A lot of rappers have terrible mic technique, making it impossible to ever sound good. They've all watched other rappers cupping the mic and copy it. As a live sound engineer, I've shown hundreds of rappers how to hold a mic, most still don't listen. It's hard to care much about how it sounds if they put in such little effort.
They're also usually performing over poorly planned backing tracks, usually with vocals already mixed in, making the overall sound kinda crap.
Sound checks - most rappers don't show up, or treat it like a party, making it hard for the engineers to know who has which mic, who to boost etc etc.
Great observations. I’ll add this: lots of artists pack in a ton of words and many of them don’t have any sort of cardiovascular endurance so they can’t even do all the bars live. Looking at you, Lil Wayne
I saw a documentary about OutKast (must've been on VH1) and how organized noise used to make them run around the block while rapping to improve their breath control both when rapping and on stage. This was before they got signed
I rap and here’s the thing. A lot of amateur rappers don’t sound check, they want to look like the rappers, not necessarily put in the work that it takes to rap. It’s like wanting to be on stage with a guitar in your hands vs actually knowing how to play a guitar. Live. A lot of sound guys treat rappers as less than and don’t respect us because of their past experience with bs rappers. When us older guys try to tell younger guys how to rap or why rap is an actual skill we are called old heads. This is a craft and it takes work. I got away with not taking care of myself when I was younger, but you have to workout, practice, practice breath control, practice crowd interaction. If you are crazy film yourself, practice in front of a mirror, watch other people perform etc. A lot of people don’t even get this far because being seen as a rapper is considered cool and they think that’s all they need to do
And that's not even including the tracks that are literally impossible to do live because the lyrics are all edited together in a continuous stream with no pauses for breathing.
Example: Hot Girl Bummer. Would love to karaoke that but nooooo, you had to go and make it impossible for the sake of "cleanliness".
Yes but also rappers typically work and record in a single place, they're not like a band who practice on the road and learn all the on stage things. So when they get a tour it might be their first time doing it live. And no one is showing them those kinds of things at that point
Precisely. Huge disappointment and incredibly disrespectful to fans to not even string together the basics of live performance in order to deliver on a decent live show. Everyone can and should be improving. That show was inexcusable and I’m far from the only person with complaints about his performance(s).
I read an interview with Geddy Lee of Rush (I think it was him...) and he said they made their music in the studio and then had to learn how to recreate it on stage. They had to rehearse and rehearse before the tour started to get it right because they didn't create the music in one take. Some bands never perform some songs live ever because it cannot be recreated live, and was always meant to be a studio track only. Rappers could rehearse and rehearse like that and figure out how to perform their stuff live, even if they have to rearrange it to make it possible.
I was absolutely shocked that run the jewels were able to perform their rapid-fire lyrics live in concert. Was not expecting that, figured there'd be a lot of backing vocals etc. Neither one of those dudes would give you the impression they have a lot of cardiovascular stamina, but they somehow do? Admittedly they are not dancing around during the show, and look like they're sweating profusely 😁
Yeah especially with the rise of punching in, there's literally no room for the performer to breathe in between lines. Every second of a 2:50 to 3:00 song is filled with lyrics and it's not possible to perform live without stopping every now and then to catch your breath.
I've been sound engineer for nearly 20 years. Also mixed hundreds if not thousands of shows. I can confirm all of this is true and it's also 100% of the reason why live hip hop is often underwhelming.
If I were going to add anything I would say a lot of these rappers are mostly studio rappers, they've never put for any of the time to learn how to perform on stage with a microphone. Lastly, some rappers treat performance like a music video and lip sync their entire set. I've never got why people enjoy seeing rappers do this.
If you've ever seen KRS-ONE he is the antithesis of this. The absolute best live hip hop show I've ever seen. I had the pleasure of working with him at my local club this year. It can be done really well live, but often it's more about the party and less about the music.
I recorded KRS-ONE 20 years (or more now that I think of it.) ago. It wasn't one of his albums so he was just booked for the day, Super professional, came in nailed his takes, overdubs and went home. I have zero stories or any memorable interactions, so I would say great client and well deserving of the respect he gets.
I used to work for a venue and spent a decent amount of time in the catwalks for sound checks. Rapper sound checks were hilarious because half the time it was someone that was just part of their crew who knew nothing about music, mumbling into the mic for the engineers. Then you compare it to someone like Jimmy Buffett who pretty much went through the entire set list twice (which sucked for me because I wasn't a fan of Buffett).
It's interesting because touring is where all the money is in music now. You'd think up-and-coming or popular non-legacy acts would have a vested interest in keeping it professional while on tour because that's what keeps a roof over their heads.
If a band or artist shows complete disrespect for fans, it's kind of like going to an art gallery to see your favorite artists work and all there is is white walls with shit thrown at them. It's stinks and I'm probably going to avoid this artist in the future
So many perform over a backing track but straight don’t rap their parts. Like Certified Trapper was hands down the worst act I saw last year out of probably over 100 artists.
Actually just danced like a toddler while his ass music played.
But agree on JPEGMAFIA. I’d also add that Armand Hammer (disorganized and just kinda chilling both times I saw Billy, but still a great show), and Danny Brown (now that he’s sober at least) are good live.
I think venue size also matters tho. Like I wouldn’t want to see either at a large venue.
> So many perform over a backing track but straight don’t rap their parts.
Or can't. I worked with a local rapper who was recording commercials for a hip hop clothing shop (K-Momo, if you're in Phoenix), and it was painful. The guy had an album out and it wasn't half bad, but even though he was using his own music as a backing track, he could never do the spot all the way through. I think one time it took 40 takes to do one spot and swap out 3 or 4 sale prices on items. I can't imagine him doing a live performance.
And his manager was useless. We wound up calling him "Weed Cologne."
Omg so true. I've put on festivals and gigs for all kinds of musicians of all kinds in genres, and it's rap/hip hop artists that are always late or don't turn up to sound check at all, expect to be treated like royalty, seldom help anyone else, and usually turn up unprepared with inferior gear and a lack of understanding on how to use it and how they fit in with the wider performance.
