On a dark Florida dawn in the February of 2015, Matt Zingler dragged bike racks and tents across Soho Studios in the Wynwood district of Miami with a pistol strapped to his hip. It was the first iteration of music festival Rolling Loud, founded by college friends Tariq Cherif and Matt Zingler; a one-day affair featuring Schoolboy Q, Juicy J, A$AP Ferg, Currensy, and Action Bronson. The event was delayed by bouts of rain and temporarily flooded, delaying performances by hours— but the event successful enough to renew for another year. And then another; another. 

In a matter of a decade, Rolling Loud became the largest hip hop festival in the world; parallel in size and scope to the burgeoning international fanbase of SoundCloud and mumble rap—as internet algorithms made linguistic and artistic inroads into the American lexicon, so too did Rolling Loud. Vine was at its peak in 2015. Instagram Stories debuted a year after the first iteration of the festival. By 2019—the year Musical.ly rebranded to become TikTok— Rolling Loud had already expanded to the Bay Area, Los Angeles, New York, and Australia, with VIP crowd favorite activation, Bunny’s Bae Bar facilitated by Bunny Zingler (a professional cosmetologist by trade, Zingler has worked for years to improve the festival for women, bringing free period products and a comfortable glam station with working makeup and hair stylists to the festival).

Point being, there are few cultural phenomenons nestled so snugly in the Zillennial psyche as Rolling Loud—as tendrils of the internet became inextricable from the public consciousness, so too has Rolling Loud intertwined itself with internet, rap, and youth culture. It’s difficult to remember a time where these facets of the internet haven’t been so prescient. It’s difficult to remember a time when Rolling Loud wasn't synonymous with hip hop. 

After a decade, it’s impossible to bisect Rolling Loud from the tsunami-like force from whence it came—Rolling Loud is no longer just a festival; it’s a lifestyle brand, offering fashion and merchandising; a 360º brand experience complete with an NFT collection (Loudpunx, which offers owners VIP passes to every festival in perpetuity). Bunny Zingler has grown Bae’s Bunny Bar, and continues to champion female rap fans as creative director of clothing collaborations (like 2023’s Forever 21 collaboration, or this year’s Boys Lie collab). Rolling Loud has launched in Thailand, across Europe, and Canada. Matt tells me he’s looking into different places in Asia, and likely a location in the Middle East in the near future.  

I speak to Bunny and Matt, creative partners and real-life partners (the couple wed in 2020, mere weeks before the pandemic put the world on pause) days before Rolling Loud Los Angeles is set to begin. They’re shopping together, chatting to me on separate phones from across a store. Bunny is excited to talk about the ways Bunny’s Bae Bar continues to support guests at the festival. Matt remains unjaded; he’s open and excited about the future of the festival-cum-lifestyle brand. Their Bluetooths get crossed; they laugh and continue. It’s clear that the two remain festival royalty because of their ability to place trust in one another, and in the boundless potential of Rolling Loud’s future.

How are you feeling about this weekend?

Bunny: I'm feeling really awesome. I've been doing this with Matt for seven years now. Every time we go into a new show there's always the jitters and I get adrenaline. I'm excited to see everyone. It's always nice to reconnect with a lot of people because we don’t see these people all year round, just only at the shows. 

A lot of mental preparation goes into it. Just trying to stay grounded, feed myself and just make sure that I'm going in with 110%. I'll make goals for myself, whether that's connecting more with my community within Bunny’s Bae Bar and talking to more of the girls who are coming by, [making] content, because that seems to be the biggest thing in today's world. I wanna make sure that I feel good, 'cause if my cup isn't full, I can't give back to everybody else.

What about you, Matt?

Matt: I'm a seasoned vet, like playing the Super Bowl for the 10th year in a row type shit. I used to get pretty nervous at shows, but I have a great team now that I've been building for a decade. Obviously there's always crazy shit going on right now. I just like to make sure all the artists are tuned in with the fans, make sure that they're posted, make sure they're gonna bring unique experiences. We always like to exceed fan expectations, to make sure that they're dialed in with their special guests and performers that they're bringing out. And then, yeah. Let’s just have a good, clean, safe show. Let’s always try to outdo ourselves every show. Make it the most lit. 

What makes a good party? And what is the difference between a good party and a good festival?

Matt: Festivals are more lifestyle oriented. You dress up, you get your friends together. In nightclubs you have more acquaintances that you like to link up with when you go to a club— generally speaking, the music's too loud to really conversate. When you commit to a friend group at a festival, you're usually traveling somewhere. You're gonna be with them for 12 hours a day. You're probably sharing a room. So I think that there's a big difference between parties and festivals from an actual fan experience. From clubs to festivals—what you’re getting, performance wise and production wise, is two entirely different groups.I think the real difference for me is, is just like what you get at a festival is just so much grander, you know? And that's from somebody who's owned nightclubs and has been in the industry a long time.

When you talk about Rolling Loud in general, like you talk about a full-on lifestyle. Can you both expand a little bit on the idea of Rolling Loud as a brand? Where are you taking it? Where is it coming from?

