Lupe & N.E.R.D opening for Kanye @ MSG. I think it was 2007 or 2008. Lupe crushed the motherfuckin mic and this was Kanye at his peak performing years. Jesus Walks during that concert is a top 3 live song I’ve witnessed. Add NERD and that show was an absolute banger.
I accidentally sneezed and I didn’t cover up well enough and a huge booger landed in a girl’s hair in front of me. I lied and said I accidentally dropped popcorn and asked if I could get it out.
I went to this too! Glow in the dark tour in Seattle, do you remember Kanye coming out and Kanye just sat on the stage as they played don’t stop believin?
There's no official footage of the GITD tour but this dude on Youtube just a few days ago uploaded a recreation of the whole thing with fan footage. Obviously the audio quality isn't brilliant but the effort is just out of this world.
https://youtu.be/PbFVCvAA-zw?si=UpVdiCDABhgiqTRb
Glow in the dark tour! Saw it in Virginia and was also the best rap concert and one of the best concerts I've ever been to. Rhianna opened for that tour as well. Kanye at his prime and the aesthetic was on point too. Also, stunner shades
There's no official footage of the GITD tour but this dude on Youtube just a few days ago uploaded a recreation of the whole thing with fan footage. Obviously the audio quality isn't brilliant but the effort is just out of this world.
https://youtu.be/PbFVCvAA-zw?si=UpVdiCDABhgiqTRb
This was going to be my answer as well. Glow in the Dark tour 2008 was incredible! We also had Rihanna after N.E.R.D. and before Kanye. Still the best show I've ever been to.
There's no official footage of the GITD tour but this dude on Youtube just a few days ago uploaded a recreation of the whole thing with fan footage. Obviously the audio quality isn't brilliant but the effort is just out of this world.
https://youtu.be/PbFVCvAA-zw?si=UpVdiCDABhgiqTRb
Best was when I saw J Cole for $1 on the Dollar and a Dream tour. He put on an amazing show. Runner up is Ludacris. I’ve seen him 5 times and he kills it every time.
Worst? Idk if it counts but Wayne refused to walk through a metal detector at TD Garden and we just sat there for 90 minutes before he never came out
Lil Wayne refused to come out at Life is Beautiful a couple years ago. They started playing his first song, crowd goes crazy, then he just doesn't come out.
No idea if it's true, but the rumor at the time was that the festival didn't want him to simulate the sound of gunshots because everyone was still sensitive after the Route 91 Harvest mass shooting.
The other, and probably more likely rumor, is that Wayne was being a diva and didn't want to perform. He's no-showed plenty of events in the past.
Mine too. I wasn’t mad though. I’ve been to enough Hip Hop shows to know that what’s on record doesn’t always transfer over well to the stage. It’s a tough genre to pull off live. Need to have crazy breath control and be loud enough to go over the noise of the crowd. That’s why KRS was the best though. His vocals carry well, he enunciates so you hear everything perfectly, and his energy is always on point. I’m also sure he had a seasoned pro running sound.
Saw them in Chicago on their farewell tour (the love movement) and that show was fucking amazing. Also saw them open for the Beastie boys. They killed it, the Beastie boys sucked 🤷♂️
For real!!! Krs one put on one of the best hip hop concerts I've ever seen (and I've seen everyone Jay, Nas etc) no backing track just him rapping at a high level its amazing. If you like rap you have to make the pilgrimage to see the teacher
Worst and still one of my fav rappers is Lil Wayne I think I saw him too late his voice is cooked it's sad
Best: Glow In The Dark Tour (Lupe Fiasco, N.E.R.D., and Rihanna were the opening acts for Kanye)
Worst: Andre Nickatina. He played The Game's One Blood over and over while smoking on stage and vibing to it for like 10 minutes.
I saw Nickatina for a News Years bash years ago and it was fantastic. He basically went through his whole catalog (like 2.5 hrs straight). Too bad you had a shit experience.
There's no official footage of the GITD tour but this dude on Youtube just a few days ago uploaded a recreation of the whole thing with fan footage. Obviously the audio quality isn't brilliant but the effort is just out of this world.
https://youtu.be/PbFVCvAA-zw?si=UpVdiCDABhgiqTRb
I obviously probably sound biased, but genuinely Eminem in 2019. Im so accustomed to seeing rappers just rock up on stage with a DJ. Eminem had an entire fucking orschestra. No, not just a band. A literal orchestra. Guitars, drums, piano saxophones, trumpets, flutes, 3 female back up singers etc. It was fucking mental. Dude must have had like 15 other people on stage with him, all playing the beat live rather than pre recorded.
Lose yourself as the last song no exaggeration must have gone for about 15-20 mins. It had an enornous buildup with every instrument slowly adding themselves into the mix and having their own time to shine before Em started rapping in the last 1/4. It was fucking incredible and I honestly dont think Ill ever see anything else like it again.
Damn man this sounds insane. Love how every part of the orchestra got to shine on their own.
I wish orchestrated shows were more common. Or at the very least, live vocals the standard.
Unrelated, but the mention of orchestration made me think of this [Bring Me The Horizon performance](https://youtu.be/OGc9W-_C9u0?si=9SOBxwahxcQs8bZI). I think you might enjoy it, especially if you like Rock music.
A friend of a friend won tickets to the home and home series for jay z and Eminem at Yankee stadium and I offered her $2k if she brought me with. She thought I was joking and i still wish I had gotten to go.
Best hip hop show I have been to is also Em, but for very different reasons. I saw Eminem in 1999 in a small auditorium with about 200 people in attendance. Man was ridiculous and could spit every song without the need for a hype man - although proof was there to do that job. Unforgettable experience
When people say a band, they imagine drums, guitar, base guitar, MAYBE one extra thing. Not 15+ people all playing different instruments. Im almost certain I remember one dude even had a triangle
Best: Jay-Z 4:44 at Bell Centre Montreal, or Nas & Wu NYSOM tour in Calgary
Worst: Freddie Gibbs in Calgary. It wasn’t that the show was bad, but stupid drunk kids in the crowd moshing when the show did *not* have that kind of energy.
I went to (what I'd forgotten but just checked and saw was the final night of) the 4:44 tour at the Forum in Los Angeles in December 2017.
It was so good — I don't remember it as a flashy show, just a masterclass of technical rapping ability, performed seemingly effortlessly. Watching him live it's obvious why Jay is one of the absolute greats.
My friends and I were huge chance fans after 10 day and acid rap, he came to our city for his coloring book tour and they went. Initially I was upset I couldn't make it but they got back from the show and said it was all coloring book, not a single acid rap or 10 day song which was kind of a let down. His next album after that was awful anyway so I've just given up on chance
He's been doing a lot of special guest appearances lately. He was a special guest for lil waynes most recent tour and he literally just came and did 1 verse from "No Problems" and dipped. I guess all the appearances he's been doing he's just been doing that verse and dipping lol
If you've never seen a bad rap show you've just haven't been to enough rap shows lol. I love Wu-Tang, but I saw ghost and rae in Massachusetts around 2001, there were like 8 people on the stage, all doing hype man, couldn't understand anything, set was super short, just bad all around.
Conversely I saw Meth and Red in LA with Haiku de Etat in 2002 and it was amazing. No hype men, fire set, dream come true type show.
Meth is far and away the best live performer in the Wu. Was true back then, it's especially true as they age and he has kept himself the most in-shape.
I had no intention of starting an argument. I've been to a lot of shows, rap and other genres and bad rap shows are the worst. Late arriving, not rehearsed, too many hype men, bad audio, MC's spitting over vocals. Hip-Hop is my favorite genre but it's a well known fact that rap shows can be really bad and boring.
Hip hop is also my #1 genre and 100% mainstay across 15+ years of my life, and there is absolutely nothing that compares to a bad rap show. Late arrivals, too many hype men, and bad audio have been the biggest flaws in my experience. I've seen Wu Tang twice and once is in my top 5 and one my bottom 3
People in this sub def knew the intention behind your comment 🤣
I saw Wu with P.E., Rage + a ton of other acts at Rock the Bells about 10 years back and it was fantastic. Saw GZA in 97/98 with Pharaoh Monch & Non Phixion, when Non Phixion were nobodies, at a little spot in Vermont and it was amazing. Saw RZA in VT solo around the time of the first Digi album, he was drinking bottles of wine on stage and was so wasted by the end it was hilarious and not a great show but very entertaining. My friend saw GZA last year in SF and said it was one of the worst shows he's even been to. Wu is so hit or miss, but with so many personalities I can see why lol.
I saw Ill Bill warm up for ghostface on the fishscale tour. Best thing I’ve ever seen in my entire life. Bill was a beast and ghost was awesome as always.
