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Despite its limitations as a venue, the Roseland Theater is perfect for a certain type of hip-hop show—not legacy acts or old heads, but young, unhinged rappers that just want to turn the entire pit into on sweaty party. On April Fool's Day, Atlanta weirdo rapper Young Thug and Houston's Travis Scott hit town for the last stop on their Rodeo Tour, turning a quiet Wednesday night into a raucous ode to wildin' out.
Because Thug and Scott are frequent collaborators, it made the setâthe artists were billed as co-headlinersâtriumphant instead of showy. The pair hit the stage together and performed a majority of the night with each other, with one guy disappearing backstage for a few songs before coming back even more hyped and, in Thugâs case, wearing an entirely different outfit. Thug is simply one of the oddest rappers in the game right now, and his sartorial choices were spot on: white poncho, tight black skinny jeans and a black-and-gold V shirt so deep it left half his chest exposed. They did âDonât Playâ and âMamacitaâ together, often spitting over each otherâs lines, and DJ Metro Boomin used the showâs downtime to preview short bits of Thugâs unreleased official debut, the Lil Wayne-jacking Tha Carter 6.
The fact that the two rappers, both barely over drinking age, could support an entire tour only on the strength of a few mixtapes and guest appearancesâthe Roseland was nearly sold out, by my estimationâspeaks to the power of The Way We Listen To Music Now. Who needs a real major label album when you can just drop the beat to âStonerâ and watch as a thousand teenagers lose their minds? Scott and Thug seemed positively stoked to be onstage, bounding around with an infectious energy that quickly carried over to the crowd and didnât let up until the house lights came on.
The show was lean and quick. The only encore occurred when Young Thug came out to mime a few verses from âLifestyleâ before the DJ teased the crowd with the opening minute of Kanyeâs new jam âAll Dayâ and then promptly left the stage to take a selfie in front of the large neon cowboy sign one last time. Kanye, of course, jumped onstage at the duoâs Los Angeles show last week. His co-sign wasnât needed here: Young Thug and Travis Scott already had the entire place up in arms.
All photos by Kyle Key.
WWeek 2015