I went to see this fantastic trio called Migos based out of Atlanta, Georgia. The concert was held in the nightclub, Irving Plaza, on Irving Street in the city. The style of this music could be defined as two things, trap music or southern drill, depending on who you talk to. It’s more of an aggressive style of rapping that focuses on a dangerous life of selling drugs and toting weapons, all in the name of making it big. I picked this group because I have a deep fascination with the rap scene that emerges from the South and how the culture spreads into vast corners of the country, also because they are indeed my favorite artists in the game right now. To give a little background of the group, they are all family with Quavo (Quavious Marshall) being Takeoff’s (Kirshnik Ball) uncle and Offset (Kiari Cephus) being Quavo’s cousin.
The venue was perfectly my style. The moment I walked into the venue, I thought to myself, “I’m home.” There was a constant light display shining around the entire venue with all different colors. It gave the whole experience a very drug-induced vibe and I’m pretty sure that is more or less what the rappers were going for by choosing this abundant light. The venue was set up so if you battled and squirmed you could reach the front of the stage. I kid you not when I say I was less than five feet away from the trio, and that fact alone made the night worth every single cent I paid. I was in utter and complete euphoria over seeing my favorite artists in the entire world so up close and personal.
Throughout the entire night, the venue and the environment around me reinforced the idea that the people who listen to this type of Southern rap are quite the rowdy crowd. There was a fight midway through the show and the rappers sang “Aint’ Here For That” acapella until the brawlers were removed from the venue. It was hilarious to see the rappers clowning on the two fools for fighting in what was supposed to be a good time. The performers interacted with the audience almost constantly, asking the audience to sing the lyrics. The group also created a dance move called the “dab” in which one tucks their head in the elbow of their arm while pointing both their hands in the opposite direction, so that was the dance move that was seen the most.
This rap group does not actually use any instruments themselves, but relies purely on their lyrical craft. The music and lyrics itself are especially meaningful in the sense that every song details the struggle they have gone through to reach this point of fame in their career and how humble they are to be in the position that they created for themselves. Whether it’s talking about being locked up in the cell or selling pounds of drugs, they speak the truth of the past present and future, while setting trends and creating a new style. Their rapping style can range from melodic and slow to fast and loud when they have something emotionally-charged to get off their chests.
In total, the whole experience met my expectations and went above and beyond how enjoyable I thought the night would be. I could have never imagined the level of tom-foolery that would be permitted within a legal establishment, or the level of emotion that could ring from lyrics about things that rappers have been talking about for decades: money, drugs, and guns. This concert solidified these rappers as my favorite and has only encouraged me to start buying the entire album to support them being able to tour and do dope stuff for their dedicated fan base. The rappers did so much to ensure a great performance and I can say wholeheartedly that I would go back and see them as many times as possible, for it was one of the most entertaining events I have been to in quite a long time.
--Gabriel Mark
