Three throwback hip-hop festivals are duking it out.

Can you spot the difference between Juicy Fest, Eden Fest and Fridayz Live? Neither.

Are you sitting down?

Are you ready to go?

Because we’re about to have a quick pop quiz.

How well do you know your summer music festivals – at least those featuring a smorgasbord of late 90s and early 2000s hip-hop and R&B acts?

Let’s find out!

Which throwback hip-hop festival is Ludacris headlining this summer?

Which nostalgic two-day rap show will feature Busta Rhymes on the bill?

Which venues around Aotearoa will Akon, Miguel, Twista, Baby Bash, Jeremih, Beenie Man, the Ying Yang Twins and Fat Joe perform in this summer?

Do you know?

Are you sure?

Or are you, like me, a little confused?

All of those artists, and many more that seem to have been cherry-picked from one of DJ Sir-Vere’s Major Flavours compilations from the early-2000s, will visit us over the looming festival season.

But they’re not coming here for the same show.

Right now, three completely different nostalgia-based festivals are competing for the hard-earned dollars of the same soul, R&B and rap fans.

It seems to be getting competitive.

It could be getting nasty.

Each festival uses the exact same colour schemes on their websites and in their Facebook and Instagram posts.

Let’s compare them, shall we?

Here’s the poster for Eden Fest, a two-day event happening in Auckland this October, the follow-up to last year’s festival headlined by Lauryn Hill and Six60 that received zero media coverage.

It’s had a venue change, expanded to be held over two days, and has booked the controversial performer Beenie Man, who was cut from the 2009 Big Day Out over homophobic lyrics.

All of that is big, bold and very, very risky…

Then there’s Juicy Fest, one of our biggest summer festivals with four shows that packs in thousands around the country before heading to Australia to do the exact same thing.

It announced its first line-up in April, then completely rejigged that line-up when two headliners dropped out.

Next year’s promises to be the biggest line-up yet.

Then there’s Fridayz Live, a one-day event usually held in the lead-up to Christmas. It hasn’t yet announced this year’s line-up – the website says, “We back in 2024” – so I’m using last year’s poster as a reference point.

This is the line-up for the notorious event where a male critic was caught writing “nice boobs” in his notebook as Kelly Rowland performed…

Do you see anything similar about these posters?

Does it feel like you’re seeing triple?

Can I throw something else into the mix?

Here’s the poster for R&B Fest, a night billed as a festival but is really just a DJ playing songs from many of the stars coming here to perform over summer.

It’s hitting Wellington venue The Grand on August 8, and The Studio in Auckland on August 9, and tickets cost just $15.

Here’s that purple colour scheme again…

Can I throw something else at you?

Here’s the poster for Souled Out, last summer’s final festival that featured a more current line-up but very much pulled from the same vibes as all those events listed above.

Is that more purple? By now, purple’s the only colour I can see.

Look.

We know some festivals are struggling after last summer’s record-breaking run of shows.

We also know nostalgia is huge right now.

Booking the stars of yesteryear is what happens when promoters get jittery and want to minimise the massive risk involved in making these events happen.

Yet, just two weeks ago, a hip-hop showcase featuring Xzibit, D12 and Obie Trice had events in Christchurch and Auckland axed, despite featuring a line-up that would fit on any of these festival bills.

Also, in January, a performance by TLC, Busta Rhymes and En Vogue was cancelled with short notice, despite seeming to feature a line-up many of the festivals above would kill for.

In both cases, promoters blamed “unforeseen circumstances”, a phrase often used because it sounds better than “low ticket sales”.

Putting on a festival is always a risky business. Even Coachella struggled this year. When multiple festivals are trying to do the exact same thing as you, that risk is much higher.

It could come down to line-ups.

It could come down to weather.

It could also come down to how much spare money everyone have to spend on concert tickets, which, these days, seems like not very much.

We could be heading into some very choppy waters.

Still, at least no one’s tried to book The Game to play again.

But at this rate, it’s surely just a matter of time…

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