A slew of rap stars flew into Miami for a week full of artistic expression, rare performances, and exclusive parties.
From December 3 to December 7, Art Basel held its annual cluster of art fairs, gallery events, and its inaugural award show in the Magic City. Following opening events from SCOPE Art Show and the Museum of Graffiti, Swizz Beatz hosted the first-ever Art Basel Awards at the New World Center in Downtown Miami. The founder of The Dean Collection continued his hosting duties at the award show's official after-party at Bagatelle Miami, where he connected with Timbaland, Pusha T, Steve Stoute and more.
Speaking of King Push, Clipse had a heavy presence during Art Basel this year. Pusha T and Malice headlined a couple of major art celebrations, including Saint & Citizen's "Saint Sessions Live" at the Rubell Museum and Back To Basics at SCOPE Art Show. Their performance at S&C served as a full-circle moment for the Virginia-based duo. It was at the media platform's live event in 2024 where Push first confirmed the Clipse's Let God Sort Em Out album was completed during his conversation with Ari Melber.
There were plenty of other notable hip-hop moments that happened during Art Basel in Miami. Fat Joe, French Montana, Uncle Luke and more pulled up to the Museum of Graffiti and the Art of Hip-Hop to peep work by infamous graffiti artists JonOne, TATS Cru, Slawn & Opake plus more. Scroll below to see what other moments you missed.
Clipse hit up stages from Miami Beach to Wynwood
Clipse performed at two major events during Art Basel. They headlined Back To Basics x SPIN's 40th Anniversary party at SCOPE Art Show with other performers like Cee-Lo Green, YG Marley and more. They also headlined Saint & Citizen's "Saint Sessions Live" along with Kaytranada, DJ Trauma and more.
Westside Gunn & Benny The Butcher perform at Gunn Basel
Westside Gunn is known for bringing his Gunn Basel events to Miami each year. For this year's event, he partnered with Clockwork Music Group to present his event at Lincolns Beard Brewery in Miami. The Griselda founder was at the venue two nights in a row to perform for hundreds of fans and support Benny The Butcher, who had his own headlining show at the venue the night before. In addition, Westside Gunn also hosted an exclusive event with his wrestling league, 4th Rope, at the Billionaire Boys Club store in Wynwood.
Gunna brings Wun World Tour and Wunna Run Club to Miami
Gunna took a different direction for his contribution to Art Basel week. In the hours leading up to his tour stop in Miami, the Atlanta rapper hosted his Wunna Run Club at the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami Beach. Runners got a chance to warm up and participate in a 5K run right next to the ocean with Wunna himself. Afterward, Gunna invaded the FPL Solar Amphitheater and performed at his "Wunna World Tour." During the show, he brought out Offset, who performed "Different Species" and "prada dem" with his good friend on stage.
21 Savage & Slawn team up on new art piece ahead of new album
21 Savage joined forces with visual artist Slawn to come up with a dope art piece ahead of his upcoming album. During Art Basel, the "Bank Account" rapper and the London-based creative debuted an inflatable that has Slawn's infamous upside-down clown face and 21's dagger on the forehead. The truck the inflatable arrived on has the acronym WHTTS, which is an acronym for his forthcoming album's title, What Happened To The Streets? Slawn also did the artwork for the album cover.
Ice Spice dances to her new single "Thootie"
Ice Spice popped up at a few exclusive events during Art Basel. After hitting the red carpet at Nylon House along with Travis Scott and more, the Bronx bombshell hit the stage for a few seconds and danced to her new single "Thootie" featuring Tokischa. She shared the stage along with Coi Leray and Anycia, who delivered a couple of songs each while on stage.
Jeezy performs with F.A.M.U's Marching 100 at Unc's Backyard Bash
Jeezy repped for Atlanta at McDonalds' Unc Backyard Bash. During the event, hosted by UNC's Arte House, the revered rapper popped out for a rare performance of his verse on Shawty Lo's "Dey Know" with Florida A&M University's Marching 100 band. Fans got to enjoy the performance, some light brunch-style bites and artwork by local artists. "The Gold Standard" by Lenny S was another dope installation that brought the photographer's infamous golden couch from New York City to Miami.
FERG debuts short film inspired by his new album
FERG just dropped his latest album, FLIP PHONE SHORT - STRICTLY FOR DA STREETS VOL. 1. To celebrate its release, the Harlem-based artist took his talents down to South Beach, where he spoke at two panels at the SCOPE Art show and debuted his short film FLIP PHONE SHORTY. In addition to hosting the premiere, FERG also hosted a 5K run with fans and hosted a star-studded listening party for the album at Gekko Lounge in Downtown Miami.
50 Cent holds a surprise performance at Hublot 20th Big Bang anniversary party
50 Cent and G-Unit invaded Miami to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Hublot's Big Bang. The rapper-filmmaker brought Tony Yayo and Uncle Murda with him to hit the stage during the lavish party. During his performance, Fif rocked a $1 million Hublot watch that was customized with his logo. See the highlights above.