Big Boy says Vegas creatives should stay put as cultural industry giants move in

Las Vegas ComplexCon bigger than ever and rumored to stay in Sin City for another four years. 

Fried Rice. 

Dead Homies. 

On The Arm.

Those were just a few of the “street” brands on display during the first ComplexCon in Las Vegas. The two-day event—produced by media outlet Complex—is defined by the organization as a festival and exhibition of “global youth culture.”

Creative collective Cactus Jack, led by rapper and festival producer Travis Scott, added an extra touch to this year’s production, dubbed CactusCon. This resulted in a massive multigenerational crowd studded with celebrities and an atmosphere with big lines of people draped in various drip or extremely laid-back clothes.

Occupancy was high and a sea of pop culture enthusiasts flooded Convention Center Drive several hours before general admission opened last Saturday morning.

“No brands look the same anymore,” said Damien Smith, a local branding consultant and former Director of Marketing at Jardin Premium Cannabis Dispensary. “It’s a lot of mixed cultures out here.”

ComplexCon reportedly brought roughly 60,000 fashion designers, music makers, art lovers and creatives to the Las Vegas Convention Center, where companies showcased over 250 brands, released exclusive products, and rolled out collaborations. Attendees could explore the latest streetwear, art, technology, and culture innovations. There were 100 more booths this year and a crowded food festival outdoors, allowing ComplexCon-goers to eat, drink libations, network, attend a concert, shop or interact with art installations.

Gary Crain, a Los Angeles-based painter who was shot in the head last year by police, tagged a wall inside ComplexCon. The mural included 1700s-inspired calligraphy atop colorful graffiti with the words Cactus Jack written down and across the center. He said Scott’s “iconic” approach to curating culturally diverse entertainment elevates street artists and breaks hegemony in mainstream culture.

“Look at all these beautiful artists of different kinds,” Crain said. “He’s making [individual artists] more recognizable and acceptable.”

Hegemony refers to an elite dominant class that rules culture and reinforces power imbalances and stereotypes. 

Tickets for CactusCon started at $250 for both days for general admission and VIP tickets were upwards of $600. All attendees were permitted access to panels and performances throughout the convention, which included music concerts with artists such as Travis Scott, Metro Boomin and Playboi Carti. 

As part of Complex Conversations, Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre joined a live episode of Drink Champs, and Angel Reese sat down for a one-on-one interview on 360 With Speedy. 

For the first time since the Magic Convention's popularity declined, Las Vegas hosted a major cultural conference with bold, trailblazing brands such as FCTRY LAb, which designed the NLE Choppa duck boot. 

The founder, Omar Bailey, who worked in shoemaking in India and China, said he was very fortunate to present the brand at ComplexCon this year.

“I ran shoe factories,” he said. “I understand design, manufacturing and supply chain from A to Z.” 

Bailey, formerly head of the Yeezy Innovation Lab at Adidas, said many brands have made duck boots and that he wanted to take a chance at revamping them through a design that reimagines and exaggerates the features. Unlike “classic designs” such as stilettos or Chelsea boots, Bailey said duck boots were originally for fishing or waterproof activities but have since crossed over into street fashion.

He said he aspires to collaborate with rapper Latto next. His booth was color-blocked and marked with yellow and black ducks adorned with gold chains, while fashion photos of NLE Choppa hung on the walls.

“It’s big,” Bailey said of ComplexCon this year. “You just walk around and …you can feel it.”

Veteran radio host Big Boy at Big Boy's Neighborhood echoed Bailey’s sentiments. He said he noticed an increase in booths and a change in the crowd, stating attendees represented more of a melting pot that included people ages 8 to 80. 

“It’s just been a lot of love,” Big Boy told News, From the Margin in the convention center lobby. “So I can't imagine what year five would look like if this is the first get down in Vegas.”

According to a source, the conference could remain in Las Vegas for four more years. 

As cultural giants such as Formula 1, the National Basketball Association, Major League Baseball, and Sony Pictures set their eyes on Sin City, Big Boy urged local creatives to look forward to the future.

“Everything is coming here,” he said. “So I think if you could wait it out and continue to hustle, shit, everybody's gonna be right in your yard.”

One resident moved to Las Vegas for those exact sentiments, such as Virginia-born Chazz Owens, the local designer behind fashion brand Twozzday. He has garnered collaborations with sports teams such as the San Antonio Spurs, Las Vegas Aces, and Las Vegas Raiders. At ComplexCon, he had a fiery red booth embellished with Sin City symbolism.

“A lot of people only live for the weekends, holidays, birthdays,” Owens said. “I feel like people should keep that same energy for Tuesdays.”

Owens is focused on working in the sports fashion industry and arena merchandise through collaborations. His next collaborations are with Formula 1 and the luxury German brand MCM.

Local creatives post-pandemic 

ComplexCon Las Vegas's success boosted local creatives following the pandemic that devastated the local art community. Building owners raised business rents, causing cultural staples to close, such as Institution 18b, a gutted mechanic shop transformed into a one-of-a-kind streetwear store and entertainment complex in downtown Las Vegas. It has since been returned to a mechanic shop. 

CMXX also closed during the pandemic after building owners decided not to move forward with an agreement with Waterhole Kingdom, the Las Vegas creative collective behind the long-running cultural showcase called Tuesday Blend. CMXX catapulted youths' ability and desire to be productive in today's social media-based culture. 

“When it had closed down, everybody was kind of shocked at first,” said Jay Angeles, owner of Waves Las Vegas downtown, who attended the conference. “I was like, damn, what’s everybody gonna do now?”  

Waterhole Kingdom took over a hollowed building and dubbed it CMXX. The blank canvas is where a worldwide art collective briefly took root in Las Vegas from 2018-2020. CMXX leadership nurtured collaborations between numerous local hungry photographers, runway producers, fashion designers, stylists, models, dancers, music makers and bloggers. 

Angeles said creatives adapted to the new environment after real estate conglomerate The Molasky Group closed CMXX to the public. This resulted in a fractured creative community, with some people changing careers while others stayed the course. Some disappeared from creative circles altogether. 

Beyond the Neon

Music engineer Kenechi “Nechi Noir” Ubani, who owns a music studio, was one of many local creatives at ComplexCon. He said he was looking forward to connecting with artists he had already worked with, such as platinum hit-making rapper Trinidad James, song-maker and self-proclaimed cult leader Billyracxx and YSL artist Strick. 

“As more industries come to Vegas, Vegas is going to continue to grow and continue to be a factor in culture,” Ubani said.

He said the changes in the city add value to the cultural scene in a creative and financial sense.  

This reckoning caused him to remember a Black creative movement in Las Vegas called Beyond The Neon, which had members perform together at CMXX. The group was launched in 2019 in response to long-standing hostility from police and city culture toward local hip hop makers. The momentum died off following the pandemic.

Ubani said Beyond The Neon should make a comeback, stating that music makers involved have grown professionally, with some having earned Grammy nominations since then. 

“I think they need a sequel because so much has changed since the first one,” he said. “It's truly a concept that we need to parlay and expand upon.”