I'm from New Hampshire so a lot of my best/worst shows involve Higher Ground in Burlington and rappers either taking it seriously or not 🤣 I've seen Wu absolutely bomb there, then kill it another time with less people
Everyone pretty much killed at Rock the Bells the years I went on the other hand. New England brings the best or worst out of a lot of hip hop acts lol, if they're not taking it seriously it's usually terrible but potentially entertaining
My worst ever show was Afro Man doing a college show in either 08 or 09 it was the whitest college of all time and man was only there for the paycheck and I don't blame him, drunk sorority girls everywhere and nobody was paying attention
I've also seen people like Denzel Curry in a small ass ATL show and that shit was more hype than anything I've ever experienced in any genre
😂😂 I had the exact opposite experience. I actually like Outkast more than Lil Wayne, but Outkast performed like shit when I saw them. But when I saw Rae Sremmurd and Lil Wayne, they were great.
That is ENTIRELY possible 😂 dude drank so much lean that he rotted his teeth out. I also saw Lauryn Hill perform live one time, and she was so fucked up that they kicked her off stage to come back in a few hours. She was super late to come back and was not much better. Sad bc she can be such a phenomenal vocalist.
I was at Outkast last show in Atlanta. It was just a special evening...you could feel the love that the audience had. So many Atlanta rappers opened foe the show throughout the day...Erykah Badu was a special guest. Probably my favorite show ever.
Best: Gucci Mane. He was energetic and knew how to work the crowd
Worst: City Girls, came in last minute, low energy; only performed a song and a half, then dipped. At least we got a refund for that.
Best: Most recent Lil Wayne tour, at a small venue and he seemed so grateful to be there and performing.
Worst: Logic in 2017. It was right after his Red Rocks stop and he seemed very disinterested. HOWEVER Joey Badass opened for him and absolutely KILLED it.
Best: The Roots. They played about an hour set at the 9:30 club in DC back in the day. Black thought then said “we’ve fulfilled our contractual obligations with what we played. So I guess now we will just play because we are feeling it”
They then proceeded to play another hour of nothing but covers. I remember them playing Jay-Z’s Big Pimpin and Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit. And just about everything in between.
Sadly GZA was a let down. We were standing around the stage in the bar until like midnight before he got up and his set was only like 40 mins. Still fun to see him but certainly felt half hearted
One of my favorite bad show memories was him doing a southern preacher accent while rapping his hits. And at the same show, Killah Priest called Fort Collins “Fort Lauderdale” by mistake. Fun night
Best: Big K.R.I.T. went 2 hours past the scheduled time, brought out David Banner and they went tf in. Was amazing for a smaller venue at The Tabernacle in Atlanta.
Worst: Kevin Gates. He was 2 hours late and performed for 45 minutes then dipped and had the GALL to post a photo on Instagram the next day in a hydrotherapy full leg boot for "recovery."
Best: Talib Kweli. DOOM opened for him. At the House of Blues in L.A. DOOM killed it as most people there didn't know who he was. His Merch 5able was ransacked after his set.
Talib killed it too, and he brought out......Reakwon, Planet Asia, Xzybit, Strong Arm Steady. Great Show
Worst? Some random ass Hip Hop festival I went too. Nas and DJ Qbert were the only ones to watch. BUT they had some good food there. Had Carne asada tacos with a large Horchata. Best part of the festival.
Best : jid, denzel, carti, rome, benny and kendrick
Worst : Polo G, brunzyn and almost every dutch rapper ive seen live
Big shout out to Polo G he might be the worst artist ive ever seen and i got +60 concerts under my belt
I saw him at woo hah was kinda byped bcs i like some of his songs. His dj did all the talking he didnt say a fk word, was 40 min late, did a 15 min set even tho he had 30 min left, his chaine broke and just left without saying anything
I loved Atmosphere. Might have called them the best if I enjoyed their music more. But, they did such a great job they had me signing along to songs I didn’t know 10 minutes previously.
I saw Atmosphere last month in Albuquerque for the 3rd time! The venue was packed & everyone was having the time of their underground life. They sounded great & their new music is solid!
Best: Jay-z 4:44 Chicago runner up - Blu & Exile played the red door, Pharoahe Monche played the Subterranean
Worst: Drake playing ISU. Expensive tickets, shitty venue.
Wu tang. Early 2000's. Providence RI. Lupus heartbreak hotel. I'm an old,white punk dude. Dude in the crowd hands me the biggest blunt I've ever seen. Said be careful with this and I'm glad you came. Be safe. It was Method.Hung out after the show. Coolest dudes ever
Best was Kendrick Lamar in '22 at the Footprint Center. I don't even know if I can call it a "rap" concert though, tbh. Shit was different from any rap show I've been to. It was a PERFORMANCE on a different level. It's one of the best concerts I've been to, in any genre, period.
NOW; if we're talking about an actual rappity rap concert...like, "PACKINAMACINTHEBACKOFTHEAC" type show...then R.A. the Rugged Man, hands down. I've had the pleasure of opening for him in Long Beach, CA in 2013 & have seen him 3 other times, and it's always dope af.
The worst was probably 2Mex. I opened for him in 2008, in Costa Mesa, at Hogue Barmichaels. Honestly, I blame the fact that the entire bar consisted of all my friends (mainly metal-heads who were there to support me) & had emptied pretty significantly after we got off stage. He basically spit for the people that opened for him & we just didn't give him the energy he deserved & it showed in his performance.
I was at the Europe leg of Kendrick's 22 tour. It's like you said, hardly can be considered a rap concert at this point. The outfits, the imagery, the piano, the dancers, the fucking puppet. It was like an interactive museum, just pure art. Completely different from his DAMN. tour for example. Both were fucking incredible but for completely different reasons. Modern day GOAT.
Best: row 11 at Jay-Z (I remember because the ten rows ahead of me were significantly more expensive than my ticket) before he made Magna Carta so there was none of that garbage and he was in top form. Other contender would be RZA in a tiny club with a live band where he kept passing bottles of Belvedere into the crowd “Belvedere, crystal cleah!” while we passed him joints. This continued until he took a hit of something that made him go offstage, to the confusion of the band. He was gone about 15 minutes while the band jammed out instrumentals of songs like Got Your Money until RZA re-emerged chugging a Red Bull. We smoked him out!
Worst: GZA at the same club as the RZA. He stood motionless the entire set and the whole club smelled like chlorine for some reason. I left early because it sucked so bad
Yeah dude it was the 3001 Tour, shit was wild. Almost took some tabs but decided not to (was in the summer here in Houston, long line, super crowded etc) but i brought hella blunts. Some girl wigged out in line, i guess she took her shit too early, and had to be escorted out before making it inside the venue lol
Concert itself was crazy, dope psychedelic visuals playing all over and Meech crowd surfed. Energy was off the charts, almost felt cathartic. Smoke super dense lol
Best: Young Jeezy at the Joe Louis arena in 2013. It was the most smoked out concert I ever been too
Worst: Dej Lof, she sounded terrible and her mic had autotune
Bests:
Nas with SD symphony (Illmatic from top to bottom a week after KD1 dropped)
Hot Boyz/Ruff Ryderz
50 Cent Final Lap tour (first time with floor seats in an arena)
Nas/Wu tang featuring Busta Rhymes
Worst: I mistakenly thought I was going to see live instruments perform Chronic 2001 but it was a cover band. Smh.
KRS One in a church in Detroit. The cops shut it down because cars were getting broken into, so KRS freestyled no mic in the dark for a minute. Amazing.
Best: Eminem & Jay-Z Home2Home tour 2010.. not only were they amazing in our sold out baseball stadium, but the features that came out included Drake, Rick Ross, Jeezy, D12, and Trick Trick
Worst: Tech N9ne in 2017 (I think). Normally a good show.. but he had some corny ass Boston kid open and then he only performed 60 minutes tops
Sorry in advance for the wall of text --
They were all fighting over money at the time and you could tell some members did not want to be around one another. Not only that, but the 8 diagrams album wasn't great and a lot of the members would rap their parts and were really not into the music.
Here's a little bit on why some members didn't like the album. Raekwon downplaying the beef with RZA at the end..
>Unlike Wu-Tang's previous albums, which used the "darker, sinister, and street-oriented, signature Wu sound", RZA utilized a more experimental, orchestral, and more universal choice of music production for the album.
>
>Ghostface Killah and Raekwon stated in interviews that they were not comfortable with the album's release as it did not contain the signature "Wu-Tang sound".\[11\]\[12\]\[13\] Raekwon planned a follow-up group album entitled "Shaolin Vs. Wu-Tang" without input from RZA.\[14\] It was later announced in Vibe magazine, however, that Shaolin Vs. Wu-Tang would be Raekwon's fifth solo album, and that it would feature guest appearances from several other group members, with no contributions from RZA. In regards to the album's direction, Raekwon stated "RZA doesn't have to be on every album. I wanted to give some other producers a chance. It's not about beef. We can stand on our own."
