Category: Rap

A rapper that spits rapid-fast aggressive lyrics, paints his face, draws a hardcore cult fanbase, and is named after a semi-automatic handgun, just doesn’t sound like the guy you want to walk up to and attempt to start a conversation with.

Kansas City rapper Tech N9ne brought his “Independent Grind Tour” to Orlando Thursday night, performing at the Plaza Live — his first time ever at the venue.

“We like this place, so don’t do anything stupid. We’re trying to come back here next year,” said the show’s hype man to the crowd, before exhibiting his utterly disgust for another Orlando venue which Mr. Tech N9ne has performed at in the past.

In attempt to get a feel for his audience, Mr. Tech N9ne disguised himself under a red Jabbawockeez mask and wandered throughout the Plaza venue; grabbing a few drinks at the bar and even catching the entire set for opening act Psych Ward Druggies.

By the time it was his turn to take the stage, Mr. Tech N9ne had did a complete outfit change. Dressed head-to-toe in a black mechanic outfit with white face paint, the independent rapper out of Kansas City Mo. displayed his showmanship in his 90-minute set.

Quite interesting, fan were more into actually experiencing the moment  instead of recording it on their smartphone. For most of the show — despite when Mr. Tech N9ne encouraged female audience members to climb on top someone shoulders and display their breast — if one was to look out into the audience all they would see is “strange” people with their face painted, dancing, raging and moshing, not being distracted by technology and the outside world.

Mr. Tech N9ne was accompanied by Strange Music labelmate Krizz Kaliko, dressed in similar attire minus the face paint. The two put on what appeared to be a choreographed hip-hop show; non-stop motion, timely stage exits and arrivals between songs, and synchronized dancing.

While his pop locking skills; Motown like moves; and machine gun type flowing were entertaining, he was at his strongest during his more intimate sessions of the set. He let the crowd in on his sensitive side as he introduced popular single “Fragile,” which features Kendrick Lamar, ¡MAYDAY! & Kendall Morgan. While none of the artist were their to assist in the performance, Mr. Kaliko would help provide backing vocals — much like he did the entire night.

Rapper Freddie Gibbs, out of Gary, Ind., acted as the main opening act and had no problem demonstrating to everyone why he is called Gangsta Gibbs. Throughout his set, he would get everyone of the audience to scream “f*** the police” every chance he got. Mr. Gibbs took a more simplistic approach, gaining the attention of the crowd with less attention to the production aspect, but more on his bars and Acapella flows.

Funk Volume’s Jarren Benton also served as a support act for the “Independent Grind Tour.” He was backed by “the worst DJ ever,” who kept his identity hidden behind a full-face mask; and a crazy-haired drummer. He wasted no time on the turn up, quickly heading to the guard rails to get close and personal with the crowd. Mr. Benton is a very charismatic artist. He commands the stage, while giving fans the opportunity to perform on a big stage, even if it’s only as his hype man.

When Juicy J is in town, you can expect to witness a side of your best friend that you may have never thought existed.

If one was to drive past Firestone Live, Saturday night around 6:30 p.m. and took a long look at the crowd waiting outside the venue, it would have been hard to guess that all those kids were waiting to see an artist responsible for creating 90’s rap group Three 6 Mafia — as the “X’s” on their hand proved they were not even born when he started his career in the business.

Twerking, bottle popping and clouds of kush smoke are always on the schedule for a Juicy J concert, and the Orlando stop of the “Never Sober Tour” was no different.

Restless fans of all ages, races, social statues and backgrounds got extra lit as the trippy rapper — out of Memphis, Tenn. — took the stage at Firestone Live (three hours and fifteen-minutes from when the first act took the stage). For those who managed to make it all the way to see the trippy king, and not get kicked out due to fighting or fainting, they were in for a treat.

While Juicy J ran through a majority of his anthems, including “Bandz a Make Her Dance,” “Bounce It” and “Scholarship” — which got all the ladies dancing on the stripper pole off to the side of the stage — he did manage to slow it down and add a personal aspect into the show.

During his acapella version of “A Zip And A Double Cup” the crowd was at it’s all-time high, rapping the lyrics in perfect harmony.

Before getting into some of my personal favorites Three 6 Mafia songs: “Slob On My Knob,” “Stay High,” and “Poppin My Collar,” Juicy J made it known that “In order to f*** with me, you have to know where I come from.”

On top of the many local acts, Project Pat and Travi$ Scott acted as supporting acts. Project Pat got the main card going, with possibly the longest set of the night. While it was uncertain if many of the people in the front row even knew who he was, it did not stop them from dancing — especially the two girls who hopped the gate separating the stage from the floor to dance along side him.

Scott, who is signed to both T.I.’s Grand Hustle label and Kanye West’s G.O.O.D. Music label, was nothing but a giant fireball full of energy. Watching Scott, aka La

Flame, perform is a full-time job in itself. If one was to blink — for even a millisecond — they could have missed the

opportunity to see one of his entertaining, yet borderline, dangerous stunts. As Scott crowd surfaced, you could see his team holding their breath as it appeared he was close to being dropped and smacking his head on the Firestone Live floor.

Whether he was performing more popular songs “Upper Echelon” and “Uptown” or singles like “Bad Mood,” it was evident that much of the crowd was there to see him as much as they were they were there to see Juicy J.

Random thoughts: Did Juicy J toss his shoes into the crowd after his set because the venue told him he had to finish after 45-minutes, but still had more songs he wanted to perform but couldn’t so he felt bad for the crowd? Or was he just tired of those shoes and was waiting to give them away? Why were there so many “opening acts” when the artist already has two other artist on tour with him?