The afternoon sun was still hanging over the desert when BigXthaPlug took the Stagecoach stage Friday, opening with "I Hope You're Happy," the lead track from his crossover country-rap album of the same name.
What followed was a set that moved fluidly between worlds. He pulled from the album's star-studded tracklist, performing "Pray Hard" with Luke Combs, "All the Way" with Bailey Zimmerman, and "Hell at Night," his collaboration with Ella Langley. At one point, BigXthaPlug stepped back and let the crowd take over, leading thousands in a sing-along to Langley's chart-topping single "Choosin' Texas."
He didn't stop there. BigX reached back to his hip-hop roots with "Levels" and "Texas" from his debut album Amar, the latter built around a steel guitar. For the occasion, he wore a glittering Dallas, Texas chain.
There were no guest appearances during the set. But the solo performance underscored why the artist has made such fast inroads on the country charts. "All the Way," his collaboration with Zimmerman, became the first song ever to top both Billboard's Hot Country Songs and Hot Rap Songs charts simultaneously. His rise in the genre also earned him Billboard's Country Power Players Innovator award, a Ryman Auditorium performance in Nashville, and a slot closing out the CMA Awards alongside Combs.
Last year at Stagecoach, BigX appeared as a surprise guest when Jelly Roll brought him out during one of the festival's standout moments. This year he had his own stage time.
In a recent conversation with Rolling Stone for its Future of Music special, BigX explained the logic behind moving across genres. "You can't be one of the best artists in the world and have only done one genre," he said. "Beyoncé, a GOAT, a queen. She's done pop, country. Lil Wayne: rock, pop. Snoop Dogg did songs with Katy Perry and shit. All these people are greats, from Eminem to Dr. Dre to Ice Cube. Everybody has stepped out of that lane."
His first two albums, Amar and Take Care, leaned into hip-hop and cinematic rap. The country pivot came last spring with I Hope You're Happy, a record that introduced him to an entirely new fan base while retaining the listeners who had followed him from the beginning.