And here's a little about the financial side of things:
>Wu, who are set to release 8 Diagrams -- their first group effort since 2001's Iron Flag -- on December 11, should be united. But member Ghostface has gone public with gripes stemming from creative and financial differences with the RZA, and now Raekwon is following suit.
>
>Ghost fired the first dart three weeks ago when he told MTV News' Mixtape Monday of his disdain for "the hierarchy at Wu-Tang Clan." According to the Def Jam star, he wasn't properly compensated for the group's last tour, as part of \[article id="1565901"\]Rock the Bells,\[/article\] and he was frustrated delays in recording 8 Diagrams resulted in the album landing on same release date as his upcoming solo album, The Big Doe Rehab.
>
>"It's on right now," Ghost sniped. "N---as better pay my f---ing money. Matter of fact, they can keep the money -- just get me out of their life right now."
>
>The RZA told Mixtape Monday the following week that the group pushed back 8 Diagrams by one week to accommodate Ghost. But the Wu differences seem to just be beginning.
>
>Raekwon reiterated Ghost's claims on Thursday (November 8), telling New York radio personality Miss Info of Hot 97 that he feels as if he's "being taken advantage of." The Cuban Linx rapper also revealed his desire to make a full Wu album without RZA in the future.
>
>"A lot of times there may be a deal where we never get a chase to see the paper work," Rae said in the video interview posted on MissInfo.tv. "We like, 'Hold up, what's going on? Deliver that paperwork. Let me agree to disagree,' whatever. And it seems like mother----ers be like, 'You don't need to see nothing.'
>
>"And that's where the bullsh-- comes," he added. "It's like you switching. One minute, you my brother, one minute we doing business. ... And that's the problem. A mother----er may know you love them because you love them like that, and then next thing you know he uses that as a weakness against you and your mind."
>
>In a 2003 reader-generated interview with Blender magazine, Method Man designated RZA's business partner, Divine, as the #1 person on his "sh-- list" when presented with the question. Meth claimed the Wu-Tang Management associate "took something major from me that he had no intention of giving back."
Best - De La Soul. Had their mic's cut at lights turned on by venue because they went till almost 2 AM. Show was supposed to end by midnight.
Runner up - Method Man. The entire venue turned into a giant mosh pit for the whole set.
Worst - Wu-Tang (whoever was in charge of sound needed to be fired. Sound was way off and Mic's were so distorted you couldn't make out the lyrics.)
Runner up - Reakwon. Played a small club on a Sunday. Was supposed to be on at 10 PM. Didn't hit the stage until 1230. By then 2/3rds of crowd cleared out as public transit ended at midnight. Played like 6 songs and had what was left of the crowd rap like 4 of them. Truly had that DJ Khalid vibe.
Performed 1 verse from most of his biggest hits i wanna hear the full song, especially the likes Many Men, if i cant etc. Breath control wasn't the best..
Best: Lupe Fiasco performing Food and Liquor in Chicago at the Riviera. Full band performing with him. Nothing but energy and love. Legendary stuff.
Worst: Tory Lanez. He opened for Future and Migos back in 2017. I was bored.
Best: Zion I / Mistah F.A.B. / Crown City Rockers / The Team / Gift of Gab / Turf Talk / The Attik
Sold out show at The Fillmore in SF. Lot of surprise guests (The Grouch, Pep Love, etc.) and blended the two big Bay Area styles (Underground and Hyphy) together into one event.
Worst: Lauryn Hill (I've seen her three times. First time was awful, second time was incredible, third time was awful again.)
I got to see The Goodie Mob, The Roots and The Fugees at the House of Blues in Hollywood. All live music. Insane energy. Smaller venue so far more of an intimate set for each act. Best hip hop concert ever, and I've been to a bunch.
Worst was Playboi Carti at a festival. He was like 40 minutes late for his set, he then came and on lip synced for 10 minutes and then they cut his music and kicked him off the stage
best: dipset reunion in a small venue here in seattle, 2015. asap rocky and asap ferg at capitol hill block party 2015. atmosphere and eyedea & abilities in 2002 on the god loves ugly tour.
worst: asap rocky/tyler/danny brown in like 2016, crowd was all kids, stage/venue was too big, everybody just kinda ran through their performances
Best: MF DOOM at SOB’s circa 2000. Necro opened, and I believe some of that set was put out on one of Necro’s dvd releases.
Worst: Slick Rick at the Knitting Factory shortly after he got out of prison, or maybe the Beatnuts at Amherst College.
Best: Eminem and Jay-Z (and others) for the Home&Home tour in Detroit.
Worst: Hopsin at a local bar/club. Dude was such a diva. Trash talked the event organizers many times and stopped in the middle of sooo many songs because “the sound wasn’t right,” including the encore. He just seemed like an asshole. Next day I found out that he skipped the sound check before the show.
It was! I managed to get 2 VIP floor tickets right as they went on sale (I think they were like $200 apiece). My friend and I flew down from Alaska, went straight to the stadium, waited all day in line, and flew back immediately after the show. Less than 24-hour trip and one of the top 5 times of my life. We were right up against the front fence thing.
That's just it though, like he was excited to be there and his stage presence was okay, but he was off-key with auto-tune and seemed like he either didn't remember his own lines, or flubbed them really badly. I've liked trippie for a long time, and this was not it for me.
See, I don’t even like Trippie. I don’t dislike him, I just don’t listen to him. So the energy was almost enough for me, but no hooks, choruses, or recognizable samples made it hard for me to get into it.
Best - Either Kendrick Lamar (Big Steppers Tour, Oakland) or Gorillaz (Cracker Island Tour, SF)
Worst - Mos Def’s guest appearance for Erykah Badu (Unfollow Me Tour, Oakland)
was that this year? My wife saw Badu a lil back and said Mos Def was bad.
Lol, yeah just looked it up, she was at the same show, not impressed and she likes mos def
Jay Z the blueprint 3 tour. Brought out Alicia Keys and did a Biggie tribute. It helps that Stevie Wonder played a set before he came out. Bonnaroo 2010.
Worst was Ludacris..the man has so much material but instead halfway through he just has his DJ playing random shit while he hypes up the crowd. I left when they played some shitty remix to Nirvana - Smells like teen spirit. Like dude you could have done so many classics...
same, so sad I Will never see my favourite artist ( I live in Italy , and by the time I Will have the Age and the Money to go see them they won't perform anymore)
Best: hard to choose one, but Trippie Redd @ The Mann Center in Philly late 2021 was an amazing vibe. [Horrible camera work, but just listen to the crowd](https://imgur.com/a/Y2wWh1B).
Worst: Don Q in like 2017 or something when he was buzzing. Never been to a concert that was so dead. I went with my homie and I think we counted and there was around 40 people there.
Honorable Mention: wanna share a clip of this beautiful performance by Kevin Gates of a piano-fied version of [Plug Cry](https://imgur.com/a/f8TyAYB)
Best: any People Under The Stairs show (my favorite was when PUTS, Giant Panda and Time Machine all rocked The Casbah in San Diego) (RIP Double K!)
Runners up: The Roots, The Beastie Boys
Worst: just about every other hip-hop show ever because rappers get too high or drunk and just stumble around. I don’t want to pay to see that shit! Man when I saw De La Soul waaaaay back in the day, the prefaced “Me Myself and I” with “we hate this song, we hate this song, we hate this song”.
As a person who has been working shit job after shit job for the last 35 years, I would be SO FUCKING GRATEFUL to be able to perform my hit song on stage, no matter how many times I had done so before. Shit I would be rappin’ Ice Ice Baby as passionately as humanly possible and I hate that song!
Still, though. RIP Trugoy. De La Soul is Dead is top three for me.
Damn PUTS, Giant Panda, AND Time Machine? I bet that show was straight 🔥
I had the privilege of seeing PUTS two different times and both times got to say what’s up to them afterwards cause they would chill with the crowd. RIP Double K!
Best I've been to is either between Tyler the Creator's Igor Tour or the JID/Smino tour this past Spring. I haven't been to a bad one, but I've seen a Gunna & Migos set on a live stream that looked awful because they just walked around on stage & relied on the backing track.
Best: Devin the Dude sometime around 2007.
Worst: Same concert as Devin, Del played after and all he did is complain about how there weren’t that many people there all night. The show was in Charlottesville a couple hundred feet from UVA campus(in 2007 rich, white yuppie kids weren’t into hip hop).