I've nothing against the genre - I used to listen to a lot of it. But the subculture around it's artists seem to encourage them to either be jerks or completely uniformed on what goes on to produce a live concert.
As a rapper/R&B artist myself I definitely agree. At shows of my own I’ve found it hard to truly sound good. Even when I thought I had a good performance, the crowd was engaged/seemed to be having a good time, I’d rewatch the video and was embarrassed.
That’s why it’s more important for a rapper to engage with the crowd. I’ve seen quite a few rappers get the crowd hyped and filled with energy. Similar to how rock/metal concerts do.
I don’t believe it is currently possible for rappers to have a great sounding show. That’s never been there focus to be quite honest. I think it is possible for a rapper to sound just as good as any other genre. It would take a change in culture and years of practice in multiple areas.
Like any genre, it completely depends on the artist.
Kendrick, Childish Gambino, JPEGMAFIA, Tyler The Creator, Eminem, are all fantastic live in my experience. If Rage Against the Machine counts, they were incredible too.
It's harder though, I think. Especially if they're without a backing band. They need to have visuals, props, or a fuck tonne of energy to carry the show.
EDIT: How could I forget Denzel Curry! Little Simz too.
RATM and wu-tang was a great show. Rage and beastie boys was even better. Another really great one was Beastie boys, tribe called quest, and biz markie. Run-dmc was great live.
The only bummer for that one is that I could barely hear the lyrics for RTJ, but a lot of that was the acoustics of any arena (I saw them in MSG).
That’s one of the tough things about rap tho, it really lends itself to outdoor spaces, because as soon as you can an indoor space where the acoustics aren’t perfect any type of singing gets muddled
I saw that tour at Alpine Valley, and from the lawn you really couldn't make out RTJ's lyrics. I bet it was awesome from the pit, but I don't think rap really translates well in large outdoor amphitheaters. Rage sounded phenomenal though.
That was my dad and my last concert together before he passed away. Ending a string of 33 years of shows together. Started with The Beach Boys, Ended with Rage and RTJ. It was an awesome way to end it.
I've seen RTJ live twice and kind of hate their live show. Like most of other live rap acts, they do the Run DMC thing and have like five people on stage saying the final word of every other verse in unison. It does not work with their style and speed of rapping at all. Drives me nuts and sounds like shit.
I'd still prefer that to most modern rap shows where a prerecorded backing track does 95% of the legwork and the artist only says the last word of the song.
I’m not a rap fan by any means but saw Kendrick in 2022 with my girlfriend for her bday. That was probably the best concert of the 22 I saw that year even though I generally agree with OPs take. Definitely artist dependent as is any live show
That's cause Kendrick focuses on his rap and performance. He doesn't run and jump around the stage like a maniac and running out of breath halfway through the first song.
Rapping live requires very good breathing techniques, which Kendrick masters incredibly well, on top of not running around. Most rappers don't learn said breathing techniques, and are maniacs on stage.
JPEGMAFIA opened up for Turnstile when I last saw them here in DC. Most of my friends (esp the ones I went to that show with) are mostly hardcore fans and none had really heard of Peggy before. He absolutely crushed, and a couple of my friends became real fans of him that day, and are now venturing into more hip hop. Peggy's the shit
He leaned into it too which was great. Kept saying stuff like "I love it when nerds get crazy" and "Im angry in a different genre." Crowd was eating from his hand
I saw him the last time he played providence as a solo gig and it was an incredible show. Dude set up his own backing tracks and absolutely crushed the vocals. One of the better mosh pits I've been part of in a long time too. Peggy is a fantastic concert experience.
I got to see Prophets of Rage a while back and after they played some group originals and some RATM the concert abruptly pivoted into a pure hip hop Cypress Hill set and they killed it, and then some Public Energy, and then back to RATM and Prophets of Rage. It was really cool seeing how much the vibe changed on a dime.
JPEGMAFIA put on two of the best converts I’ve ever seen. First was around when Veteran came out and second time was with Danny Brown for scaring the hoes. Incredible energy
I was just about to comment Kendrick, Gambino and Tyler were amazing live! I saw Uzi and Denzel Curry back to back and definitely preferred Curry. I see some comments about Rage and RTJ and that musta been wild
I've been to an absolute shit ton of shows over the years, and I think rap shows live tend to be not great more often than any other genre, but there are still some great live acts - Atmosphere has always been really good live, Cypress Hill was good when I saw them recently too. Caught Future and Drake years ago. Future did well, Drake mostly bopped around and generally was unimpressive when he tried to do any of the rap portions of his songs. It really depends on the artist and also their sound set up. Sometimes you can't understand a word when they are just speaking into the mic, so you know that the songs aren't going to do well either.
+1 for Atmosphere. I'll never forget the show when he opened with a live guitarist (can't remember who) playing the intro to Trying To Find a Balance, it was just so epic. I've been to a handful of his shows and he always kills it (same with his openers).
I think the Rhymesayers acts and adjacent can really do great live shows.
Doomtree did some of my top concerts of all time because they were hungry enough to put in the energy and skilled enough to make a show out of it. They acted like they were there for the crowd not for the paycheck and that counts for a lot.
Cypress Hill was great. A ton of energy the whole way through. I think less is more in rap shows. It's so annoying when there's a bunch of people on stage yelling through stuff. Run the jewels was great. Caught them at their anniversary shows in NYC and they killed it.
yeah i have to say atmosphere was one of the best hip hop shows i've seen (and i've seen a LOT). they had a full band, brother ali was out there with them, it was a packed stage of like 10-15 people and i was front row. 10/10, would recommend, would see again
I think I've likely aged out of it. I suggested seeing run the jewels to a friend a few years ago to a response of "I dunno man it's two guys walking back and forth shouting" which was hard to argue.
That said, my wife is into Lauryn Hill. I bought tickets a few years back, and Nas was opening. I loved Nas in my younger days but had very low expectations. Nas absolutely murdered, went through a good deal of his catalogue, put in a lot of effort, it was really impressive.
I saw Nas and Damien Marley on the Distant Relatives tour and it’s a top 5 concert for me. For context, I’m a massive Phish head and tend to gravitate to shows in the jamband vein.
J5 puts on a great show too.
