Something In The Water: Review

The Something in the Water Festival is a music and cultural festival founded by Pharrell Williams, a Virginia Beach native. The festival celebrates music, culture, and community. The festival was created after police officials reached out to Williams asking for ideas to manage the violence that occurred for several years during “College Beach Week.”. Pharrell’s Festival brings everyone together with a diverse group of musicians with a message of togetherness and nonviolence. 

Gallery • 4 Photos

We attended this year’s festival and here is our review:

Day 1: Senior Jordan Fielder

With minor delays the show went on. I was able to attend Kid Cudi, Skrillex , Polo G, Jazmine Sullivan, Wale, Kenny Beats, and Babyfaceray. The strongest of Friday’s set was Jazmine Sullivan, Wale, and Kid Cudi. Starting off the day with delays was Babyfaceray, I did not know any of his songs and his crowd had very little turnout. But he was also very active with trying to get the crowd involved. 

After Babyfaceray, I went to watch Jazmine Sulivan and I will say this was one of, if not my favorite, performance of the festival. The crowd was filled as she performed many of her hit songs: “Bust the windows out your car,” “Pick Up Your Feelings,” and “On It.” I do not think there was not a single person who did not sing at least one of her songs. 

Another great performance I watched shortly after Jazmine Sullivans was Wale. I will say I was a little worried since he came out late, but when he was on stage he gave a show by performing: “Lotus Flower Bomb,” “On Chill,” “Bad,” and “No Hands.” The crowd was loving his energy. 

After this performance, I went to get chicken nuggets which were fourteen dollars and very soggy since they drenched them in honey mustard. The food at the event was pricey. The nuggets were disappointing, but they had fried oreos that were really good. There was a great variety of food options.

After I ate, I went to see Polo G and I will say his set was good, but he did not pay enough attention to the crowd. He paid homage to Juice Wrld by playing their song “Flex’.’ He also performed fan favorites: “Pop Out,” “Martin and Gina,” and “3 Headed Goat.” 

After Polo G, I went to go listen to Kenny Beats work his magic and I have to say I do not normally listen to Djs, but this was fun. He played a lot of artists, but the most memorable were Juice Wrld, xxxtenaction, and Cheek Keef. His set was a little short, lasting around ten minutes but that was enough to get the crowd going. After that Skrillex, another Dj, came out and I will say techno music is not my type of music and I did not like it at all. 

Ending the night was Kid Cudi coming out with nothing but good vibes and great energy. He performed many of his hit songs; the most memorable of them all were “Mr.Rager,” “Pursuit of Happiness,” and “Ghost.” 

I rode the shuttle to and from the festival and I will say I waited around twenty-five to forty-five minutes to get on the shuttle each time. I give the first day of the festival a solid four out of five stars, delays aside. I had a lot of fun and saw many of my favorite artists perform songs that are in almost all of my playlists.

Day 2:  Riley Robbins

After the weather settled down from the first night, the second day was delayed for a short period of time, but it did not affect the overall performances. I had the Luxury of seeing: Riovaz, UMI, SWV, Coi Leray, Latto, Lil Yachty, and Pharells Phriends. 

Overall day two’s line up brought a lot more energy and I was satisfied with every performance. Starting off was Riovaz, I will say I only know three of his songs, but his set was cut short due to some technical issues and he was rude to the people working the set because of it. He also said this was his first festival and the way his attitude was, I hope it’s one of his last. 

Shortly after his set I was blessed with the peaceful energy of UMI. Before performing her set she invited everybody watching her to meditate with her and encouraged us to let go of all the things we can’t control. She then continued to sing her songs including “Butterfly” and “Nostalgia.” 

SWV was the next sett. The energy they had on stage was amazing and I sang every song they performed. My favorite of their set was “Rain,” “Weak,” and “I’m So Into You.” It was also Taj’s birthday so they brought out a cake mid set for her and it was amazing. 

Coi Leray is a well known female hip-hop and R&B artist. During her set, she performed her top songs such as “BIG PURR” and “Players.” Coi Leray amped up the crowd with impressive performers and gave an entire song to show off their skills. She closed her set with a dance routine highlighting Coi’s talents as a hip-hop dancer and artist. 

After Coi’s set I rushed to see Latto perform and she was a little late, but her DJ was not. There was a big crowd and he set the vibe right playing hits like “Faneto” by Chief Keef and “Dreams and Nightmares” by Meek Mill. After about ten minutes, Latto came on stage and got straight to it! She had great crowd interaction. She played her hit songs: “Big Energy,” and “Put It On Da Floor.” She had a little wardrobe malfunction but her dancer fixed it for her so all was good. 

The set I was most excited for, Lil Yachty, was after Lizzo and he had me worried at first. He came out playing his newer songs “Strike” and “Drive Me crazy,”, but then the mosh pit opened  and he performed some of my favorites like “From the D to the A” and “NBAYOUNGBOAT.” His energy outmatched a lot of the other performers and I will say it was my favorite. 

Pharrell and Phriends was the final performance which brought out Pharrel Williams, Busta Rhymes, Latto and Lola Brooke, Coi Leray, Chris Brown, and Diddy. The energy was there, but I personally felt like it was mediocre and most definitely not the highlight of the night.

The Something in the water festival featured performances by a diverse lineup of talented artists. The festival featured a variety of events such as a pop-up church service, a fashion show, and many other things going on along the boardwalk. Something in the Water took security very seriously and did a great job keeping everything organized and I can’t speak for everyone, but I never felt like I needed to worry for my safety. Overall, Something in the Water is a great event that brings people together and gives back to the community and hopefully will return for years to come.