Ostentatious Powers 2: Chainz of a Tity Boi and other stories from the Midland last night

2 Chainz with Pusha T
The Midland, Kansas City
Thursday, February 27, 2014

For the full slideshow from last night, go here. 

The 2 Good to Be T.R.U. Tour starring 2 Chainz navigated its way through town Thursday night and docked at the Midland with crack-rap veteran Pusha T and newcomer August Alsina in tow. Nautical references aside, 2 Chainz’s 2013 album B.O.A.T.S II: Me Time was the anchor of the show in more ways than one. 2 Chainz, currently at the forefront of party rappers fueled on spectacle and hyperbolic silliness, never missed an opportunity throughout the night to plug his latest release and mention ad nauseam that B.O.A.T.S. is “an acronym or an abbreviation that means based on a true story.”

Opener August Alsina is the latest offering to the ranks of crooning hip-hop artists descended from Usher and borne in the wake of Drake’s success. The sold-out crowd was quickly engaged and waving their smartphones in midair, most noticeably one woman roughly 15 feet from the stage who was brandishing a Galaxy tablet to record Alsina’s set. With only an EP and a handful of mixtapes under his belt, August Alsina is a testament to the influence of YouTube views and word of mouth in 21st-century hip-hop. On such hits as “I Luv This Shit” and “Ghetto,” Alsina strikes a comparable balance between the aforementioned R&B-tinged singers and the unpolished countenance of a rapper.

The pairing of 2 Chainz, the recent king of the guest verse, with Pusha T, the former member of critically acclaimed Virginia duo and Neptunes disciples Clipse, feels a bit odd at first glance. Perhaps reacting to this notion, the audience never felt fully enthralled with Pusha T the same way they were with both of the other acts. Early highlights for Pusha focused mainly on material from his late 2013 album My Name Is My Name. Set and album opener “King Push” reintroduced Pusha T as a solo force to be reckoned with, while declaring his relative unease with more commercial fair in the line I rap nigga/’bout trap niggas/I don’t sing hooks. Later, the vintage Clipse/Hell Hath No Fury-era reminiscent track “Suicide” brought the crowd up a notch with its pulsating beat and high-pitched blips of melody.

Midway through his set, Pusha shifted to a brief medley highlighting some of his recent verses for his current boss at G.O.O.D. Music, Kanye West. Included were portions of “So Appalled,” along with the epic single and crowd favorite “Runaway.” Just as quickly as he had altered course, Pusha returned to his newest coke-referencing material with “Pain,” the unfortunately titled “Nosestalgia” and a slow burner in “Sweet Serenade.” Closing out the set was arguably Pusha T’s strongest solo track to date, “Numbers on the Board,” and the classic Clipse single that first launched the group into rap notoriety, “Grindin’.” 

Conversely, 2 Chainz was at his best when lighted by the multiple screens at his back and repeatedly hammering down hooks to the mass of fans at the Midland. Nearly every track from both of his albums garnered raucous and uproarious devotion, but especially the more anthemic choruses peppered with over-the-top lyrics. B.O.A.T.S. II opener “Fork” started off the night with a sophomoric and prerecorded exchange between the rapper and his “mother” that seemed worthy of Tyler Perry, before launching into several bon mots about “ballin’ like Mr. Clean” and “Medusa [on a pair of] sneakers.” This is in addition to a chorus that involves repeating the faux-onomatopoeia “Skrrr” several times over. The huge 2011 hit “Spend It” amped the crowd up further a few tracks later, followed immediately by the short and singsong drug tale “36,” which segued easily into the similarly themed “Crack.”

The more ostentatious, outrageous or just repetitive, the better as far as 2 Chainz is concerned. Accordingly, later set highlights included “Feds Watching” (which contains the life-affirming prosody of This that category 5 when I walk up in the strip club/Throw it high, make you and George Washington head butt). In turn, the sound effects used by the DJ reached a point of saturation as well, most specifically in the form of an exploding sound that punctuated the end of every single track.

The levity offered by two respective tracks about recording sexual exploits and putting them on the Internet was somehow refreshing by the latter portion of the night (“Netflix” and “Used 2”). While 2 Chainz’s references to Internet and millennial culture come off as hollow shout-outs, they work precisely because they are such blatant forms of pandering to the cultural zeitgeist. Making a sextape and then putting it on Netflix is conceivable only in the world of a rapper known until recently as Tity Boi, 2 Chainz’s former moniker, where each verse is a new chance to push on into uncharted waters.

In the world of popular hip-hop, where radio plays and guest verses are still real currency, excess is king, and 2 Chainz currently wears the diamond-encrusted crown proudly. At his best, he’s brash and borderline ridiculous in his celebration of affluenza and bling; at his worst, he’s obtuse and unoriginal. Seeing him live is an unparalleled spectacle that casts those two interpretations in a double feature that is based in some truth but just as much outlandish fantasy.

Pusha T set list:
King Push
Blocka
Millions
Hold On
Suicide
So Appalled
Runaway
Mercy
New God Flow
Pain
Nosestalgia
Sweet Serenade
Numbers on the Board
40 Acres
Grindin’

For the more photos, go here.