Billboard‘s R&B Hip-Hop Live capped off Power Players week with an electric show at a sold-out Brooklyn Steel on Thursday (Sept. 10), featuring an eclectic range of R&B, hip-hop and Caribbean acts.
After becoming Billboard‘s first-ever Caribbean Rising Star, Skippa hit the stage just shy of 8:30 p.m. ET, bringing his island flavor, melodies and mix of trap-dancehall to NYC. The Jamaican artist ran through hard-hitting catalog standouts such as “WYFL,” as well as other anthems from his 2026 album #Skippaholic. Skippa warmed up the crowd and kept the party going while bringing out four dancers to join his set.
Samara Cyn followed suit. Billboard‘s 2026 Hip-Hop Rising Star kicked off her performance with Detour‘s “Good Is a Lie” and led into her breakout hit “Sinner.” While many of her Gen Z rap peers utilize a backing track, Cyn doesn’t need the training wheels.
She paused the show for a fan needing medical attention before entering her “crash out era” to slow the pace. Cyn pulled on 2000s nostalgia with a sample of Ye’s (formerly Kanye West) 808s & Heartbreak sleeper “Paranoid” and then utilized Gwen Stefani’s “Hollaback Girl” anthem leading into “Oooshxt!”
2026 has been a massive year for kwn, as the British singer has crossed over to etch herself into the U.S. R&B landscape. She was a late addition to the R&B Hip-Hop Live concert lineup, but drew the biggest pop of the night from the sold-out crowd. Kwn had the audience singing along to every word of “Do What I Say” and going bar-for-bar on “Worst Behaviour.”
R&B went back-to-back with Destin Conrad following up Kwn. Conrad, Billboard‘s 2026 R&B Rising Star, had the fashion moment of the night as he matched his baggy dark brown leather pants with a fedora and a caramel leather jacket. The 26-year-old shined with his vocals on tracks such as “Bad Bitches” — sans a Kehlani appearance — and ran through cuts from his pair of 2026 projects with Whimsy! and the reggae-leaning Roadrunner.
Yung Miami brought scam rap back to the forefront as her “Spend Dat” anthem became a bona fide song of the summer candidate and cracked the top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100. Joined by a handful of dancers, the Florida rapper proved the summer ain’t over just yet, with “Spend Dat” drawing a raucous crowd response as fans sang along to the catchy chorus. Miami also ran through tracks such as the City Girls smash “Act Up,” which reached the top 40 of the Hot 100 in 2018.
Lucky Daye had the honor of closing out the show before midnight struck, and the R&B singer proved to be a worthy headliner, as Daye made sure the audience knew his mic was on for the entire set. With a live band on stage alongside him, the New Orleans native jumped around his discography from “Roll Some Mo” to the soothing “That’s You” and his newest single “Fly U Out.” Gear up: The next Lucky Daye era is on the horizon.
