T.I. live!

T.I.
Riviera, Chicago
Wednesday, June 20, 2007

While not marketed as a “secret” show, the location of rapper T.I.’s free MySpace performance wasn’t made available until the day before. But that didn’t stop his fans from arriving in throngs — lining up the entire stretch of the 4700 block of Magnolia around Lawrence, all the way to the Riviera entrance on Racine. It was simply dumbfounding. Of course when you’re the “King Of The South” and you have 1.7 million-plus online friends, there’s no easy way of keeping a public appearance on the down low. And those approximately 2,500 people who were lucky enough to get in got treated to a brief yet highly entertaining show from T.I. “and friends.”

With his new album, T.I. vs. T.I.P.*, about to drop, this Atlanta native made sure to make the most of this show, broadcasting it live on MySpace with MTV star Nick Cannon hosting. Miami hotshot DJ GQ got the event started by spinning current hip-hop hits (“We Takin’ Over”) and older favorites (“Ruff Ryders Anthem”). Despite his hyped up presence, GQ proved to be too much of a tease, playing a classic track for 10 seconds and then switching to the next. (No one asked the guy to play entire songs, but come on.) The dancers behind the semi-translucent curtain on stage didn’t seem to mind though, as they kept on shaking away.

As more people piled into the Riv the heat increased and people used flyers or anything they had to fan themselves. Following GQ’s bumpy hour-and-a-half set, hometown hip-hop hero Lupe Fiasco emerged in his normal frenzied fashion. Not taking risks, he only performed his skateboarding anthem “Kick, Push” and the Neptunes-produced hit “I Gotcha.” But he did so with the same enthusiasm he displayed a year ago when the songs were still new. After his abbreviated appearance, Fiasco declared that like Jay-Z did for him four years ago at the Riv, he would bring out a protégé — vocalist/MC Gemini. Because of time restrictions, though, Gemini only did two songs — one a capella and a duet with Fiasco — before making way for the next act, Twista. In contrast to Fiasco’s bounciness, Twista walked around the stage with a cool swagger (as did his crew, the Speednot Mobstaz). This wasn’t necessarily more entertaining, although, he did gave the audience a preview of new material from his upcoming album in addition to performing hits like “So Sexy.”

Following a short break, the curtains opened up and revealed one of the most elaborate set-ups the Riv has probably ever seen. The only one on stage was DJ Drama, who was situated under two huge airbags that served as projector screens for images and music videos. And there were even more screens to the left and right of the DJ booth. Once T.I. finally emerged, the crowd went wild as he came out with the bounce-inducing ode to his rides, “Top Back.” Somewhere between the dynamism of Fiasco and the laidback stance of Twista is what T.I. represented at this show – a cool charisma if you will. There wasn’t a disappointing moment during his set, but when fellow Southern star Young Dro appeared on stage, a rendition of their club classic “Shoulder Lean” brought nearly the entire audience to sing along and do this rudimentary dance.

Not that his set was super short, but when T.I. left stage, the show felt incomplete. Thankfully, he returned for an encore with arguably his best song ever — the booming, braggadocio of “What You Know.” Then he proceeded to close the night out with “Big Shit Poppin’,” another boast-heavy track from the most popular hip-hop artist in America. From the look of the audience members — thugged out, ultra preppy, and everyday looking – it’s clear T.I. has the ears of just about everyone.

– Max Herman

Category: Live Reviews, Weekly