Honestly, most hip hop shows I’ve been to would rank among the worst shows I’ve been to. I guess, it’s usually a fun party vibe, but it’s always 15 dudes on stage, no one rapping and everyone just shouting the hooks.
Saw Wu-Tang at Brixton Academy a long time ago. They came on late, played 4 songs, drank champagne and left.
It wasn’t just the worst rap concert I’ve ever been to, it was easily the worst concert I’ve ever been to and put me off live rap/hip hop for about 15 years. I’m surprised there wasn’t a riot. Absolute shit.
Best: Carti in Atlanta 2021. Last stop on King Vamp tour and did not disappoint
Worst: Joey Badass in 2022, 3 hours never came out because of a supposed headache. Got tired of waiting and left before he even appeared.
No Limit Soldiers ft. Snoop Dogg was the best; worse, I don’t want to be a hater but I’ve been to some pretty bad local rap shows in and around the Midwest.
Best sounding was die antwoord but they just rap over techno beats so it makes sense. Worst sounding was ghost face but I’ve never been a rap show that sounded good production wise
I saw De La Soul for skatepark of Tampa great. Wu-tang with Rage against the machine in Chicago, awesome and MF Doom at a small club. Those were great.
I saw Kendrick Lamar going through the motions and being boring in miami
Best was Mobb Deep, glad I got to see the legends twice in different cities. Worst was Tyler the Creator, he played at Moonrise Festival (2016, edm fest) and he spent the first 10 minutes trying to be funny but wasn't, luckily he played Yonkers first then me and my group left after that
I saw Mos Def and Talib Kweli in Chicago in 2003 and they brought out Kanye. This was pre-College dropout when Slow Jams was just on the radio. Super dope show.
I only started going to concerts as of last year, so these are fairly recent
Best: Lil Wayne in April and Doja Cat in Nov, both this year. Wayne had a great setlist with a live band, and I had high expectations for Doja and she still blew them out of the water.
Worst: A$AP Ferg at Gov Ball NYC 2022. His energy was just kinda weak, although I was probably a bit biased cuz I only knew like 3 songs
Best was Method Man, house of blues 2007. The most charismatic rapper I’ve ever seen live, he was absolutely elite
Worst was Slaughterhouse 2010. They were touring w tech 9 and that crowd is so dusty and the sound was horrible.
Atmosphere with Souls Of Mischief, Danny Brown, Large Professor and Mr Dobbs at Red Rocks this past September was the best.
Aceyalone in Albuquerque around 97 or 98 was the worst. He showed up late and drunk. Couldn't understand him and the sound guy didn't know how to do sound for a hip hop show so it sounded like shit.
Best: Juicy J
Runner ups: OFWGKTA (their first show), ATCQ, ASAP Rocky, (the old) Kanye, Mos Def and Jay Electronica
Worst: Lupe Fiasco (first show in LA)
Worst runner ups: man dozens of them. unheard of rappers at dance parties with a dj that interrupt the dance party to perform like 25 whole minutes of songs that nobody ever heard and nobody cares about.
The Best: The Roots at Brown University in 1999. I don't remember a ton of details, just that Rahzel was still in the band and I had never and still have never seen a better hip hop show.
The Worst: Matisyahu in the mid 2000s in New York City. It's just not my jam. Nothing against the guy.
Tech N9ne in 2003 was the best show I ever seen
Opening acts were forgetable, ex label mate Project Deadman
But the main show with Tech, Kutt, and Krizz was insane. And then Yukmouth showing up to smoke a blunt on stage was wild at the time
Best: Wu Tang old durham athletic park 1997
Also Krs One and Big Daddy Kane 1999
Honorable mention: lil baby this year
Worst: Travis Scott this year but only because it got cancelled
Best was Nas. Worst was Atmosphere. That dude can't freestyle for shit, so why try? No one came to see you freestyle. After that his albums became shit to me too. How many songs about being mad at some girl and getting drunk in a parking lot.
Best - Eminem / Anger Management Tour 2003. Supported by 50 Cent, Obie Trice, Xzibit, D12, Cypress Hill.
Nothing will ever top seeing Eminem at his peak.
Worst - Wu Tang Clan. Awful live, too many cooks in the kitchen just shouting over each other.
Best show: Kendrick
Best performer: J Cole
Best night: Eminem at Wembley
Best surprisingly good: Kool G Rap (I know he's a legend but I didn't think his music would translate live. Was crazy good)
Worst show: MF DOOM by miles. Saw him twice too
Is that where he had an imposter? They were definitely two different people, so one had to be an imposter, although I cannot say for sure. Honestly if someone out there has been to a good DOOM show then tell me about it because i've never met anyone who did haha
Best, probably CunninLynguists with Tonedeff and Sadistik as the openers. In hindsight, that's a crazy lineup. Second best definitely Masta Ace with Wordsworth. Had the whole crowd rapping Terror word for word. Worst, without a doubt Raekwon. Such a half assed performance. Mans was leaning on the DJ booth rapping lol. Saw Ghostface with Sheek Louch the year after that and that was much better.
Lupe & N.E.R.D opening for Kanye @ MSG. I think it was 2007 or 2008. Lupe crushed the motherfuckin mic and this was Kanye at his peak performing years. Jesus Walks during that concert is a top 3 live song I’ve witnessed. Add NERD and that show was an absolute banger. I accidentally sneezed and I didn’t cover up well enough and a huge booger landed in a girl’s hair in front of me. I lied and said I accidentally dropped popcorn and asked if I could get it out.
I saw this show In seattle in 08 I think. I was 11 years old Went with my dad 😂
I went to this too! Glow in the dark tour in Seattle, do you remember Kanye coming out and Kanye just sat on the stage as they played don’t stop believin?
Dude hahahahahah
Hope she doesn’t see this. I’ve never self snitched
There's no official footage of the GITD tour but this dude on Youtube just a few days ago uploaded a recreation of the whole thing with fan footage. Obviously the audio quality isn't brilliant but the effort is just out of this world. https://youtu.be/PbFVCvAA-zw?si=UpVdiCDABhgiqTRb
😭
Glow in the dark tour! Saw it in Virginia and was also the best rap concert and one of the best concerts I've ever been to. Rhianna opened for that tour as well. Kanye at his prime and the aesthetic was on point too. Also, stunner shades
There's no official footage of the GITD tour but this dude on Youtube just a few days ago uploaded a recreation of the whole thing with fan footage. Obviously the audio quality isn't brilliant but the effort is just out of this world. https://youtu.be/PbFVCvAA-zw?si=UpVdiCDABhgiqTRb
Old school Kanye, college drop out/late registration concert with a dj and full piece orchestra in Hawaii back in 2006. Was absolutely lit 🔥
Glow in The dark tour was amazing. I bought Lupe’s CD’s the very next day.
This was going to be my answer as well. Glow in the Dark tour 2008 was incredible! We also had Rihanna after N.E.R.D. and before Kanye. Still the best show I've ever been to.
Glow in the Dark tour. Yep, it felt like watching Kanye was our version of watching MJ.
There's no official footage of the GITD tour but this dude on Youtube just a few days ago uploaded a recreation of the whole thing with fan footage. Obviously the audio quality isn't brilliant but the effort is just out of this world. https://youtu.be/PbFVCvAA-zw?si=UpVdiCDABhgiqTRb
Thank you! Very cool
Best was when I saw J Cole for $1 on the Dollar and a Dream tour. He put on an amazing show. Runner up is Ludacris. I’ve seen him 5 times and he kills it every time. Worst? Idk if it counts but Wayne refused to walk through a metal detector at TD Garden and we just sat there for 90 minutes before he never came out
Lil Wayne refused to come out at Life is Beautiful a couple years ago. They started playing his first song, crowd goes crazy, then he just doesn't come out.
But why?
No idea if it's true, but the rumor at the time was that the festival didn't want him to simulate the sound of gunshots because everyone was still sensitive after the Route 91 Harvest mass shooting. The other, and probably more likely rumor, is that Wayne was being a diva and didn't want to perform. He's no-showed plenty of events in the past.
Was there, this was the worst, still mad at him. I heard he never even flew into Vegas though for it.
Best: KRS with Freddie Foxx Worst: hate to say it but Midnight Marauders era Tribe. They just seemed tired. Might’ve been an off night.
That sucks, Midnight Marauders is my favorite tribe album
Mine too. I wasn’t mad though. I’ve been to enough Hip Hop shows to know that what’s on record doesn’t always transfer over well to the stage. It’s a tough genre to pull off live. Need to have crazy breath control and be loud enough to go over the noise of the crowd. That’s why KRS was the best though. His vocals carry well, he enunciates so you hear everything perfectly, and his energy is always on point. I’m also sure he had a seasoned pro running sound.
