Hit-Boy, a Fontana native, performs at Rock the Bells Saturday, Sept. 7 at San Manuel Amphitheater in Devore. (David Bauman/Staff Photographer)
Rock the Bells had some Inland love on its lineup Saturday when Chauncey Hollis, a.k.a. Hit-Boy, took the Hip Hop DX stage mid-afternoon.
Hollis let everyone know where he is from repeatedly throughout his set, with a number of shoutouts to the Inland Empire.
“I’m really from right down the street,” he told the crowd.
Before he became a mega-producer for artists like Jay-Z, a performer in his own right and a label owner, Hollis, who grew up in Fontana, attended the festival as a fan.
” This …is a dream being up here,” he said.
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Wearing a black and gold jersey that had his name and the number 87 on the back, Hollis bounced around the stage.
He talked about being on tour all summer and bringing the music of the I.E. around the world.
Hollis also reiterated his many projects and noted he wasn’t just a producer or a performer, but also run his own label, HS 87.
With that, he brought up Roosevelt and later the Inland Empire’s own Audio Push.
Hit-Boy and Audio Push perform Saturday, Sept. 7 at Rock the Bells. (Vanessa Franko/Staff Photo)
The Inland duo stayed on stage with Hollis for the remainder of his set, debuting new material from their new release, which Hit Boy produced, “Come As You Are,” which drops on Tuesday.
The set continued with Hit-Boy and Audio Push running through some of his most famous beats, including tracks from Jay-Z and Kendrick Lamar. A fellow writer described it as hip-hop karaoke.