Lineup: Young Thug/21 Savage/Divine Council ("The Hi-Horsed Tour")
Venue: Lowell Memorial Auditorium, Lowell, MA
Date: November 11th, 2016
Divine Council: Divine Council was a last-minute addition to The Hi-Horsed Tour (their involvement was announced last Wednesday when the tour kicked off) and as I expected, their presence added literally nothing to the proceedings. The up-and-coming quartet tried to emulate the sound and dynamic of other trap collectives like Migos and Rae Sremmurd without any of the larger-than-life personality or sneaky cleverness that makes those groups special. If you're hitting up this tour over the next month, don't bother getting their early to check out Divine Council.
21 Savage: 21 Savage is arguably one of the most hated young MC's in hip-hop right now. His rapping style is basically rhythmic talking, he rarely every rhymes and his sense of variation is non-existent. Personally, I find his emotionless delivery and naturally gritty persona to be a really interesting diversion from the colorful, high-energy personalities that are typically found in the trap genre.
As much as I appreciate his music, his live show was sorely lacking the raw charm or entertainment value that his studio material provides in spades. He had a posse of six guys on stage aiding him with every song and his set was so comically short (20 minutes) that he had no time to build up any momentum or elicit much of a reaction from the crowd. 21 Savage is going to need to clean up his live show if he wants to enjoy any longevity in today's densely populated hip-hop climate.
Young Thug: 2016 is the year where I finally hoped aboard. His bizarre array of flows and nearly-indecipherable delivery had grated on me since he first blew up in mid-2014, but around the time Jeffrey came out at the end of August, I began to appreciate the zaniness and originality he brought to the table. It was only fitting that I ended the year where I experienced my personal Young Thug renaissance by going to see him perform live.
I'd read a number of bad things about his live shows in the bowels of the infallible internet and with me being the pessimistic asshole that I am, I was really nervous that this show was going to end up being a trainwreck. Thug's well-documented love of a certain cough syrup and soda concoction, massive ego and tendency to deify convention at all costs made him a solid candidate to put on a god awful show. Thankfully, my string of fears didn't come to fruition.
Outside of the two awkward intermissions he took to change his outfit and his refusal to play any of his songs all the way through, Thugga managed to put on an enjoyable set. It was apparent that he was having a blast performing for the nearly sold-out crowd and for as ridiculous as his lyrics often are, this show proved that he oozes legitimate mic talent. It also helped that the uniqueness that defines his studio material wasn't lost in his performance. There are a lot of rappers who aren't nearly as unique in a live setting, so it was cool to see an artist that retained all of their distinct quirks live. Now that the sense of fear surrounding his live show is gone, I'd love to go see Young Thug again with a better group of support artists and less douchey crowd.
Scores:
Divine Council 5/10
21 Savage 4/10
Young Thug 7.5/10
Setlists
21 Savage included:
No Heart
Mad High
Savage Mode
X
Young Thug:
Wyclef Jean
Memo
Swiss Beatz
With Them
Harambe
Slime Shit
Kanye West
Worth It
Digits
Webbie
Guwop
Future Swag
RiRi
Floyd Mayweather
Faneto
X (w/21 Savage)
About the Money (T.I. cover)
Check
Stoner
2 Bitches
Pick Up the Phone
Big Racks
Pull Up on a Kid
Lifestyle (Rich Gang cover)
Best Friend
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