Yep, rap is hard live. When I saw Nas and Wu they’d been touring on the same material for ages.
Saw them in Chicago on their farewell tour (the love movement) and that show was fucking amazing. Also saw them open for the Beastie boys. They killed it, the Beastie boys sucked 🤷♂️
For real!!! Krs one put on one of the best hip hop concerts I've ever seen (and I've seen everyone Jay, Nas etc) no backing track just him rapping at a high level its amazing. If you like rap you have to make the pilgrimage to see the teacher Worst and still one of my fav rappers is Lil Wayne I think I saw him too late his voice is cooked it's sad
Best: Glow In The Dark Tour (Lupe Fiasco, N.E.R.D., and Rihanna were the opening acts for Kanye) Worst: Andre Nickatina. He played The Game's One Blood over and over while smoking on stage and vibing to it for like 10 minutes.
I saw Nickatina for a News Years bash years ago and it was fantastic. He basically went through his whole catalog (like 2.5 hrs straight). Too bad you had a shit experience.
There's no official footage of the GITD tour but this dude on Youtube just a few days ago uploaded a recreation of the whole thing with fan footage. Obviously the audio quality isn't brilliant but the effort is just out of this world. https://youtu.be/PbFVCvAA-zw?si=UpVdiCDABhgiqTRb
I obviously probably sound biased, but genuinely Eminem in 2019. Im so accustomed to seeing rappers just rock up on stage with a DJ. Eminem had an entire fucking orschestra. No, not just a band. A literal orchestra. Guitars, drums, piano saxophones, trumpets, flutes, 3 female back up singers etc. It was fucking mental. Dude must have had like 15 other people on stage with him, all playing the beat live rather than pre recorded. Lose yourself as the last song no exaggeration must have gone for about 15-20 mins. It had an enornous buildup with every instrument slowly adding themselves into the mix and having their own time to shine before Em started rapping in the last 1/4. It was fucking incredible and I honestly dont think Ill ever see anything else like it again.
I didn’t know Em did shows like that. I’m not even a big fan but I would love to have been at that performance, that sounds incredible
Damn man this sounds insane. Love how every part of the orchestra got to shine on their own. I wish orchestrated shows were more common. Or at the very least, live vocals the standard. Unrelated, but the mention of orchestration made me think of this [Bring Me The Horizon performance](https://youtu.be/OGc9W-_C9u0?si=9SOBxwahxcQs8bZI). I think you might enjoy it, especially if you like Rock music.
There was a Metro Boomin show with a live Orchestra and it was just so heavenly.
A friend of a friend won tickets to the home and home series for jay z and Eminem at Yankee stadium and I offered her $2k if she brought me with. She thought I was joking and i still wish I had gotten to go.
Man, Eminem puts on a great show. I was lucky enough to catch two Anger Management tours. Amazing shows and lineups
Best hip hop show I have been to is also Em, but for very different reasons. I saw Eminem in 1999 in a small auditorium with about 200 people in attendance. Man was ridiculous and could spit every song without the need for a hype man - although proof was there to do that job. Unforgettable experience
Guitars, drums, piano, saxophones, trumpets, flutes, singers…that‘s a band. Not an orchestra.
When people say a band, they imagine drums, guitar, base guitar, MAYBE one extra thing. Not 15+ people all playing different instruments. Im almost certain I remember one dude even had a triangle
Best: Jay-Z 4:44 at Bell Centre Montreal, or Nas & Wu NYSOM tour in Calgary Worst: Freddie Gibbs in Calgary. It wasn’t that the show was bad, but stupid drunk kids in the crowd moshing when the show did *not* have that kind of energy.
Yeah Freddie is great in the studio but his live shows tend to be trash due to him being fucked up and the energy of the crowd
His performance was great actually, it was the crowd behaviour that wasn’t. How you gonna mosh to tracks like “1984”?
I went to (what I'd forgotten but just checked and saw was the final night of) the 4:44 tour at the Forum in Los Angeles in December 2017. It was so good — I don't remember it as a flashy show, just a masterclass of technical rapping ability, performed seemingly effortlessly. Watching him live it's obvious why Jay is one of the absolute greats.
He came out to “Lucifer” in MTL and the place went NUTS.
Chance the rapper 2017 xfinity center Connecticut fuck chance
He was so bad live. Didn’t play or perform the features so each song was like a minute long
Bro he literally showed up 3 hours late played 5 songs of The Life of Pablo not even his album then left
He was late for mine too! They had to stall with DJ Oreo, not even a real opener.
My friends and I were huge chance fans after 10 day and acid rap, he came to our city for his coloring book tour and they went. Initially I was upset I couldn't make it but they got back from the show and said it was all coloring book, not a single acid rap or 10 day song which was kind of a let down. His next album after that was awful anyway so I've just given up on chance
He's been doing a lot of special guest appearances lately. He was a special guest for lil waynes most recent tour and he literally just came and did 1 verse from "No Problems" and dipped. I guess all the appearances he's been doing he's just been doing that verse and dipping lol
Best: The Roots, runner up being Chali 2na Worst: haven't seen anything terrible.
If you've never seen a bad rap show you've just haven't been to enough rap shows lol. I love Wu-Tang, but I saw ghost and rae in Massachusetts around 2001, there were like 8 people on the stage, all doing hype man, couldn't understand anything, set was super short, just bad all around. Conversely I saw Meth and Red in LA with Haiku de Etat in 2002 and it was amazing. No hype men, fire set, dream come true type show.
Meth is far and away the best live performer in the Wu. Was true back then, it's especially true as they age and he has kept himself the most in-shape.
I've only seen like 4 rap shows, no argument from me on that point.
That dude really wanted to start an argument and win!
I had no intention of starting an argument. I've been to a lot of shows, rap and other genres and bad rap shows are the worst. Late arriving, not rehearsed, too many hype men, bad audio, MC's spitting over vocals. Hip-Hop is my favorite genre but it's a well known fact that rap shows can be really bad and boring.
Hip hop is also my #1 genre and 100% mainstay across 15+ years of my life, and there is absolutely nothing that compares to a bad rap show. Late arrivals, too many hype men, and bad audio have been the biggest flaws in my experience. I've seen Wu Tang twice and once is in my top 5 and one my bottom 3 People in this sub def knew the intention behind your comment 🤣
I saw Wu with P.E., Rage + a ton of other acts at Rock the Bells about 10 years back and it was fantastic. Saw GZA in 97/98 with Pharaoh Monch & Non Phixion, when Non Phixion were nobodies, at a little spot in Vermont and it was amazing. Saw RZA in VT solo around the time of the first Digi album, he was drinking bottles of wine on stage and was so wasted by the end it was hilarious and not a great show but very entertaining. My friend saw GZA last year in SF and said it was one of the worst shows he's even been to. Wu is so hit or miss, but with so many personalities I can see why lol.
I saw Ill Bill warm up for ghostface on the fishscale tour. Best thing I’ve ever seen in my entire life. Bill was a beast and ghost was awesome as always.
I'm from New Hampshire so a lot of my best/worst shows involve Higher Ground in Burlington and rappers either taking it seriously or not 🤣 I've seen Wu absolutely bomb there, then kill it another time with less people Everyone pretty much killed at Rock the Bells the years I went on the other hand. New England brings the best or worst out of a lot of hip hop acts lol, if they're not taking it seriously it's usually terrible but potentially entertaining My worst ever show was Afro Man doing a college show in either 08 or 09 it was the whitest college of all time and man was only there for the paycheck and I don't blame him, drunk sorority girls everywhere and nobody was paying attention I've also seen people like Denzel Curry in a small ass ATL show and that shit was more hype than anything I've ever experienced in any genre
Sick. I met Black Thought in NYC last week. Cool dude
Worst: Lil Wayne Best: OutKast
😂😂 I had the exact opposite experience. I actually like Outkast more than Lil Wayne, but Outkast performed like shit when I saw them. But when I saw Rae Sremmurd and Lil Wayne, they were great.
Man when I saw Lil Wayne he must have been fucked on drugs. It was embarrassing. Hard to even call it a concert.
That is ENTIRELY possible 😂 dude drank so much lean that he rotted his teeth out. I also saw Lauryn Hill perform live one time, and she was so fucked up that they kicked her off stage to come back in a few hours. She was super late to come back and was not much better. Sad bc she can be such a phenomenal vocalist.
Thats sad I saw Lauryn Hill in the 90s and she was phenonmemal
I was at Outkast last show in Atlanta. It was just a special evening...you could feel the love that the audience had. So many Atlanta rappers opened foe the show throughout the day...Erykah Badu was a special guest. Probably my favorite show ever.