Matt: Rolling Loud started just as a bunch of artists coming together and doing performances and then it elevated into like an experience. We’re trying to outdo ourselves— production stages, custom activations, Ferris Wheels, carnivals, and going crazy with the production.

It’s not just only about the music. It’s about more than the music, you know. And now we have our own movie that's dropping, it's got Owen Wilson and Matt Rife in it. It’s called Rolling Loud. It's like super exciting and you know it's gonna be a blockbuster hit and it just takes the brand to the next level by doing international expansion and you know, getting the validation that at the time when we built Rolling Loud, no one else was really doing what we were doing and we're the most authentic brand. And you don't just get there by throwing shows.

And Bunny’s Bae Bar? How has that developed?

Bunny: Yeah, so when I first started Bunny's Bae Bar, it was more of like a passion project that was supposed to be something fun. My background is in cosmetology, I went to Queens Vocational and Technical High School for cosmetology. I ended up getting my GED but still pursuing beauty, in this realm which was, you know, my dream.

In 2019, I had all of the girls that I went to high school with volunteer and help me out— you know, move and push and shove, and do the best we could for the first year. It just grew into such a grand experience. The girls really like it. Going into cosmetics and my own, you know, gems and rhinestones and beauty has been such a great experience. It's all tailored for the fans that attend Rolling Loud. The future of [Bunny’s Bae Bar]? It's gonna be awesome and it's gonna catapult us into a different lane. So much more to come. Maybe we'll end up making our own little doll one day or something.

What makes Los Angeles so special for Rolling Loud? 

Matt: LA to me always was the place I wanted to go after Miami. There's a lot more people in LA than there is in South Florida. On the West Coast there's such a unique sound that's coming out that's on the music side. Each show interacts with what's being put out in that market. We really do tailor each show also to the region. And I wasn't really being able to service the West Coast properly on the East Coast because a lot of the music wasn't fully converting. And I do think it's really important to have an East Coast and a West Coast festival because it creates that ability to platform new artists, which is what we're all about, right?

Bunny, what are some strong memories of yours that impacted the way Bunny’s Bae Bar manifested this year?

Bunny: Three days for a festival is a lot, especially something that like you're looking forward to. I want to bring the experience where you could basically just roll out of bed, brush your teeth, and  come to the festival where we have everything taken care of for you all the way from your hair to your makeup to you know, merchandise.

My approach with Bunny’s Bae Bar is that I didn't want anything to be complicated or difficult. I don't want anyone to have to worry about anything, like “Bunny’s got me covered, I'm gonna go there. I'm gonna get all jazzed up. It's included in my VIP ticket. Good vibes.” 

As far as my main, you know, memories and experiences— I will definitely say gratitude and like how thankful everybody is that we have such a thing at the festival. It just completes my whole heart. It just makes me feel like I have so much purpose, you know, and it's, it's amazing 'cause I feel the same way about them. 

We're also the first festival to introduce free feminine products to our fans. Actually when we started offering free feminine products, everybody started copying us. Which is great because that's ultimately what I wanted with that movement. The last thing you wanna do when you go to a festival is to get visited by your monthly mother nature. [Bunny’s Bae Bar] is definitely a beginning and middle to the girls’ festival experience throughout all three days. 

What have you've learned about yourself while you're kind of executing such large scale projects?

Bunny: I'd say I definitely learned that I have a good amount of patience. Bunny’s Bae Bar requires a lot of patience to execute. I'd say my perfectionism has gotten me this far, but also like having that boundary with my said perfectionism because otherwise nothing would be done. 

I learn a lot from my husband. I'm with him all day every day. So I learn about the business ins, outs, everything. And I'm just happy to be here, you know, I'm just happy to be here, happy to keep learning and growing as a person. You know, I'm only 26 so of course there's more to learn, more to, you know, tap on and touch on. But I'm learning every day and you know, the kids at the shows teach me too all the time sometimes, especially when they say that shit's whack.

Matt: You know, there used to be a thing I'd say that was like I learned in the industry. It's like:  You're only as good as your last show. One of the things that is important to me is just kind of not focusing necessarily on just one specific show, but as the brand itself and the brand is now a life thought brand.

My mindset's a lot different than it used to be. Over time you realize that not all artists are meant to be headliners; and that's a big thing because it's not just about coming and performing, it's about how you treat people, how you move and how you address your fans and how you work with others. That taught me a lot. So I think I'm taking more things into consideration now than I used to about who we book and why and, and how we use our platform.

I think in regards to managerial skills, I'm a lot calmer. I'm realizing that people are people too and they don't have to be there and you might be upset, but there's ways to kind of manage and address everything so that people are still excited and motivated to be there. Now I'm thinking bigger picture and where I want to go in the world with this event. How can I provide an experience to other people that may have never seen this before.? Maybe I could make a moment in their life they'll never forget. That, to me, is worth more than money. It's worth more than anything.