Highlights
Chance the Rapper
Photo by Philip Cosores
Our 2016 Artist of the Year, Chance the Rapper, clearly shows no signs of slowing down in 2017. He just dropped a Christmas mixtape with Jeremih, he apparently still has plans on releasing a proper debut album (whatever that means anymore), and he’s been teasing a collaboration alongside Childish Gambino, who’s right there with him at the top of this year’s lineup. And if you recall, Chance crashed Gambino’s Gov Ball set way back in 2014, so perhaps Mr. Glover will return the favor this time. Even if he doesn’t, you can still expect Little Chano from 79th to put on a Big Show from Randall’s Island. I’ll walk myself out, thank you very much. —Michael Roffman
__________________________________________________________
Childish Gambino
Photo by Heather Kaplan
Were you not listening above? No, but seriously, having Chance and Gambino together on a lineup right now is like seeing Burton’s Batman and Donner’s Superman collide. The two are currently the brightest masterminds in pop culture, and what’s more, we’ve yet to really see how Gambino plans to unpack his funky epic, “Awaken, My Love!”, for the festival setting. Odds are he has something up his sleeve, at least if we’re to take his small-screen ambition into consideration. If anything, we love a good graduation story, and his top billing finds him returning three years later as a total valedictorian. Somebody squeeze this guy’s cheek and take him to a nice dinner at Applebee’s, stat. —Michael Roffman
__________________________________________________________
Tool
Photo by David Brendan Hall
It says something about a band when they can remain a prestigious festival headliner for nearly 20 years. That’s the boat that Tool is in, having headlined the first Coachella and still having marquee power as it tops the Gov Ball bill. It will be the prog metal band’s first NYC date since 2006 and their first concert in the Northeast since 2012, meaning that Randall’s Island should be crawling with heshers come June. Sounds great to us. –Philip Cosores
__________________________________________________________