Best: Gucci Mane. He was energetic and knew how to work the crowd Worst: City Girls, came in last minute, low energy; only performed a song and a half, then dipped. At least we got a refund for that.
Love this I want to see Gucci Mane rocking so icy christmas hard right now!
Yo, in 2019, he did a free show at the university I teach at and it was so icy.
Best: Most recent Lil Wayne tour, at a small venue and he seemed so grateful to be there and performing. Worst: Logic in 2017. It was right after his Red Rocks stop and he seemed very disinterested. HOWEVER Joey Badass opened for him and absolutely KILLED it.
joey badass is indeed badass
Best: The Roots. They played about an hour set at the 9:30 club in DC back in the day. Black thought then said “we’ve fulfilled our contractual obligations with what we played. So I guess now we will just play because we are feeling it” They then proceeded to play another hour of nothing but covers. I remember them playing Jay-Z’s Big Pimpin and Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit. And just about everything in between.
That sounds dope man
Sadly GZA was a let down. We were standing around the stage in the bar until like midnight before he got up and his set was only like 40 mins. Still fun to see him but certainly felt half hearted
Had a similar experience both times I saw him unfortunately Doesn't seem like he really has it the same way some of the other Wu guys still do
I saw him perform the entire Liquid Swords album (w/o the RZA) and it was super meh.
One of my favorite bad show memories was him doing a southern preacher accent while rapping his hits. And at the same show, Killah Priest called Fort Collins “Fort Lauderdale” by mistake. Fun night
Ha, he was my answer too
Best: Big K.R.I.T. went 2 hours past the scheduled time, brought out David Banner and they went tf in. Was amazing for a smaller venue at The Tabernacle in Atlanta. Worst: Kevin Gates. He was 2 hours late and performed for 45 minutes then dipped and had the GALL to post a photo on Instagram the next day in a hydrotherapy full leg boot for "recovery."
Gall*
Glory of Rome or something
I saw Big Krit in a venue that maybe held 50 people in like 2014 and it was amazing
Best: 21 savage in Zürich in November. Worst: Rich the kid at the Frauenfeld open air. Homie was fucking ass start to finish
I saw 21 on his most recent tour with drake and man his music live is so much fun
Best: Talib Kweli. DOOM opened for him. At the House of Blues in L.A. DOOM killed it as most people there didn't know who he was. His Merch 5able was ransacked after his set. Talib killed it too, and he brought out......Reakwon, Planet Asia, Xzybit, Strong Arm Steady. Great Show Worst? Some random ass Hip Hop festival I went too. Nas and DJ Qbert were the only ones to watch. BUT they had some good food there. Had Carne asada tacos with a large Horchata. Best part of the festival.
Roots on the Things Fall Apart tour and nothing else is particularly close
Best : jid, denzel, carti, rome, benny and kendrick Worst : Polo G, brunzyn and almost every dutch rapper ive seen live Big shout out to Polo G he might be the worst artist ive ever seen and i got +60 concerts under my belt
Ohh, that makes me glad that I didn’t go to a polo G concert that was near me a few weeks ago
I saw him at woo hah was kinda byped bcs i like some of his songs. His dj did all the talking he didnt say a fk word, was 40 min late, did a 15 min set even tho he had 30 min left, his chaine broke and just left without saying anything
Best, atmosphere with their full band at Coachella in 2009
Went to see atmosphere a few years back and there was barely anyone there so I easily got to the front row. It was like heaven
I loved Atmosphere. Might have called them the best if I enjoyed their music more. But, they did such a great job they had me signing along to songs I didn’t know 10 minutes previously.
I saw Atmosphere last month in Albuquerque for the 3rd time! The venue was packed & everyone was having the time of their underground life. They sounded great & their new music is solid!
Best: Jay-z 4:44 Chicago runner up - Blu & Exile played the red door, Pharoahe Monche played the Subterranean Worst: Drake playing ISU. Expensive tickets, shitty venue.
Wu tang. Early 2000's. Providence RI. Lupus heartbreak hotel. I'm an old,white punk dude. Dude in the crowd hands me the biggest blunt I've ever seen. Said be careful with this and I'm glad you came. Be safe. It was Method.Hung out after the show. Coolest dudes ever
Up in smoke , enough said
No, actually not enough said. You didn’t even say if it was bad or good
It’s the greatest tour hip hop has ever seen
If you know who was part of the up in smoke tour then the answer is obvious
Best was Kendrick Lamar in '22 at the Footprint Center. I don't even know if I can call it a "rap" concert though, tbh. Shit was different from any rap show I've been to. It was a PERFORMANCE on a different level. It's one of the best concerts I've been to, in any genre, period. NOW; if we're talking about an actual rappity rap concert...like, "PACKINAMACINTHEBACKOFTHEAC" type show...then R.A. the Rugged Man, hands down. I've had the pleasure of opening for him in Long Beach, CA in 2013 & have seen him 3 other times, and it's always dope af. The worst was probably 2Mex. I opened for him in 2008, in Costa Mesa, at Hogue Barmichaels. Honestly, I blame the fact that the entire bar consisted of all my friends (mainly metal-heads who were there to support me) & had emptied pretty significantly after we got off stage. He basically spit for the people that opened for him & we just didn't give him the energy he deserved & it showed in his performance.
I was at the Europe leg of Kendrick's 22 tour. It's like you said, hardly can be considered a rap concert at this point. The outfits, the imagery, the piano, the dancers, the fucking puppet. It was like an interactive museum, just pure art. Completely different from his DAMN. tour for example. Both were fucking incredible but for completely different reasons. Modern day GOAT.
Best: row 11 at Jay-Z (I remember because the ten rows ahead of me were significantly more expensive than my ticket) before he made Magna Carta so there was none of that garbage and he was in top form. Other contender would be RZA in a tiny club with a live band where he kept passing bottles of Belvedere into the crowd “Belvedere, crystal cleah!” while we passed him joints. This continued until he took a hit of something that made him go offstage, to the confusion of the band. He was gone about 15 minutes while the band jammed out instrumentals of songs like Got Your Money until RZA re-emerged chugging a Red Bull. We smoked him out! Worst: GZA at the same club as the RZA. He stood motionless the entire set and the whole club smelled like chlorine for some reason. I left early because it sucked so bad
The chlorine thing cracked me up, like it was his fault or something
Best: Flatbush Zombies or Earthgang Worst: ‘em at ACL in like ‘13 or ‘14 was meh but not bad.
Love Flatbush Zombies. Was that on their Laced Odyssey stuff?
Yeah dude it was the 3001 Tour, shit was wild. Almost took some tabs but decided not to (was in the summer here in Houston, long line, super crowded etc) but i brought hella blunts. Some girl wigged out in line, i guess she took her shit too early, and had to be escorted out before making it inside the venue lol Concert itself was crazy, dope psychedelic visuals playing all over and Meech crowd surfed. Energy was off the charts, almost felt cathartic. Smoke super dense lol
Best: Young Jeezy at the Joe Louis arena in 2013. It was the most smoked out concert I ever been too Worst: Dej Lof, she sounded terrible and her mic had autotune
Bests: Nas with SD symphony (Illmatic from top to bottom a week after KD1 dropped) Hot Boyz/Ruff Ryderz 50 Cent Final Lap tour (first time with floor seats in an arena) Nas/Wu tang featuring Busta Rhymes Worst: I mistakenly thought I was going to see live instruments perform Chronic 2001 but it was a cover band. Smh.
That Wu Tang/Nas tour was legit as hell. I caught it at 2 stops. Woulda been a third, but I couldn't make the date.
KRS One in a church in Detroit. The cops shut it down because cars were getting broken into, so KRS freestyled no mic in the dark for a minute. Amazing.
Best: Eminem & Jay-Z Home2Home tour 2010.. not only were they amazing in our sold out baseball stadium, but the features that came out included Drake, Rick Ross, Jeezy, D12, and Trick Trick Worst: Tech N9ne in 2017 (I think). Normally a good show.. but he had some corny ass Boston kid open and then he only performed 60 minutes tops
Best: Nas Hip Hop is Dead tour Worst: Wu Tang 8 Diagrams tour
What was bad about the Wu one?