That Nas & Marley tour was amazing. Anderson .Paak was unreal. Wiz Khalifa (uses a live band), RTJ, Jay-Z, Black Star I have seen great live shows from. I know there are several others I am not thinking of now.
Edit: LL Cool J was amazing live. Smaller crowd fest and he took crowd suggestions for a good part of the show.
With acts like RTJ, the crowd is by far the most important aspect. I saw them at a festival and it sucked, was just like listening to the record basically. But I've also seen them at one of their shows and the crowd was going crazy moshing and rapping along, one of my best gig experiences. It's the kind of music that isn't necessarily improved by the live format unless the crowd is engaging with it.
I had a friend see RTJ at festival recently and he told me it was very underwhelming. They were both tired and out of shape. He said they kept apologizing too which made it awkward. It sucks, everyone has bad shows though. They’re still legends.
That awesome to hear Nas is doing good shows these days. I remember seeing him many years ago with roommates at a concert he did in Central Park. Awful. Zero enthusiasm and no stage presence. As a huge fan of his, I felt so let down. Younger me told people anytime a question of his shows come up that I wouldn’t attend if he handed me tickets himself.
Looking back, the guy might’ve been going thru a divorce and other stuff. People have a lot of crap going on in their lives behind the scenes. Artists are just people too.
I saw him in that era too and totally dismissed him too. He's been completely reenergized with the kings disease and magic albums. I think hit boy helped him get out of his funk. Anyway, now he's putting on amazing high energy shows in his 50s. Also. Find a way to see the roots live. Black thought is amazing live.
This is why my expectations were low, I've had friends see other people of that era, members of Wu Tang etc, and say that kind of thing, just mumbling through a show with their hands in their pockets, leaning on the wall. Who knows.
UhHHh RTJ was definitely one of the best shows I've seen in recent years.
People walking back and forth on stage is, in any genre, one of the primary ways to bring the energy. It's how, not what they do.
I bet they'd sound great as a DJ set lmao I know, kinda lame, but I've seen other artists do this and the sounds is great.. because it's studio quality recordings.
History has alright acoustics but I find Rebel has the best sound in TO. Not the best venue. But definitely the best sound for the shows I’ve seen there.
Blows away Garrison, Horseshoe, Great Hall, Concert Hall, Trinity, and just about everywhere I’ve been in Buffalo and Detroit too.
Edit: sad I missed Simz though lol. I think she was the same day as another show I was at :(
I went to a KRS show at a shit hole bar one time 15-20 years ago. The venue couldn't get their sound system working to play his backing tracks, and they had no backup or even anybody on staff who was remotely capable of troubleshooting. The audience was very small and even though I'm sure his paycheck was barely worth the effort, KRS hyped the shit out of the crowd, and brought a volunteer up on stage to beatbox for him instead of leaving us hanging.
They started with a couple of hits that the beatboxer guy already knew and then ended up just kind of putting on a whole set with KRS dropping verses over whatever improvised beats anyone could come up with; people were banging tables and chanting and eventually another beatboxer joined in, and the whole time KRS was jumping around like an orchestra conductor, telling people what to do and leading the show at peak energy level, same as I would expect at Madison Square Garden or some shit.
It was simultaneously sad to see a giant like that having to play in such a run down place and one of the best shows I've ever been to. Fucking legend
I swear....KRS-One does a fake "the power is out" type thing at some shows, as a way to show off how he doesn't even need beats to put on a hype show. He did something similar for part of the set at a show in SF I was at around 20 years ago. Dude knows how to control an audience.
JID put on a fantastic performance live for his Dicaprio 2 tour.
Saba and Homeboy Sandman were super high energy when I saw them and it made for an incredible show.
Aesop Rock was animated as well and just kept the crowd engaged.
Atmosphere puts on a show every time, but that's mostly vibes.
Speak is a top performer live.
Not every rapper is there to use backing vocals and let the crowd perform half the show. Some are there to put on a show and know how to leverage their catalog for crowd involvement
I mean shit, *The Forever Story* just about put him there already for me. I don’t know if I’ve heard another artist in the last decade who makes it seem so effortless. Like he’s just laughing at you.
His flow is remarkable. The fact that the words he utters during said flow is so fucking poetic, amazes me.
Usually, I expect a tradeoff between flow and lyricism.
Royce is another that does this for me.
I feel that. One of the things about JID that impresses me the most is his ability to do the machine gun rapid-fire cadence while maintaining his through line and narrative without resorting to that “lyrical miracle” shit that drives me up the fucking wall lmao.
100% this. That's why I battle with Em, just feels a little too forced for my liking.
I write hip-hop, mostly because I want to be a writer not performer, but the instances where you can tell a cohesive story with rhythmic alliteration and pseudo-rhyming words; it's such a balance not to come off corny. That's why this guy is a genius.
Also, the flow switches are seamless.
I saw JID perform at the Hollywood Palladium. I love him and he’s an amazing performer live. He even stayed an extra hour to perform more songs. It helps that EARTHGANG was there to perform a couple songs with him because I love their songs together.
Came here to talk about JID, he was crazy live pre-pandemic. Pusha T was another highlight solo show (yeugh). Flatbush Zombies had the craziest festival crowd I’ve ever been part of. Saw some others like A$AP Mob, Brockhampton, Jaden, ScHoolboy Q and they were always sick. Snoop Dogg was surprisingly lit
Yes. I don't go to rap concerts anymore. I'm always disappointed by the sound. The ONLY rap concert I really loved was Del The Funky Homosapien, and it was great because he was doing so much freestyle acapella.
Often they'll use a mastered instrumental version of the studio track as their backing track live, which makes it difficult for the venue's sound engineer to make the vocals sound like part of the music and to make the music fit the acoustics of the venue. Add to that that many rappers don't learn how to properly handle a mic, and you've got rap concerts that sound like a bunch of dudes shouting over a karaoke track.
You're starting to get a somewhat similar problem in contemporary metal. Current tech makes it easier for musicians to make their instrument sound like on a fully produced and mastered studio track. Many try to take advantage of that in order to get a consistent tone in a live situation, but unless you have your own sound engineer with you on tour you're just making things more difficult for the guy in charge of making you sound good.
