Wireless Festival 2024 Review - Nicki Minaj, ‘barbz’ and Sean Paul shut down day one

Thousands of ‘barbz’ - the nickname for Nicki Minaj fans - b-lined towards the main stage hoping to catch a front row view for the hip-hop icon. Pink was the uniform and I even managed to pick up a bucket hat to blend in. 

I was not vying for the front row, allowing me to head to the Amazon Music stage as Ragz Originale kicked off the day. Despite a small crowd, largely due to NSG performing on the main stage, Ragz gave it his all producing a fantastic live set including new single ‘ICE’ and hits from his album ‘Bare Sugar’.

Up next was rapper Destroy Lonely who brought his ‘rage’ style music, opening up the mosh pits at the main stage. Lonely, who works closely with fellow rapper Playboi Carti, got the crowd jumping with his hits ‘how u feel?’ and ‘Bane’.

Arguably my favourite act of the evening was Sean Paul. The dancehall legend, hailing from Jamaica, brought fantastic vibes and energy. It was one of those concerts where you knew all the words and most of the tunes, as every club in the country will have Sean Paul on their playlist. At 51 he was old enough to be my dad, but that did not stop his suggestive dance moves and his famous ad libs.

A short break allowed festival-goers to recuperate before TikTok superstar Ice Spice performed at 18:30pm. The Brookylyn-born rapper does have a limited repertoire to choose from but the crowd were right behind her. Perhaps aided by the arrival of Brit Central Cee towards the end of her set for the live debut of their collaboration - ‘Did It First’.

The crowd were displeased with Future however. The Atlanta-based trap artist left a bad impression as hip-hop fans eagerly awaited his arrival. ‘Unfortunately Future is running late’ read the stage board. It was only downhill from here as when he eventually made it to the stage with producer Metro Boomin, he performed for just 25 minutes - simply not enough for a headline slot.

This was it, the moment all the ‘barbz’ had been waiting for. Nicki Minaj. Regardless of your opinion on Minaj, she has made shockwaves through music and demonstrated incredible longevity in hip-hop. Her stellar back catalogue reared its head throughout the performance mixed in with new tunes from ‘Pink Friday 2’. Even including a nod to her breakout verse on Ye’s 2010 song - ‘Monster’. Despite completing as many outfit changes as songs, all the sets and costumes complimented the different eras of her music career.  

As the sun went down, and the ‘barbz’ sang their hearts out, a finale medley including ‘Anaconda’, ‘Starships’ and ‘Everybody’ rang out. With some extra pyrotechnics it became a picturesque performance and the perfect headline act to end day one.