateboarding, graffiti and fashion. On festival grounds, fans have access to basketball courts, skate parks, tattoo shops, barbers or glam stations, which engage them in various cultural aspects that have been influenced by hip-hop music.
The social and cultural elements of the hip-hop genre are also highlighted in MUSC 320: Hip-Hop Music and Culture, a four-unit Thornton class open to all students. Taught by USC professors Jae Deal and Sean Nye, the class follows the history of hip-hop music and its influences in social, political and cultural issues.
This semester’s iteration of the class is particularly special because Cherif’s visit coincides with hip-hop’s 50th anniversary. According to Nye, a professor of practice in musicology, Cherif is an impressive addition to the diverse array of “key artists who founded and lived hip-hop” that have already spoken with the class.
For Nye, Cherif’s “one-of-a-kind” visit played a pivotal role in rejuvenating his classroom and bringing meaning to the idea of togetherness. Similarly, Deal, a professor in music technology, echoed Nye’s sentiments on Cherif’s inspiring lessons on unity and music entrepreneurship.
“I live for moments where I get to serve students through live-changing immersive experiences,” Deal said. “I saw the enlightenment of students’ faces in real time as [Cherif] shared his story, experience and passion of building a global brand built on and for the hip-hop culture.”
Students also walked away feeling inspired about their careers in music and production.
“The experience was pretty amazing,” said Sierra Sky Fisher, a junior majoring in music industry. “Even though he’s this really big deal in the music industry, he sat up there really humbly and made us all feel really comfortable. He clearly really valued his time there.”
During his event, Cherif offered more than just wise words to the class: On a whim, he ended up giving free Rolling Loud festival tickets to all students and professors in attendance, distributing over 100 passes in total.
Though a student had jokingly asked Cherif for complimentary Rolling Loud tickets because of their steep prices, to everyone’s surprise, Cherif agreed.
“[Cherif] just kind of looked at his manager and he goes ‘F*ck it, let’s just give them all tickets,’” Fisher said. “He gave our entire class tickets and it was the most epic thing ever … It was unbelievable.”
The professors appreciated the generous offer to students, who can now complement what they’ve learned in class by witnessing hip-hop music and culture in person at Rolling Loud.
“[Cherif] gave back by inviting the class in attendance to a living, breathing example of what we teach each semester, and that was priceless!” Deal said.
The Rolling Loud experience is made up of more than just the music. From the art to the physical experience, the festival will provide the full effect of hip-hop in our own backyard this March.