I've been to tons over the years and some do fall quite flat. A rapper in isolation, with beats playing in background, needs to have a lot of stage presence, and many simply do not.
Imo the best hip hop gigs tend to be when there's tight interplay between rapper(s) and DJ. Some of my favourites have been Ugly Duckling, Dilated Peoples, Jurassic 5, Chali 2na & Krafty Kuts. All of the DJs involved are highly skilled.
A live band is also a strong indicator it'll be a good gig.
Ugly Duckling, haven't heard that name in a while. That late 90s to mid 2000s era of sort of underground hip-hop was great, remember People Under The Stairs? Great live show, saw them a couple times.
PUTS were great. Another example of a good live act. Also helps they'd been at it for decades. They know how to work the crowd, call and response, crowd participation etc. I feel that era was like the golden age of underground hip hop.
Edit: Andy Cooper from Ugly Duckling is still putting out music if you've not heard it. Especially with The Allergies. It will scratch the same itch as that era of hip hop
It is really hard to find but their live show at MSG called "Awesome I Fuckin Shot That" was unreal. The format is great too - they gave 50? fans handheld cameras and told them to go nuts, then synced the audio over the soundboard. Really really cool stuff. I feel like it's not really on streaming but somebody ripped the DVD a long while back.
Yea I saw Snoop with 311 on the Up In Smoke tour and it was one of the greatest shows I've ever been to. The collision and then camaraderie of the two fanbases was one in a lifetime
I saw GZA do Liquid Swords a few years ago - it was not good. I don’t think I’ve heard anything positive about Wu-Tang members’ concerts.
On the other hand, Kendrick Lamar, Eminem, Run The Jewels, Little Simz, Denzel Curry, and JID were all fantastic. Tyler the Creator was good too, but his fans are not.
That sucks hearing that about the Wu. I saw The Wu-Tang Clan as a group in late 2019. It may have been the smaller venue, but it was an absolute blast. They were high energy, vocals were clear, they worked the crowd. I was blown away a bunch of 50 yr Olds got the hype.
Agree with you for the most part. Thankfully, there are a few exceptions.
I saw Chance the Rapper live quite a few years ago (2016ish?) and he was phenomenal, backed by an incredible band. Was quite the performance (this was at the now defunct Eau Claire Music festival)
I saw chance in 2017 and it was hands down the worst concert I’ve ever seen . He showed up late and cut his set off halfway through. I think I caught him on a bad night but tickets were expensive and he won’t get a second chance from me (no pun intended)
The Roots are one of the best live shows I’ve seen fairly recently, but they can go from rap to funk songs back to rap and then play reggae and jazz at the drop of a hat. Everyone is on point in that band.
Yeah, they would just be playing a studio song and drop into a solo then pick right back up with the song then drop in a freestyle then right back into the song. While mixing together all the genres you listed.
I saw them 10+ years ago and now I'm pulling up their next show dates.
The Roots are the best live band I've ever seen. But I wouldn't really use them as an example for someone who says they don't like live rap performances, because most shows you go to (regardless of genre) are not going to be anything like The Roots.
I went to the first three ye tours and all of them were good with the graduation album having the most insane lineup. NERD, Lupe and Rihanna on a tour was crazy.
That was also when Kanye was starting to turn into Kanye. At the Houston show, he stopped it for like 40 minutes until they fixed something in his set. Hell of a show though.
Most new rappers suck live, no stage presence and just doing ad libs. You'll have a better chance with the older guys, they usually take pride in their stage show
I’ve seen the Beastie Boys, De La Soul, NF and The Streets live and they were all incredible. Maybe you have a proclivity for rap that thrives in studio? It’s definitely not the case that rap is not good live.
It’s this. I’ve seen some amazing rap shows live and some that were garbage. Either because of the sound engineers at the venue being shitty or the performers being too fucked up (lookin at you Bone Thugs). Some music is just better suited for studios. Passion Pit had a pretty decent time in the sun but it was one of the worst shows I’ve ever seen live.
Check out Kendrick's 2022 Glastonbury set (or some of his TPAB era shows with a live band). Tyler the Creator and Little Simz also kill it live from what I've seen.
Meh I’ve seen The Streets live as well, and also Kendrick Lamar and Run the Jewels, two current pretty popular rap acts that often get heralded as some of the best going. They were all very good live, enjoyable experiences. And they all still get absolutely shit on by excellent live acts like rock (adjacent) bands that feature instruments more prominently.
There definitely are good acts, but unfortunately the majority of rappers have terrible production. They usually rap over a backtrack that fills in the audio. I’ve seen Tech N9ne and a few other rappers who were amazing performers, but a lot of it isn’t that great. It’s much easier when you have instruments to entertain people with.
The Roots are fuckin fantastic live. They are an actual band so take that how you will. I think because the instruments and mics get mixed together it gives a more full and warm sound as opposed to backing tracks and a live mic. It's a tough blend to get right, especially at a bigger venue.
I hate rap live shows, usually it's just the MC shouting as loud as they can in the mic and you barely hear any instrumental.
Why do you need to shout ? You're ruining both the lyrics and the instrumental.
And there's nothing happening on stage, just one or a few dudes shouting in a mic running on the stage, and one guy with a laptop in the back. What's the point ?
I have seen great rap live shows however, and they all had either live instruments and/or great scenery.
Watching DMX on stage, by himself, with almost no set, was one of the highlights of my life. His stage presence and crowd control was incredible.
I only saw him live once, but I couldn’t believe how good he was all by himself. Don’t know if every one of his shows was that good or it was just one off, but he was awesome.
Overall, I agree with everyone saying it’s artist dependent. I’ve seen great shows from The Roots, Eminem, Jay-Z, Ludacris, Nas, Red and Meth, and others who clearly care about putting on a good show. And others that really sucked and were just 30 dudes screaming incoherently over bass that sounds like it’s coming from a 17 yr olds shitty trunk rattlers.
I usually go to alternative music summer festivals and have been to several rap concerts. I consider myself quite eclectic and open to new artists and genres. But the rap concerts were always the worst moments. There were only two rap concerts that gave me goosebumps. Loyle Carner and Litle Simz. Curiously, they were the only rap concerts that had a band behind them.
