BY TER STAFF
Today kicked off the return of rapper Common’s hometown music festival, AAHH! Fest, at Chicago’s Union Park. After an inaugural year in 2014, which saw performances from Kanye West, Jennifer Hudson, Common, Lupe Fiasco, Twista, Jay Electronica and more, the festival took a year off in 2015 but returned this year bigger than ever, now growing into a 2-day event. And in order to warm things up for Sunday’s lineup, which will feature performances from J. Cole, Ice Cube, Vic Mensa, Jeremih, The Roots and Sir The Baptist (just to name a few), today was the festival’s Community Day, ran in association with Kanye West’s foundation Donda’s House.
Fans in attendance today not only saw some of Chicago’s most talented young artists, including John The Author, DJ Mike P, The Pack Drumline, Retro Gibson, the J. Money Dancers and more, but Chicago also was treated to sets from Tink, rapper Taylor Bennett and Dreamville’s Omen. And just because it was the Community Day, doesn’t mean that it didn’t have some star power of it’s own, as the festival saw a huge surprise appearance from Chance The Rapper, who was already hosting his own festival a few miles south at the U.S. Cellular Field, as well as an opening appearance from SAVE MONEY’s Vic Mensa.
With a great showcase of some potential future AAHH! Fest headliners today, the stage is definitely set for tomorrow’s festivities. Chicago not only had a chance to cheer on their city today, but today was also a reminder of Common’s commitment to Chicago through his Common Ground Foundation, set to bring jobs, education and inspiration to the Windy City.
Check out our photos from the Community Day of Common’s AAHH! Fest 2016 below.
The Early Registration 