Bonnaroo 2023 Artist Spotlight: Destroy Lonely

Like we’ve been doing for many years now, we’re making it our mission to help you get acquainted with many of our favorite acts from Bonnaroo‘s 2023 lineup. After roaring back to life last summer, after two years off due to Covid and weather, this year marks Bonnaroo’s 20th installment (and 22nd anniversary), boasting not only another great and varied lineup, but also more changes and improvements then we’ve seen in years, with more flexibility in ticketing and camping, a reimagined “Outeroo” campground area, new activations, and further new ways to Roo. Back once again in its usual June 15-18 timeframe, we’re counting down the days until another great weekend on the farm.

As we dig through the entire schedule, we’ll highlight a spread of performers spanning across genres and stages, big and small, new and old, to bring you some of the most interesting, lesser-known, and most highly-recommended among this year’s crop of artists. And as our time at ‘Roo approaches, we’ll also be bringing you some special features and full list-style daily lineup guides, to help you plan your weekend ahead of the fest. While these previews won’t span every artist, and might omit some more obvious must-see acts, we hope they’ll serve as a way to help you navigate Bonnaroo’s gargantuan lineup, and to make the most of your busy weekend at the fest!

Grab your tickets right here if you haven’t already, and read on for our Bonnaroo Artist Spotlight!

LEARN

Though his formal debut album only dropped mere weeks ago, Atlanta rapper Destroy Lonely has been making buzzworthy music and attracting a fervent online following for several years now, since he was still a teen. The now 21-year-old is the son of rapper and frequent Ludacris collaborator I-20, but, though while exposed to hip hop by his father at a young age, has found a sound that’s thoroughly modern and distinctly his own, beginning making music at 14 with his high school friends. Adopting a moniker that evokes the destructive path he briefly found himself on through substance abuse, and the loneliness he felt at that time in his youth, the breakout rapper- born Bobby Wardel Sandimanie III- was barely 18 when, in the summer of 2019, early tune “Bane” first exposed him to a wider audience. After a handful of self-released mixtapes and EPs, including 2020’s breakout ᐸ/3, Destroy Lonely attracted the attention of famed rapper and fellow Georgia native Playboi Carti, who signed him to his major label imprint, Opium, and released his 2022 fifth mixtape No Stylist, which, with its TikTok-viral lead single helped bring Destroy Lonely into the mainstream. With a knack for buzzy, unique, and genre-bending beats, as well as an original cadence and sense of humor, much of the rapper’s music evokes a twinkling, alternative rock ethos that has shades of emo rap, making the fact that he’s referenced influences like The Cure and Crystal Castles (in addition to the more conventional Lil Wayne and Drake) unsurprising. Though he still feels like a newcomer- his debut, If Looks Could Kill, arrived in May- Destroy Lonely is an exciting new fixture in the hip hop scene, and those are always the types of festival performances that are the most fun to see (we still remember catching Kendrick Lamar and Childish Gambino on the rise, Kevin Abstract in a late night tent, and more). Coupled with the extremely late night set time, that’s a recipe for something special.

WATCH | “NOSTYLIST” (Official Video)