It’s always an event when the hometown hero returns to the city, so when Wale and Smino’s Everything is A lot Tour stopped in DC for not 1 but 2 nights, you should already know you’re in for a show. I’ve caught both artist individually in the last 12 months on their own separate tours before teaming up for a 2026 summer run.
Opting for an outdoor venue, the sold-out show was the first concert of the summer at Plaza Stage at Nationals Park. The outdoor scenery, along with the ballpark concessions and homecoming vibes, gave the entire night an indescribable block party energy that you recognize as soon as you step into it. Maryland singer and songwriter Alex Vaughn hit the stage first, accompanied by the DMV’s favorite DJ Little Bacon Bear, to warm people up and start the night off strong. Alex performed several of her original songs, along with a couple of covers, before finishing her set, having all the ladies in the crowd singing “Stop hallucinating over lame ass niggas” the famous line from her 2022 song Mirage.
Smino followed up next on June 20, bopping out on the Def Jam poetry-styled stage, starting things out with “No L’s,” just as he did when I caught him back in May 2025 (check out that article here) before going into “Z4L.” He brought the energy up a little by little with the first few songs, transitioning to “Matinee” followed by “Pro Freak,” which set the place in motion. Smi slowed things back down with his Beyonce cover freestyle, “Smi, Myself and I,” before setting things ablaze once again with “KLINK.” He told an anecdote about his mom telling him he’s always throwing a fit when he doesn’t get his way before going into another YouTube freestyle with “mister misfit but ain’t missed a fit in months.”
If you brought some gas this the time to light it up, Smeezy said just before he broke out all the fan favorites for the rest of his set. “Wild Irish Rose” and “Anita” from his first album “BLKSWN” had the whole crowd screaming out his signature punchlines and singing along with the hooks, while singles like “I Deserve” & “Polynesian” pulled out the true Smino fans. He wrapped things up with “Lee & Lovie,” a song from his Luv 4 Rent album dedicated to his grandparents of the same names and their love for one another. Before closing out his part of the night, returning to his “BLKSWN” debut with the slow jam outro, “Amphetamine.”
Watch the official music video for Smino’s “mister misfit but ain’t missed a fit in months” on YouTube:
The self-proclaimed Ambassador of Rap for the Capital hit the stage as only he could. Draped in a massive fur coat and sunglasses, regardless of the warm summer night air, Wale strolled out under the Def Jam arch, beginning his set with “Belly” from his most recent album, “everything is a lot.” Knowing exactly where he was, Wale followed up with the Go-Go inspired “Clappers,” to set the place off, before getting into his MMG era, with records like “On Chill,” “That Way” and ”Diced Pineapples.”
Wale kept things current, performing over half of the records from the critically acclaimed new album throughout the night, including “Conundrum,” “City on Fire,” “Where to Start,” and “Power and Problems”; but he made sure to dig down in his bag for his hometown, and weave in songs from his his long catalog of hits from the last 15 years. Around this time, I started to notice people dancing in the parking garages adjacent to the stage, and I couldn’t help but appreciate the ingenuity. Wordplay Le talked his shit about his deep discography and years in the game, before getting into classic songs like “LoveHate Thing,” “Illest Bitch Alive,” and “The Body” that had people performing like they were on stage with him, while songs like “PYT,” “Poke it Out,” and “YSF” got the party going again.
Check out Wale’s latest album “everything is a lot.” on Spotify:
Watch the official music video for Wale’s hit record “Watching Us” featuring Leon Thomas on YouTube:
Folarin made light of going through yet another breakup before getting into “The Break Up Song,” which got a huge pop, as I don’t think any of us expected to go all the way back to 2010’s “More About Nothing” mixtape. Tre’ from the legendary UCB and Wale’s partner-in-crime came out to and started up the sing-along as he performed “Sexy Lady.” Wale took center stage again with “Blanco,” “The Matrimony” and “Dearly Beloved,” just before letting us know he’d been told he had a “crazy” amount of time left and joked that they were going to have to play faster or something because he was getting through these songs, I mean, it is D.C.. He brought Smino back out, along with DMV artists Lightshow and 30Black to rock the stage with him and close things out as he tried to speed things up.
He performed halfs of a few songs like “Lonely,” “Watching Us” and even the infamous “No Hands,” but he did make sure to get through “Bad.” He finished the night off with “Lotus Flower Bomb,” but his mic was cut off somewhere in the middle of the song. Wale shrugged it off and turned into a choir director as his voice wasn’t really needed anymore at that point. The city took over as the entire crowd sang the rest of the song to the end before heading for the doors.
There’s only a handful of stops left on the Everything is A Lot Tour, with it wrapping up in Minneapolis, Minnesota, next week.
Below are some more photos from Wale and Smino’s show at Plaza Stage at Nationals Park on June 20, 2026. All photos copyright and courtesy of AJ Waugh (wauffleznotwaffles.com).