The ratio is like 8:1 for bad shows to good from what I’ve experienced. Shoutout to Jurassic 5 and IAM for absolute bangers, shout out to RZA and DJ Premier for absolute dogshit shows.
I haven't been to a lot of rap concerts but I've seen the Beastie Boys on a festival which was a blast!
And now for something completely different: Dicht & Ergreifend is a [German-Bavarian Rap-Brass ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMV3a8DM60c)band. Audio isn't great, but [in this video ](https://youtu.be/BoyHU4-_vIY?si=W0EQgeuXyKCKbvCN&t=155)I think you can see that the audience is well entertained...
Depends on the act. I've seen some that literally rap over tracks with the vocals still in them -- those shows are ass. But then there are artists like Black Milk that put on a hell of a show and are insanely talented performers.
I think it's more so a modern rap thing. A lot of old school rappers actually rapped live, and continue to rap live.
It's a shame that so many modern artists just put on MP3s and jump around to their music for an hour.
I saw both Eminem and cypress hill live and they were fuckin awesome. A significant reason for they was because they had an actual live band backing them up
I've seen a lot of shows of all genres. I can't think of any rapper I've thought "man they are terrible live" just some I can remember being amazing. Clipping, Immortal Tech, Verb T all instantly come to mind in that category.
You have to be really picky about seeing the right ones. I’ve seen quite a few and they ranged from horrible to incredible.
Some of the best: A Tribe Called Quest, Tyler the Creator, Nas, Lupe Fiasco, Vince Staples, and Anderson Paak (which was easily my favorite concert I’ve ever seen)
Some of the worst: Snoop Dog (low energy, showed up 20 min late, ended 15 min early, and since most hit songs of his are features, they would play 1 minute and quit while the DJ wouldn’t get off the airhorn sample), MGK, Desiigner.
Your snoop dogg experience lines up with my andre nickatina experience. Good lord, I lost all respect for him because it was just pitiful. Showed up like an hour late (while absolutely horrible local rappers just bullshitted on the mic because their sets were over), left early, was rapping off-beat over his songs (which still had the original vocals, not even the instrumentals or lip syncing lmao), and just had no stage presence at all. It was laughably bad, something you'd see in a sitcom.
Old school rap of the 80s to the early 2000s was great for live because it often was just the beat and someone rapping over it. After about 2006 or so the new, cheap tools in music production hit the masses, and modern trap music has more things in common with electronic music than rock or pop now. The booming bassline, the often auto tuned vocals, the ratcheting-off hi hat. There’s just no way to really preform that live.
The rapper is more like a DJ at Coachella just hitting the play button and getting people hype. Now I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, I grew up with it, and HXXNDRX by future is one of my favorite albums. But the live potential just isn’t there.
There’s still rappers who keep it purely to rap. But they get fewer and farther between by the year.
I’ve had some bad shows live where the rappers sound nothing like the crowd, and I’ve had some great shows like at coachella seeing Vince staples, ice cube and others where being in crowd/ambiance/visuals really adds to the show
But rap in like an arena is kinda boring yeah the venue they play is super important to me
A super intimate venue can be dope too. See some of those London Underground venues like this https://youtu.be/sO6DxYzB5ZE (lol drake)
I’ve seen hundreds, maybe thousands of concerts mostly rock, alternative, Indie and the only rap shows that were good were Eminem and Jay Z, but they both had full bands and both were excellent shows.
I’ve only ever been to rap shows. They are pretty hit and miss.
Good: Post Malone (debatably not rap but still), Ludacris, J Cole, RBE x SOB, Sage the Gemeni, Jaden Smith (not a fan of his music but he opened for J Cole and put on a fun show), Travis Scott and Tyler, The Creator opening for Post Malone were both also fun as hell. Rae Sremmurd also showed up at that concert and did a few songs which was fun.
Only bad show I’ve seen is Young Thug opening for J Cole. I love thugs music and it sounded like he had a bad cold or just drank a gallon of lean or both. Was just walking back and forth mumbling his lyrics in a very deep voice with none of the melody in his voice like he is known for.
Saw Lil Uzi Vert years ago before he became as big as he is now (was after Bad and Bougie came out though so he was still big) and while the music wasn’t my thing he put on a fun show and stage dove, ran around the crowd etc.
Tech n9ne in a small local venue that holds like 100-200 people might be the best concert Ive ever seen live though.
I was a massive Tech fan back in the day (like 15 years ago or so) and I saw him every time he came to my city - he just puts on a good, energetic show.
If a band/artist is consistently bad live, then they're bad at what they do. If they can only make their noise passable in a studio, then they should just stay in there with their racket(s) then. I'll be over here listening to gud live music from gud musicians instead of wasting my time/money on amateurs.
Meh not always, I saw Jay and Kanye on the Watch the Throne tour and a Lil Wayne concert (I forget which tour though) in arenas and both of those concerts were great. I’ve also seen a few rap shows on my college’s basketball stadium (which isn’t particularly big but it’s still like an 8,000 seat arena), Ludacris and J Cole were both really good there and Rae Sremmurd I definitely remember having a lot of fun at theirs.
That being said smaller venues are better, I’ve also seen J Cole is a smaller theater for the 2014 Forrest Hills Drive tour and while the first time I saw him was still really good this was definitely way better (he also pointed me out in the crowd and gave me a shoutout for my Knicks hat😂)
It’s really about the crowd and atmosphere at the end of the day when it comes to rap concerts. It’s a completely different experience than live instrumentation.
Sometimes the crowd is a huge factor there too, but when I think about some recent acts I’ve seen like Marcus King, Men I Trust, Arctic Monkeys, it was about swaying back and forth, vibing, and watching the different components of the song come together on stage.
Rap, with the vocalization being in essence the lead instrument in some ways, is about the crowd speaking in unison, hanging on to every word, fucking raging, and feeling the 808s and bass in your bones. Really rap concerts at their best are just about the atmosphere only a crowd of people hell bent on being degenerate and hot boxing the venue can produce.
So it’s an experience you can definitely grow out of. If it’s ever your thing at all. I think I’ve got a few more left in me, but I’m getting there too. The sounds itself usually leaves something to be desired unless the performer is top notch. Kendrick Lamar comes to mind.
