31 photos you haven’t seen from Rolling Loud California 2025

Rolling Loud California 2025 was one for the books. Headliners A$AP Rocky made his return to the stage — via helicopter, no less — Peso Pluma made history as the first non-hip-hop artist to ever headline the festival, and Playboi Carti unleashed the first live performances of MUSIC alongside surprise guests Skepta and The Weekend. There was a lot to see and be seen — and perhaps no one had a better vantage point for everything that went down on the ground at the Hollywood Park than Curtis Huynh, a 25-year-old Rolling Loud photographer who was tasked to get it all on camera.

Ahead of Rolling Loud California 2025, The FADER asked Huynh to share his experience of what it’s like working the festival. Below, read his stories of shooting artists like Playboi Cart, and take a look behind his camera with exclusive portraits of Sexyy Red, Peso Pluma, Ty Dolla $ign, and more.

Curtis Huynh: I'm from Toronto, Canada, and I've always wanted to shoot Rolling Loud. You don't really get this type of opportunity in Toronto. [Some] artists can't come to Canada because they have arrest warrants or past history, so they can't cross the border. Being able to go to the U.S. and shoot like people like Gunna, artists like Playboi Carti, Travis Scott, like those big names, it's pretty cool.

Playboi Carti is someone that everybody wants to shoot cause he's super mysterious. I did it in L.A. in 2023. We were kicked out of the photo pit after three songs and then I went in the mosh pits at the VIP section. At that time I used to carry two cameras, and then I have my backpack on me with my laptop in it. I was holding both my cameras in the air while walking through the mosh pit, trying to take good photos. Everybody's jumping up and down, pushing back and forth. Being able to have myself balanced and capture at the same time, that was pretty cool to do. I actually have a picture of my Yeezys at the time. They're black Yeezys, and I was wearing flared pants. You can see them filled with dust, just because everybody was stepping on it.

It's good to connect with other photographers [working the festival] because we have the same passion. We get excited with the photos we capture. At the end of the night, to sit down and actually start editing your photos that you really enjoyed taking and then sharing it with your friends is a very good feeling.

I don't want to make an artist feel uncomfortable if they don't want their picture taken. I read the room, understand when's the best time to do it, and then either I start a conversation with them and say, “Hey, I really like your music,” and then I ask them if they could take a portrait. Mostly it's just the security but they sometimes power trip. But it is their job to protect the artist.

[It’s important] to stay on your toes — you never know what to expect because artists will bring out special guests. That could be Don Toliver bringing Justin Bieber [at Rolling Loud California 2023]. I think I was at another stage, but I remember the group chat texted like, “Oh surprise guest backstage, Justin Bieber's here.” I remember going on stage and seeing [Bieber] on stage dancing, and then he came on to perform, which is really cool because Justin Bieber's from Toronto where I'm from, and when I was younger I really looked up to his style. I guess he's someone that I was scared to take pictures of. Obviously I wanted a portrait of him, but it was hard because I understand he's not much of a fan of photos. One thing I do regret is not trying, because I don't know when I would ever get that opportunity again.