Image via Complex Original
SXSW is equal parts frustrating and heavenly. There are so many...like soOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO many showcases and events, and your favorite artist might have only one show booked or hundreds over the few festival days. Properly scheduling out your day to hit every show you want is basically like taking on a part-time job.
To achieve success, spreadsheets have to be formatted, flowcharts illustrated, pivot tables formed, custom Google Maps maps must be created. But when you strike the right balance of primary and secondary options (and setting aside blocks of time for impromptu shows), and it works out? It's all worth it. But, even when everything works according to plan, an artist can still have a terrible performance. I had my share of surprises and letdowns during my time in Austin, TX, but these are the 10 Best Rap Performances at SXSW.
Written by Justin Roberson (@BauceSauce)
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10. Soulja Boy
Event: Player's Ball House Party
I spent $70 round trip for a cab out to a nondescript house in the suburbs to see Soulja Boy and Migos perform. They ended up not doing that. They ended up not really doing much of anything other than walk in 2 hours late and stand about for 30 minutes before going into a private upstairs wing of the house. Initially, I was really pissed off that Soulja didn't perform. But, then I realized that I had gotten to watch Soulja Boy be Soulja Boy, which is something billions of people will never have the privilege of doing.
Literally everything he does is a monumental action. Walk in and dap up commoners? Legendary. Shoot a paintball gun? Epic. Walk down a flight of stairs and out the front door right before I was supposed to interview him? Mythical. Also, perhaps the greatest performance is pretending you were going to perform? Soulja Boy stunted on h8rz, Hypebeasts, and fans alike that day. No one could have done that with the same amount of grace.
9. Migos
Event: Noisey Brisk Bodega Showcase
This particular showcase was the second time I had seen Migos at SXSW. The first time I saw them they walked into a building while Rich The Kid performed, smoked a bunch of weed and vacated the premises after fifteen minutes. And, for what it's worth, they did the same thing the third time I saw them the next day. In this instance, it wasn't that Migos were particularly great live performers (maybe they are?), but their songs are so hype that they don't have to be animated.
I suppose they were booked for so many shows they needed to conserve their finesse, at least that's what I'm telling myself. Still, enough Lonestars and Brisk tea/juice in the system and it could have been cardboard cutouts of them or a projection screen showing the 1986 movie ¡Three Amigos!, and it wouldn't have mattered. The turn up was inevitable. Just keep playing those beautiful Migos tunes.
8. Michael Christmas
Event: Lean Pizza Showcase
I was curious to see the half-serious Michael Christmas perform because his album Is This Art? is thoroughly laid back. It's a project you can put on and listen to straight through and not want to skip. But, how would that easygoing persona translate to a live set? I arrived at the Lean Pizza showcase after Little Pain and Kari Foux had thoroughly engaged the crowd (Kari actually shot off confetti cannons at the end of her set, which is baller as fuck). Christmas worked in call-and-responses on his Rome Fortune-assisted track "Duck Duck Goose." Overall, his self-assured jokester demeanor is magnetic; he peppered his performance with energy and stage work that belied his heft. Imagine Bone Crusher in a nursing home; that's Christmas, and this was most definitely art.
7. Johnny Cinco
Event: Live Mixtapes x Animal House Live Showcase
Sometimes performances are good not because the artist is particularly amazing, but because they are different from what you expected. Cinco, the current king of mumblerap, wasn't even billed for the LiveMixtapes x Animal House Live showcase, but with headliner Young Thug not showing up, they kept pulling up every rapper in the building to perform. Cinco was actually animated and clear. His live rendition of "No Choice" solidified with me how monster of a record that song is. Every person, including the 30+ rappers on stage, sung along, with the loudest lyrics being "YOU BOUGHT THAT BITCH MAYBELLINE; I BOUGHT THAT BITCH A CELINE." I had seen several acts hitherto his, but this was the first time I got lost in the moment.
6. Roosh Williams
Event: Nice Kicks Showcase
Roosh was an artist that I had been following for years around the blogosphere. There's a magnetism in his distinctly Houston drawl that drew me in from the first listen. I was anxious to see how well he would weave between the slow flows and double time raps that are a motif in his discography. Or, if his energy would even shine through live. The stellar "Introduction" track from his latest album served as the perfect opener. Not only is it a great uptempo song choice, but the growling "ROOSH!" component of the chorus is simple and fun. He would later have Doughbeezy step on stage and perform a few verses. Their chemistry is pretty stellar. Overall, I was glad I snagged a cab 20+ blocks to get to this place just in time.