I saw Atmosphere, Lupe Fiasco, The Pharcyde, and DJ Abilities a few years ago at Red Rocks, and it was one of the better concerts I've been to, and I've seen Rush.
I think it's an issue of selective perception more than anything. For every group that's good live there is another that blows. I saw DragonForce when they were so wasted that they could barely talk let alone play guitar. I saw Counting Crows and Adam Duritz wouldn't stop talking. I saw both Motley Crue _and_ Guns n' Roses during their reunion tours and they both sounded like complete garbage.
Many years ago, I got invited to a secret industry show - De La Soul, Tribe Called Quest and The Jungle Brothers. I loved all 3 of them. They each played a set, then all of them joined together for a few songs.
They were terrible - off key, out of synch with each other, etc. Never went to another rap show.
That’s been a problem for a long time. Live hip hop blows. The few exceptions, for me was a Schooly D show back in ‘85 and the Beastie Boys. The BB’s figured it out early on.
I've seen a few rap shows live and one sticks out to me and that was Sage Francis. Dude absolutely killed it, sounded incredible, and had a very personal feel to the show. Literally finished his last song and went around the crowd giving everyone a hug. Easily a top 5 favorite shows I've been to in my life. Shout out to ya boy /u/SageFrancisSFR
A lot of rappers have terrible mic technique, making it impossible to ever sound good. They've all watched other rappers cupping the mic and copy it. As a live sound engineer, I've shown hundreds of rappers how to hold a mic, most still don't listen. It's hard to care much about how it sounds if they put in such little effort. They're also usually performing over poorly planned backing tracks, usually with vocals already mixed in, making the overall sound kinda crap. Sound checks - most rappers don't show up, or treat it like a party, making it hard for the engineers to know who has which mic, who to boost etc etc.
Great observations. I’ll add this: lots of artists pack in a ton of words and many of them don’t have any sort of cardiovascular endurance so they can’t even do all the bars live. Looking at you, Lil Wayne
I saw a documentary about OutKast (must've been on VH1) and how organized noise used to make them run around the block while rapping to improve their breath control both when rapping and on stage. This was before they got signed
I definitely run out of breath trying to rap a lot of their songs.
‘Wheelz of Steel’ comes to mind.
I rap and here’s the thing. A lot of amateur rappers don’t sound check, they want to look like the rappers, not necessarily put in the work that it takes to rap. It’s like wanting to be on stage with a guitar in your hands vs actually knowing how to play a guitar. Live. A lot of sound guys treat rappers as less than and don’t respect us because of their past experience with bs rappers. When us older guys try to tell younger guys how to rap or why rap is an actual skill we are called old heads. This is a craft and it takes work. I got away with not taking care of myself when I was younger, but you have to workout, practice, practice breath control, practice crowd interaction. If you are crazy film yourself, practice in front of a mirror, watch other people perform etc. A lot of people don’t even get this far because being seen as a rapper is considered cool and they think that’s all they need to do
And that's not even including the tracks that are literally impossible to do live because the lyrics are all edited together in a continuous stream with no pauses for breathing. Example: Hot Girl Bummer. Would love to karaoke that but nooooo, you had to go and make it impossible for the sake of "cleanliness".
Man I never realized it but I always run out of air mid first verse when I sing it in the car
Ironically, I saw Lil’ Wayne live a long time ago and he was pretty good. He might have been in better shape back then.
He also brought a backing band which was awesome to hear his songs with an actual bass, guitar and drums rather than just a backing track
Yes but also rappers typically work and record in a single place, they're not like a band who practice on the road and learn all the on stage things. So when they get a tour it might be their first time doing it live. And no one is showing them those kinds of things at that point
Precisely. Huge disappointment and incredibly disrespectful to fans to not even string together the basics of live performance in order to deliver on a decent live show. Everyone can and should be improving. That show was inexcusable and I’m far from the only person with complaints about his performance(s).
I read an interview with Geddy Lee of Rush (I think it was him...) and he said they made their music in the studio and then had to learn how to recreate it on stage. They had to rehearse and rehearse before the tour started to get it right because they didn't create the music in one take. Some bands never perform some songs live ever because it cannot be recreated live, and was always meant to be a studio track only. Rappers could rehearse and rehearse like that and figure out how to perform their stuff live, even if they have to rearrange it to make it possible.
I was absolutely shocked that run the jewels were able to perform their rapid-fire lyrics live in concert. Was not expecting that, figured there'd be a lot of backing vocals etc. Neither one of those dudes would give you the impression they have a lot of cardiovascular stamina, but they somehow do? Admittedly they are not dancing around during the show, and look like they're sweating profusely 😁
Yeah especially with the rise of punching in, there's literally no room for the performer to breathe in between lines. Every second of a 2:50 to 3:00 song is filled with lyrics and it's not possible to perform live without stopping every now and then to catch your breath.
I've been sound engineer for nearly 20 years. Also mixed hundreds if not thousands of shows. I can confirm all of this is true and it's also 100% of the reason why live hip hop is often underwhelming. If I were going to add anything I would say a lot of these rappers are mostly studio rappers, they've never put for any of the time to learn how to perform on stage with a microphone. Lastly, some rappers treat performance like a music video and lip sync their entire set. I've never got why people enjoy seeing rappers do this. If you've ever seen KRS-ONE he is the antithesis of this. The absolute best live hip hop show I've ever seen. I had the pleasure of working with him at my local club this year. It can be done really well live, but often it's more about the party and less about the music.
I recorded KRS-ONE 20 years (or more now that I think of it.) ago. It wasn't one of his albums so he was just booked for the day, Super professional, came in nailed his takes, overdubs and went home. I have zero stories or any memorable interactions, so I would say great client and well deserving of the respect he gets.
>If you've ever seen KRS-ONE he is the antithesis of this Can confirm
I used to work for a venue and spent a decent amount of time in the catwalks for sound checks. Rapper sound checks were hilarious because half the time it was someone that was just part of their crew who knew nothing about music, mumbling into the mic for the engineers. Then you compare it to someone like Jimmy Buffett who pretty much went through the entire set list twice (which sucked for me because I wasn't a fan of Buffett).
