Lineup: ScHoolboy Q/Joey Bada$$/A-Boogie Wit Da Hoodie
Venue: Lowell Memorial Auditorium, Lowell, MA
Date: September 9th, 2016
A-Boogie Wit Da Hoodie: A-Boogie Wit Da Hoodie is one of those rappers that I can't help but cringe at. This dude seriously just ran back and forth and yelled cliche rap show catchphrases like "turn up" and "make some muthafuckin noise" while the studio versions of his songs played in the background for his entire set. I'll never understand why artists like this that put so little effort into their live shows even bother performing. Live shows are supposed to be a way for an artist to showcase the music they've put their heart and souls into making, so when someone doesn't put any legitimate effort into playing their songs live, they look like massive frauds that don't respect their careers or fanbase. At least A-Boogie Wit Da Hoodie got a good cardio workout while he made an ass of himself on stage for 15 minutes.
Joey Bada$$: After A-Boogie Wit Da Hoodie was done dropping a massive musical dump on stage, 21-year old indie hip-hop darling Joey Bada$$ came out and promptly got things back on track. While I've always respected his chops and enjoyed his newest album, B4.Da.$$, a decent amount, I've never been a huge fan of his stuff. I gained a whole new level of respect for him as an artist after seeing him live. The command he had over the room was astonishing and he showed his ridiculous technical ability by doing numerous verses completely a capella and frequently upping the speed of his rapping from the studio versions. Hip-hop live performances are a major crapshoot, so it's always nice when you get to see a performer that's as polished, energetic and entertaining as Joey Bada$$.
ScHoolboy Q: Based on the warm reception Joey Bada$$ got, I figured ScHoolboy Q was going to get a very enthusiastic response when he took the stage. I soon realized that I completely undersold the mayhem that was going to ensue during Q's set. The room exploded into a full-blown frenzy as soon as the beat to set opener "Gangsta" dropped and that electric feeling didn't subside for the entire hour and 15 minutes he was on stage. This was without question one of the craziest crowds I've ever been apart of and it served as yet another example of the unique, infectious energy that good hip-hop shows deliver.
As for the performance itself, Q was very good. His trademark gritty flow translates well to a live setting and his between-song banter was a nice blend of humor and showing appreciation for the fans that helped him build his career in the music industry. His performance was further aided by a setlist that was pretty much perfect from top to bottom. He spent a vast majority of the set favoring his bangers over the more haunting, emotionally-dense material from his already extensive catalog, which played a large role in keeping the rowdy vibe of the room consistently intact. While it would've been cool to hear some of his more conscious songs like "Black THougHts" or "Sacrilegious", it was a great decision to establish and sustain a chaotic atmosphere by playing almost nothing but uptempo, in-your-face tracks.
The only real issue that brought his set down was the inconsistency of his rapping. Q struggled with the fast rapping sections on a fair amount of tracks including "Man of the Year", "What They Want" and "Hands on the Wheel", getting tongue-tied and being forced to take decently-long pauses to get back on track. Bizarrely enough, all of the songs he screwed up on were older songs that's he played countless numbers of times. He tore through the hard-edged material from his new record Blank Face LP ("Dope Dealer", "JoHn Muir", "THat Part") without incident and they ended up being amongst the best songs of the set. Q's set wasn't without its flaws, but it was still an extremely fun show that was worth every penny of the $50 admission price.
Scores:
A-Boogie Wit Da Hoodie 1/10
Joey Bada$$ 9/10
ScHoolboy Q 8/10
Setlists:
Joey Bada$$ (missing 2-3 songs):
Paper Trail$
Big Dusty
Christ Conscious
Hardknock
No.99
Hazeus View
Like Me
Survival Tactics
Devastated
ScHoolboy Q:
Gangsta
By Any Means
What They Want
Break the Bank
Collard Greens
WHateva U Want
Blessed
Hands on the Wheel
There He Go
Yay Yay
JoHn Muir
Studio
Dope Dealer
Tookie Knows II
Man of the Year
Hell of a Night
THat Part
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