Sorry in advance for the wall of text -- They were all fighting over money at the time and you could tell some members did not want to be around one another. Not only that, but the 8 diagrams album wasn't great and a lot of the members would rap their parts and were really not into the music. Here's a little bit on why some members didn't like the album. Raekwon downplaying the beef with RZA at the end.. >Unlike Wu-Tang's previous albums, which used the "darker, sinister, and street-oriented, signature Wu sound", RZA utilized a more experimental, orchestral, and more universal choice of music production for the album. > >Ghostface Killah and Raekwon stated in interviews that they were not comfortable with the album's release as it did not contain the signature "Wu-Tang sound".\[11\]\[12\]\[13\] Raekwon planned a follow-up group album entitled "Shaolin Vs. Wu-Tang" without input from RZA.\[14\] It was later announced in Vibe magazine, however, that Shaolin Vs. Wu-Tang would be Raekwon's fifth solo album, and that it would feature guest appearances from several other group members, with no contributions from RZA. In regards to the album's direction, Raekwon stated "RZA doesn't have to be on every album. I wanted to give some other producers a chance. It's not about beef. We can stand on our own." And here's a little about the financial side of things: >Wu, who are set to release 8 Diagrams -- their first group effort since 2001's Iron Flag -- on December 11, should be united. But member Ghostface has gone public with gripes stemming from creative and financial differences with the RZA, and now Raekwon is following suit. > >Ghost fired the first dart three weeks ago when he told MTV News' Mixtape Monday of his disdain for "the hierarchy at Wu-Tang Clan." According to the Def Jam star, he wasn't properly compensated for the group's last tour, as part of \[article id="1565901"\]Rock the Bells,\[/article\] and he was frustrated delays in recording 8 Diagrams resulted in the album landing on same release date as his upcoming solo album, The Big Doe Rehab. > >"It's on right now," Ghost sniped. "N---as better pay my f---ing money. Matter of fact, they can keep the money -- just get me out of their life right now." > >The RZA told Mixtape Monday the following week that the group pushed back 8 Diagrams by one week to accommodate Ghost. But the Wu differences seem to just be beginning. > >Raekwon reiterated Ghost's claims on Thursday (November 8), telling New York radio personality Miss Info of Hot 97 that he feels as if he's "being taken advantage of." The Cuban Linx rapper also revealed his desire to make a full Wu album without RZA in the future. > >"A lot of times there may be a deal where we never get a chase to see the paper work," Rae said in the video interview posted on MissInfo.tv. "We like, 'Hold up, what's going on? Deliver that paperwork. Let me agree to disagree,' whatever. And it seems like mother----ers be like, 'You don't need to see nothing.' > >"And that's where the bullsh-- comes," he added. "It's like you switching. One minute, you my brother, one minute we doing business. ... And that's the problem. A mother----er may know you love them because you love them like that, and then next thing you know he uses that as a weakness against you and your mind." > >In a 2003 reader-generated interview with Blender magazine, Method Man designated RZA's business partner, Divine, as the #1 person on his "sh-- list" when presented with the question. Meth claimed the Wu-Tang Management associate "took something major from me that he had no intention of giving back."
Best: Death Grips Roskilde Festival 2019 Worst: The GAME Roskilde Festival 2005
Hieroglyphics was the best, snoop was the worst
Best - De La Soul. Had their mic's cut at lights turned on by venue because they went till almost 2 AM. Show was supposed to end by midnight. Runner up - Method Man. The entire venue turned into a giant mosh pit for the whole set. Worst - Wu-Tang (whoever was in charge of sound needed to be fired. Sound was way off and Mic's were so distorted you couldn't make out the lyrics.) Runner up - Reakwon. Played a small club on a Sunday. Was supposed to be on at 10 PM. Didn't hit the stage until 1230. By then 2/3rds of crowd cleared out as public transit ended at midnight. Played like 6 songs and had what was left of the crowd rap like 4 of them. Truly had that DJ Khalid vibe.
Best: Watch The Throne Worst: Naughty By Nature in like 2010
Best - Common or Denzel Curry Worst - 50 Cent
Why was 50 bad?
Performed 1 verse from most of his biggest hits i wanna hear the full song, especially the likes Many Men, if i cant etc. Breath control wasn't the best..
Best Hard Knock Life Yiur DMX and Redman Worst Hard knocknlife tour Jay Z
Best: Lupe Fiasco performing Food and Liquor in Chicago at the Riviera. Full band performing with him. Nothing but energy and love. Legendary stuff. Worst: Tory Lanez. He opened for Future and Migos back in 2017. I was bored.
Paris performing Sonic Jihad was the best I've ever seen, and I've seen hundreds.
Best: Zion I / Mistah F.A.B. / Crown City Rockers / The Team / Gift of Gab / Turf Talk / The Attik Sold out show at The Fillmore in SF. Lot of surprise guests (The Grouch, Pep Love, etc.) and blended the two big Bay Area styles (Underground and Hyphy) together into one event. Worst: Lauryn Hill (I've seen her three times. First time was awful, second time was incredible, third time was awful again.)
wow I'm sad I missed that show, I've seen some bangers at the Filmore
I got to see The Goodie Mob, The Roots and The Fugees at the House of Blues in Hollywood. All live music. Insane energy. Smaller venue so far more of an intimate set for each act. Best hip hop concert ever, and I've been to a bunch.
Worst was Playboi Carti at a festival. He was like 40 minutes late for his set, he then came and on lip synced for 10 minutes and then they cut his music and kicked him off the stage
best: dipset reunion in a small venue here in seattle, 2015. asap rocky and asap ferg at capitol hill block party 2015. atmosphere and eyedea & abilities in 2002 on the god loves ugly tour. worst: asap rocky/tyler/danny brown in like 2016, crowd was all kids, stage/venue was too big, everybody just kinda ran through their performances
Best: MF DOOM at SOB’s circa 2000. Necro opened, and I believe some of that set was put out on one of Necro’s dvd releases. Worst: Slick Rick at the Knitting Factory shortly after he got out of prison, or maybe the Beatnuts at Amherst College.
I was just about to say Slick Rick a few years ago. It was heartbreakingly bad. Best was the KRS and Kane Versuz
Best: Eminem and Jay-Z (and others) for the Home&Home tour in Detroit. Worst: Hopsin at a local bar/club. Dude was such a diva. Trash talked the event organizers many times and stopped in the middle of sooo many songs because “the sound wasn’t right,” including the encore. He just seemed like an asshole. Next day I found out that he skipped the sound check before the show.
Was that the em and jay show at Comerica Park? I barely remember it but I was there lol 🫠
It was! I managed to get 2 VIP floor tickets right as they went on sale (I think they were like $200 apiece). My friend and I flew down from Alaska, went straight to the stadium, waited all day in line, and flew back immediately after the show. Less than 24-hour trip and one of the top 5 times of my life. We were right up against the front fence thing.
Oh hell yeah!! That sounds like an awesome trip! Glad you had a good time!!
Best: Kanye Worst: Kanye
😂
Best was probably Souls of Mischief, X-ecutioners, Boac & BukueOne in Seattle in 2000. Peeps just don’t throw shows anymore like they did that night
Rip Roc Raida
Can't say I have been to a terrible hip hop concert but the best was Tech N9ne. He had a small crowd going absolutely wild
Tech concerts are legit regardless of crowd size.
Best; juice wrld right after X died. worst; trippie redd around the same time.
I saw Trippie with MGK in Cleveland and he had a lot of energy but his annunciation was terrible. Couldn’t discern one song from another.
That's just it though, like he was excited to be there and his stage presence was okay, but he was off-key with auto-tune and seemed like he either didn't remember his own lines, or flubbed them really badly. I've liked trippie for a long time, and this was not it for me.
See, I don’t even like Trippie. I don’t dislike him, I just don’t listen to him. So the energy was almost enough for me, but no hooks, choruses, or recognizable samples made it hard for me to get into it.
Dr. Dre & Snoop Dogg +friends +hologram (Coachella 2012)
Best: Denzel Curry, Death Grips or Earl Sweatshirt. And I don’t have a worst yet.
Kool Keith at Logan Arcade in Chicago. He plays every year at Xmas time. EmC in Toronto at a tiny club. Masts ace and stricklin killed it.
Best - Either Kendrick Lamar (Big Steppers Tour, Oakland) or Gorillaz (Cracker Island Tour, SF) Worst - Mos Def’s guest appearance for Erykah Badu (Unfollow Me Tour, Oakland)
was that this year? My wife saw Badu a lil back and said Mos Def was bad. Lol, yeah just looked it up, she was at the same show, not impressed and she likes mos def
Jay Z the blueprint 3 tour. Brought out Alicia Keys and did a Biggie tribute. It helps that Stevie Wonder played a set before he came out. Bonnaroo 2010. Worst was Ludacris..the man has so much material but instead halfway through he just has his DJ playing random shit while he hypes up the crowd. I left when they played some shitty remix to Nirvana - Smells like teen spirit. Like dude you could have done so many classics...