5. Fat Tony
Event: Panache Booking Showcase
I've enjoyed Fat Tony's music passively over the years. I check out his newest projects when I see them, but I have definitely missed a song or feature here and there. Originally, I had not planned to see him, but after being at the Soulja Boy/Migos House Party for four hours and sparking up a convo with him. I decided "Fuck it. Why not?" Fat Tony performed at the Panache Booking Showcase at Hotel Vegas. He was the only rap act there, which already kind of stacks the deck against him. Tony and his DJ, Tom Cruz, absolutely destroyed though.
Performing songs with more catchy, easily learned choruses ("I Luv It Mayne," "Denim Guiness Boys") he got the crowd interacting. Fat Tony's specialty seemed to be playing a balance of serious and lighthearted jams, with Tom Cruz hopping in to do back and forth verses and ad libs. Also, this guy, who very well may be Scott Storch, popped up out of nowhere and did this weird alien turn up. For that alone, he deserves to be in this list.
4. HBK Gang
Event: Thrasher Magazine's Death Match Showcase
As a rule of thumb, the more people you have on a stage the worse the performance is. Case in point: YMCMB playing at the Illmore. With 30+ people on stage (some being scantily clad ladies who were on their fucking phones), no artist could move around. They stood in place with the next person's arm around their shoulders and rapped. That performance was for them, not the fans.
HBK Gang's set was the opposite of that. With a full twerk team in tow and pretty much every member from Jay Sant to P-Lo on stage at any given point, they threw a veritable party for the crowd. What works in their favor is that their music is so bass-driven and festival speakers generally only produce bass. You still hear and feel the swing in their songs. I couldn't help but sway. By the end, I was airchairing in appreciation. God bless The Bay.
3. Ty Dolla $ign
Event: Noisey Brisk Bodega Showcase
My first impression of Ty $ when I heard him on Beach Hou$e EP was that he might be an almost cooler-than-thou personalty, an aloof pimp. I couldn't have been more wrong (at least about the former). If anything, he's perhaps the most approachable artist I saw at SXSW—taking pictures with fans at every request. Concerned with everyone having a fun time, he bounced about stage affably: dancing, smoking, instructing hands to go up and down. What capped off his performance was B.o.B. running into the door with a microphone and performing his "Paranoid" verse before sprinting back out as soon as the song was over.
2. Cam'ron
Event: The COMPLEX Complex Showcase
Cam'ron is the reason I love rap, and the reason I became an English major, and the reason I bedecked myself in watercolors in college. When I saw he'd be at SXSW, it was a must that I saw him. Though I'm a fan of pretty much every artist I saw at SXSW, I didn't know every word of every song they performed. With Cam'ron, I did. Ultimately, that's the best part of a show. Getting to rap/sing/air guitar along with the artist. What sweetened the marijuana leaf was that a majority of the people there were also fans. I got there in time to see Cam'ron hop out of his Tahoe and walk into the show. The atmosphere was lovely. Getting to scream "Drinkin' sake on a Suzuki. We in Osaka Bay" felt like the first time I saw my daughter, to be honest. He ran through everything from "Oh Boy" to "I Really Mean It" to "Suck it or Not."
"You know I got a hundred of these shits, man." Cam informed the crowd. I would have stayed there all night. But the small set he did will forever be one of my top live music memories.
1. Lil B
Event: Thrasher Magazine's Death Match Showcase
Seeing Lil B was life-changing. I knew I couldn't miss it once I found out about it. Honestly, I was fully expecting it to perhaps be him just talking about girls' feet and ant colonies for an hour. I would've been fine with that. But, what he did instead was run through "Like a Martian," "Ellen DeGeneres," "4 Me," "I Own Swag," and more. Unfortunately, "Fuck KD" was noticeably absent from the set list. The youth showed up in full task force support with their pink bandanas, and made sure the energy was electric. Oh, and as you can tell by the photo above, Lil B had the tiniest shirt on throughout all of Austin, TX.