High-energy crowd makes mediocre hip hop bearable

My music taste differs greatly from the over-produced and energetic music from the likes of Rae Sremmurd and Lil Yachty, and yet I found myself standing in a rough crowd listening to them perform for hours.
I wasn’t looking forward to the concert in the slightest, having listened to the majority of both Yachty and Rae Sremmurd’s discographies and failing to enjoy it. Possibly a mix of having nothing to do and a small bit of pressure from my friends, I’m still not entirely sure why I bought the tickets, but I’m luckily able to say I don’t regret it.
Sremmurd’s second studio album and big tour, Sremmlife 2, dropped in August through Mike Will’s group EarDrummers/Interscope Records.
The album accumulated a considerable amount of hype behind the performance that the duo met quite well.
Undeniably adding to the experience, Lil Boat opened the show with amazing energy. The performance itself was as flashy and loud as expected, with an abundance of local rappers and positive crowd energy.
While there was a lot of pushing and sweat, the fan’s excitement was contagious and made the experience far better than it would’ve been. The crowd’s pushing and shoving eventually turned into pits, which were small but got a lot crazier than I expected for the venue when I ended up inside of one.
At the end of the night, everyone was drenched in sweat from the jumping and shouting of the lyrics everyone seemed to know by heart.
This was the first time I had seen any of the artists live, so I can’t compare it to their past performances, but their energy and talent, to a degree, was undeniable. According to their bio on their website, www.raesremmurd.com, “It’s the energy, that’s what #SremmLife is all about” says Swae Lee. “We bringing the fun back to music!”
Yachty was greeted with almost as much excitement as Rae Sremmurd themselves, which was no surprise, and his beef with Soulja Boy got the crowd going. Local rappers such as BoBo Swae got love from the locals as well, as they sang and danced to his music with a familiarity only a local community can have.
Personally, the local openers were not my favorite, but the crowd was consistently excited. Yachty and his producer Burberry Perry were on stage per usual, with an abundance of money throwing. There was also a lot of water bottle throwing, with a few making contact with my head throughout the night.
Looking back, the concert was far better than expected and was one of the most fun performances I’ve been too. The artists played through their set lists having fun themselves while still displaying their skill and keeping the crowd’s energy high throughout the night. Despite all of this, I wouldn’t bother going again. I simply do not appreciate the music enough to justify spending $40 for it a second time.