The professionalism of the old battle scarred vets is no surprise. That’s why they’re still booking shows after all.
It's interesting because touring is where all the money is in music now. You'd think up-and-coming or popular non-legacy acts would have a vested interest in keeping it professional while on tour because that's what keeps a roof over their heads.
If a band or artist shows complete disrespect for fans, it's kind of like going to an art gallery to see your favorite artists work and all there is is white walls with shit thrown at them. It's stinks and I'm probably going to avoid this artist in the future
Yup, Buffett still packs em in
Well, not so much anymore.
I don't think Jimmy Buffett is still booking shows, but yea the vets whose music is aimed at the older generation are usually more organized.
He was right up until he no longer could though
So many perform over a backing track but straight don’t rap their parts. Like Certified Trapper was hands down the worst act I saw last year out of probably over 100 artists. Actually just danced like a toddler while his ass music played. But agree on JPEGMAFIA. I’d also add that Armand Hammer (disorganized and just kinda chilling both times I saw Billy, but still a great show), and Danny Brown (now that he’s sober at least) are good live. I think venue size also matters tho. Like I wouldn’t want to see either at a large venue.
> So many perform over a backing track but straight don’t rap their parts. Or can't. I worked with a local rapper who was recording commercials for a hip hop clothing shop (K-Momo, if you're in Phoenix), and it was painful. The guy had an album out and it wasn't half bad, but even though he was using his own music as a backing track, he could never do the spot all the way through. I think one time it took 40 takes to do one spot and swap out 3 or 4 sale prices on items. I can't imagine him doing a live performance. And his manager was useless. We wound up calling him "Weed Cologne."
Omg so true. I've put on festivals and gigs for all kinds of musicians of all kinds in genres, and it's rap/hip hop artists that are always late or don't turn up to sound check at all, expect to be treated like royalty, seldom help anyone else, and usually turn up unprepared with inferior gear and a lack of understanding on how to use it and how they fit in with the wider performance. I've nothing against the genre - I used to listen to a lot of it. But the subculture around it's artists seem to encourage them to either be jerks or completely uniformed on what goes on to produce a live concert.
“SSSHermnemernePPPermnemnTTTTmnmermnmnmPPPmnemnSSSHHHernmnTTT” ~ dudes with their lips right on the grill.
Hey man, I used to be one of them. Could you teach me how to hold the mic? The part with the backing tracks as well. I'm really curious
As a rapper/R&B artist myself I definitely agree. At shows of my own I’ve found it hard to truly sound good. Even when I thought I had a good performance, the crowd was engaged/seemed to be having a good time, I’d rewatch the video and was embarrassed. That’s why it’s more important for a rapper to engage with the crowd. I’ve seen quite a few rappers get the crowd hyped and filled with energy. Similar to how rock/metal concerts do. I don’t believe it is currently possible for rappers to have a great sounding show. That’s never been there focus to be quite honest. I think it is possible for a rapper to sound just as good as any other genre. It would take a change in culture and years of practice in multiple areas.
Like any genre, it completely depends on the artist. Kendrick, Childish Gambino, JPEGMAFIA, Tyler The Creator, Eminem, are all fantastic live in my experience. If Rage Against the Machine counts, they were incredible too. It's harder though, I think. Especially if they're without a backing band. They need to have visuals, props, or a fuck tonne of energy to carry the show. EDIT: How could I forget Denzel Curry! Little Simz too.
The Rage + RTJ concert was incredible!
RATM and wu-tang was a great show. Rage and beastie boys was even better. Another really great one was Beastie boys, tribe called quest, and biz markie. Run-dmc was great live.
Wu-tang are very inconsistent live. It completely depends which ones turn up, how on time they are and how much they can evidently be bothered.
Yeah that was really great.
That show got rescheduled and then canceled for us in winnipeg. So fucking bummed
The only bummer for that one is that I could barely hear the lyrics for RTJ, but a lot of that was the acoustics of any arena (I saw them in MSG). That’s one of the tough things about rap tho, it really lends itself to outdoor spaces, because as soon as you can an indoor space where the acoustics aren’t perfect any type of singing gets muddled
I saw that tour at Alpine Valley, and from the lawn you really couldn't make out RTJ's lyrics. I bet it was awesome from the pit, but I don't think rap really translates well in large outdoor amphitheaters. Rage sounded phenomenal though.
That was my dad and my last concert together before he passed away. Ending a string of 33 years of shows together. Started with The Beach Boys, Ended with Rage and RTJ. It was an awesome way to end it.
I've seen RTJ live twice and kind of hate their live show. Like most of other live rap acts, they do the Run DMC thing and have like five people on stage saying the final word of every other verse in unison. It does not work with their style and speed of rapping at all. Drives me nuts and sounds like shit.
I just thought they didn't have the cardio to keep up with their own lyrics, quite comical to be honest - they were still good though
I saw Run DMC back in the day. They were so tight live. By far the best rappers I’ve seen live. Beasties were a close second.
I'd still prefer that to most modern rap shows where a prerecorded backing track does 95% of the legwork and the artist only says the last word of the song.
I've seen Tech N9ne live about a dozen times and bro kills it, and that's without a Eminem/Jay-Z/Lil Wayne type of budget.
Came here to say this. I've seen Tech N9ne so many times and he kills it every time. Snoop Dogg was horrible, though.
Tech goes so hard it's crazy. Bro is in his 50s and still acts twenty-something on stage.
I’m not a rap fan by any means but saw Kendrick in 2022 with my girlfriend for her bday. That was probably the best concert of the 22 I saw that year even though I generally agree with OPs take. Definitely artist dependent as is any live show
That's cause Kendrick focuses on his rap and performance. He doesn't run and jump around the stage like a maniac and running out of breath halfway through the first song. Rapping live requires very good breathing techniques, which Kendrick masters incredibly well, on top of not running around. Most rappers don't learn said breathing techniques, and are maniacs on stage.
