The second edition of the urban music and pop culture festival will be headlined by SZA and 21 Savage.
Wireless Festival Middle East, the region’s biggest celebration of urban music and pop culture will take over Etihad Park, Yas Island on 23 November, and we’ve just been told that R&B superstar SZA and British rapper 21 Savage will headline.
Organisers Live Nation Middle East promise a “bigger and better” show than the 2023 edition, featuring a host of performances from artists across genres such as hip-hop, urban, rap, R&B, grime, dance and more.
Who’s on the lineup?
Grammy Award winner SZA is one of the first headliners announced, making her long-awaited debut in the region. The R&B artist released her debut studio album Ctrl in 2017, which saw her become the second longest-charting R&B album by a female artist on the Billboard 200. The following year, SZA received a nomination for Best Original Song at the 76th Golden Globe Awards and the 91st Academy Awards for her single “All the Stars”, for which she joined forces with Kendrick Lamar. Merging R&B with elements of hip-hop and soul, SZA won the Grammy Award for “Snooze” (Best R&B Song) and SOS (Best Progressive R&B Album) earlier this year.
Next on the roster is 21 Savage. Born in London, he quickly rose to fame with his debut mixtape The Slaughter Tape in 2015. The British rapper’s latest album, American Dream, debuted in January at number one on the Billboard 200 with 133,000 units, marking his sixth top ten entry and his fourth consecutive album to top the charts.
Other names just announced include experimental record producer Yeat, American rapper Flo Milli, Haitian-American singer and songwriter Fridayy, Indian singer Karan Aujla, and British-Punjabi star Raf-Saperra. Also confirmed to perform are Pakistani rapper Faris Shafi, Belgian hip-hop artist Dina Ayada, Egyptian-American producer Mazen, British rapper Lancey Foux, and hip-hop duo Seedhe Maut.
Homegrown talents:
Bringing some local flair to proceedings will be Stick No Bills, a collective curated by DJ Jeff and Aaron Ferns for third-culture South Asians who were born and raised in the UAE. The group has been on a journey of discovery since they initially organised exclusive invite-only events. Following the launch of a series of collaborations earlier this year, DJ Jeff and company have been filling their calendar with performances at Alserkal Avenue, 25hours Hotel One Central, and Electric Pawn Shop. We’re promised that more homegrown talents will be added to the line-up soon.
When are tickets on sale?
With the second edition of Wireless Middle East expected to sell out, be sure to secure your tickets fast.
Starting from AED 295, early bird tickets will go on sale on June 12, with the general sale starting the following day. Visit www.wirelessfestival.me for tickets and more details.
DSCVR: Wireless Festival Middle East, Etihad Park, Abu Dhabi. @wirelessfestme @livenationme