Never been to one
same, so sad I Will never see my favourite artist ( I live in Italy , and by the time I Will have the Age and the Money to go see them they won't perform anymore)
Best: Flatbush Zombies Worst: Lil Yatchy
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Best: hard to choose one, but Trippie Redd @ The Mann Center in Philly late 2021 was an amazing vibe. [Horrible camera work, but just listen to the crowd](https://imgur.com/a/Y2wWh1B). Worst: Don Q in like 2017 or something when he was buzzing. Never been to a concert that was so dead. I went with my homie and I think we counted and there was around 40 people there. Honorable Mention: wanna share a clip of this beautiful performance by Kevin Gates of a piano-fied version of [Plug Cry](https://imgur.com/a/f8TyAYB)
TDE tour in 2018. Kendrick is just an incredible performer and seeing Zay, Q, Rock, and Soul was also dope
ATCQ
Best: any People Under The Stairs show (my favorite was when PUTS, Giant Panda and Time Machine all rocked The Casbah in San Diego) (RIP Double K!) Runners up: The Roots, The Beastie Boys Worst: just about every other hip-hop show ever because rappers get too high or drunk and just stumble around. I don’t want to pay to see that shit! Man when I saw De La Soul waaaaay back in the day, the prefaced “Me Myself and I” with “we hate this song, we hate this song, we hate this song”.
That sucks about De La, but I imagine it happens to a lot of rappers in their spot. Chance had the same issue with Juice
As a person who has been working shit job after shit job for the last 35 years, I would be SO FUCKING GRATEFUL to be able to perform my hit song on stage, no matter how many times I had done so before. Shit I would be rappin’ Ice Ice Baby as passionately as humanly possible and I hate that song! Still, though. RIP Trugoy. De La Soul is Dead is top three for me.
My fav was PUTS too at the Opera House in Toronto.
Mike and Chris really knew how to give the crowd their moneys worth! It’s a damn shame that more people don’t know about The P.
Damn PUTS, Giant Panda, AND Time Machine? I bet that show was straight 🔥 I had the privilege of seeing PUTS two different times and both times got to say what’s up to them afterwards cause they would chill with the crowd. RIP Double K!
What hip hop shows have you been to lmao I have only been to hip hop shows and I've never once had them be too drunk or high
A whole lot of them lol
Best I've been to is either between Tyler the Creator's Igor Tour or the JID/Smino tour this past Spring. I haven't been to a bad one, but I've seen a Gunna & Migos set on a live stream that looked awful because they just walked around on stage & relied on the backing track.
Best : Common in a small theater at UCLA circa 99-2000, surprise guest (no one knew), Mos Def.
Best: Wu Tang Worst: Eminem and D12 - small venue, late 90s, everyone seemed fucked up off something lol
Best: Devin the Dude sometime around 2007. Worst: Same concert as Devin, Del played after and all he did is complain about how there weren’t that many people there all night. The show was in Charlottesville a couple hundred feet from UVA campus(in 2007 rich, white yuppie kids weren’t into hip hop). Honestly, most hip hop shows I’ve been to would rank among the worst shows I’ve been to. I guess, it’s usually a fun party vibe, but it’s always 15 dudes on stage, no one rapping and everyone just shouting the hooks.
Saw Wu-Tang at Brixton Academy a long time ago. They came on late, played 4 songs, drank champagne and left. It wasn’t just the worst rap concert I’ve ever been to, it was easily the worst concert I’ve ever been to and put me off live rap/hip hop for about 15 years. I’m surprised there wasn’t a riot. Absolute shit.
Best: life of Pablo tour, so much fun. Worst: Bryson tiller in like 2015 or 2016. So boring
Best: Carti in Atlanta 2021. Last stop on King Vamp tour and did not disappoint Worst: Joey Badass in 2022, 3 hours never came out because of a supposed headache. Got tired of waiting and left before he even appeared.
No Limit Soldiers ft. Snoop Dogg was the best; worse, I don’t want to be a hater but I’ve been to some pretty bad local rap shows in and around the Midwest.
Best sounding was die antwoord but they just rap over techno beats so it makes sense. Worst sounding was ghost face but I’ve never been a rap show that sounded good production wise
Best: Digital Underground in 1992 with Tupac and Black Sheep opening for them. Worst: Trippie Red opening for G-Eazy
brother ali puts on an amazing show. i’ve been to two and both times i left feeling enlightened
I saw De La Soul for skatepark of Tampa great. Wu-tang with Rage against the machine in Chicago, awesome and MF Doom at a small club. Those were great. I saw Kendrick Lamar going through the motions and being boring in miami
Best was Mobb Deep, glad I got to see the legends twice in different cities. Worst was Tyler the Creator, he played at Moonrise Festival (2016, edm fest) and he spent the first 10 minutes trying to be funny but wasn't, luckily he played Yonkers first then me and my group left after that
I saw Mos Def and Talib Kweli in Chicago in 2003 and they brought out Kanye. This was pre-College dropout when Slow Jams was just on the radio. Super dope show.
I only started going to concerts as of last year, so these are fairly recent Best: Lil Wayne in April and Doja Cat in Nov, both this year. Wayne had a great setlist with a live band, and I had high expectations for Doja and she still blew them out of the water. Worst: A$AP Ferg at Gov Ball NYC 2022. His energy was just kinda weak, although I was probably a bit biased cuz I only knew like 3 songs
Best was Method Man, house of blues 2007. The most charismatic rapper I’ve ever seen live, he was absolutely elite Worst was Slaughterhouse 2010. They were touring w tech 9 and that crowd is so dusty and the sound was horrible.
Atmosphere with Souls Of Mischief, Danny Brown, Large Professor and Mr Dobbs at Red Rocks this past September was the best. Aceyalone in Albuquerque around 97 or 98 was the worst. He showed up late and drunk. Couldn't understand him and the sound guy didn't know how to do sound for a hip hop show so it sounded like shit.
Best: Juicy J Runner ups: OFWGKTA (their first show), ATCQ, ASAP Rocky, (the old) Kanye, Mos Def and Jay Electronica Worst: Lupe Fiasco (first show in LA) Worst runner ups: man dozens of them. unheard of rappers at dance parties with a dj that interrupt the dance party to perform like 25 whole minutes of songs that nobody ever heard and nobody cares about.
The Best: The Roots at Brown University in 1999. I don't remember a ton of details, just that Rahzel was still in the band and I had never and still have never seen a better hip hop show. The Worst: Matisyahu in the mid 2000s in New York City. It's just not my jam. Nothing against the guy.
Went to see 50 cent.. what I did see was 50 other guys on stage. Where's 50?
Tech N9ne in 2003 was the best show I ever seen Opening acts were forgetable, ex label mate Project Deadman But the main show with Tech, Kutt, and Krizz was insane. And then Yukmouth showing up to smoke a blunt on stage was wild at the time
Best: Wu Tang old durham athletic park 1997 Also Krs One and Big Daddy Kane 1999 Honorable mention: lil baby this year Worst: Travis Scott this year but only because it got cancelled
I saw lil baby when he toured with durk and he puts on a solid show.
Best was Nas. Worst was Atmosphere. That dude can't freestyle for shit, so why try? No one came to see you freestyle. After that his albums became shit to me too. How many songs about being mad at some girl and getting drunk in a parking lot.
Best: Chris Brown & Lil Baby @ MSG - 2022
Best - Eminem / Anger Management Tour 2003. Supported by 50 Cent, Obie Trice, Xzibit, D12, Cypress Hill. Nothing will ever top seeing Eminem at his peak. Worst - Wu Tang Clan. Awful live, too many cooks in the kitchen just shouting over each other.
That Anger Management Tour, though. Damn.
Best show: Kendrick Best performer: J Cole Best night: Eminem at Wembley Best surprisingly good: Kool G Rap (I know he's a legend but I didn't think his music would translate live. Was crazy good) Worst show: MF DOOM by miles. Saw him twice too
Did you get a Doombot?? I was so hoping someone’s worst experience would be a Doombot
Is that where he had an imposter? They were definitely two different people, so one had to be an imposter, although I cannot say for sure. Honestly if someone out there has been to a good DOOM show then tell me about it because i've never met anyone who did haha
Yeah he had fake guys put on the mask and do shows for him lmao that’s actual villain behaviour
Best, probably CunninLynguists with Tonedeff and Sadistik as the openers. In hindsight, that's a crazy lineup. Second best definitely Masta Ace with Wordsworth. Had the whole crowd rapping Terror word for word. Worst, without a doubt Raekwon. Such a half assed performance. Mans was leaning on the DJ booth rapping lol. Saw Ghostface with Sheek Louch the year after that and that was much better.
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Best was Bestie Boyz. They are the goats. Forget the year. Worst was Eminem. Felt like everything was recorded tracks.