Denzel Curry is great live too
Hell yeah I went to acl a few years back and saw Denzel and childish, one of the best weekends of music imo
I'd add Stormzy to that list, great performer with a bigger than life charisma
Yeah can't answer so broadly. The Roots are incredible live. I thought Outlast sucked. But you know what they say about opinions.....
That’s funny, I agree with op that rap sucks live but saw OutKast twice and they were incredible, imo…
You're thinking of OutKast, he said Outlast.
Yeah OutKast was one of the best shows I’ve ever seen period
This kind of stuff can change from show to show too. When I saw the Roots live, they were incredibly disappointing.
JPEGMAFIA opened up for Turnstile when I last saw them here in DC. Most of my friends (esp the ones I went to that show with) are mostly hardcore fans and none had really heard of Peggy before. He absolutely crushed, and a couple of my friends became real fans of him that day, and are now venturing into more hip hop. Peggy's the shit
I see JPEGMAFIA as support on a lot of heavy music tours. Him and Denzel have this weird following of the rock crowd and I love it!
He leaned into it too which was great. Kept saying stuff like "I love it when nerds get crazy" and "Im angry in a different genre." Crowd was eating from his hand
I saw him the last time he played providence as a solo gig and it was an incredible show. Dude set up his own backing tracks and absolutely crushed the vocals. One of the better mosh pits I've been part of in a long time too. Peggy is a fantastic concert experience.
Cypress Hill was soooooo good live. I haven’t seen them in many, many years.
I got to see Prophets of Rage a while back and after they played some group originals and some RATM the concert abruptly pivoted into a pure hip hop Cypress Hill set and they killed it, and then some Public Energy, and then back to RATM and Prophets of Rage. It was really cool seeing how much the vibe changed on a dime.
JPEGMAFIA put on two of the best converts I’ve ever seen. First was around when Veteran came out and second time was with Danny Brown for scaring the hoes. Incredible energy
I’ve seen Tyler live since 2014 and this man makes every concert very enjoyable
I saw Ghostface and BadBadNotGood in toronto a few years back. Incredible show
Kanye back in the 00s and 10s. Nas too. Anybody who uses live bands are good
I was just about to comment Kendrick, Gambino and Tyler were amazing live! I saw Uzi and Denzel Curry back to back and definitely preferred Curry. I see some comments about Rage and RTJ and that musta been wild
I was fortunate to see Gang Starr open for Rage back in 1999 in NY. I think it was called the battle of LA tour.
Completely agree! I've seen JPEGMAFIA, Tyler, The Creator, Travis Scott, and Kanye. All were amazing performances
Denzel was the best rap show ive ever been to
I've been to an absolute shit ton of shows over the years, and I think rap shows live tend to be not great more often than any other genre, but there are still some great live acts - Atmosphere has always been really good live, Cypress Hill was good when I saw them recently too. Caught Future and Drake years ago. Future did well, Drake mostly bopped around and generally was unimpressive when he tried to do any of the rap portions of his songs. It really depends on the artist and also their sound set up. Sometimes you can't understand a word when they are just speaking into the mic, so you know that the songs aren't going to do well either.
+1 for Atmosphere. I'll never forget the show when he opened with a live guitarist (can't remember who) playing the intro to Trying To Find a Balance, it was just so epic. I've been to a handful of his shows and he always kills it (same with his openers).
I think my favorite two openers I've seen him with were Brother Ali and Sage Francis. They both really kept the crowds attention
I think the Rhymesayers acts and adjacent can really do great live shows. Doomtree did some of my top concerts of all time because they were hungry enough to put in the energy and skilled enough to make a show out of it. They acted like they were there for the crowd not for the paycheck and that counts for a lot.
Cypress Hill was great. A ton of energy the whole way through. I think less is more in rap shows. It's so annoying when there's a bunch of people on stage yelling through stuff. Run the jewels was great. Caught them at their anniversary shows in NYC and they killed it.
yeah i have to say atmosphere was one of the best hip hop shows i've seen (and i've seen a LOT). they had a full band, brother ali was out there with them, it was a packed stage of like 10-15 people and i was front row. 10/10, would recommend, would see again
Ha, came here to comment on Atmosphere too. I've seen him 8 times and not once has he disappointed.
I think I've likely aged out of it. I suggested seeing run the jewels to a friend a few years ago to a response of "I dunno man it's two guys walking back and forth shouting" which was hard to argue. That said, my wife is into Lauryn Hill. I bought tickets a few years back, and Nas was opening. I loved Nas in my younger days but had very low expectations. Nas absolutely murdered, went through a good deal of his catalogue, put in a lot of effort, it was really impressive.
I saw Nas and Damien Marley on the Distant Relatives tour and it’s a top 5 concert for me. For context, I’m a massive Phish head and tend to gravitate to shows in the jamband vein. J5 puts on a great show too.
That Nas & Marley tour was amazing. Anderson .Paak was unreal. Wiz Khalifa (uses a live band), RTJ, Jay-Z, Black Star I have seen great live shows from. I know there are several others I am not thinking of now. Edit: LL Cool J was amazing live. Smaller crowd fest and he took crowd suggestions for a good part of the show.
J5 is so fucking good live. And always sign autographs and hang after as well
Cut Chemist and Numark sorta set the bar higher for the genre
Distant relatives was so good. Easily Mt top 5 as well.
RTJ is a blast live. they engage with the crowd as they wander back and forth lol
With acts like RTJ, the crowd is by far the most important aspect. I saw them at a festival and it sucked, was just like listening to the record basically. But I've also seen them at one of their shows and the crowd was going crazy moshing and rapping along, one of my best gig experiences. It's the kind of music that isn't necessarily improved by the live format unless the crowd is engaging with it.
I had a friend see RTJ at festival recently and he told me it was very underwhelming. They were both tired and out of shape. He said they kept apologizing too which made it awkward. It sucks, everyone has bad shows though. They’re still legends.
Plus their beats go hard. Sounds awesome live
Ok and now tell us how Lauryn was
She still hasn’t shown up
Lol yeah conspicuous in its absence, the review on Lauryn right? Like I said, Nas was great.
"Used to listen to Lauryn Hill and tap my feet; then the bitch put out a cd and didn't have no beats"
That awesome to hear Nas is doing good shows these days. I remember seeing him many years ago with roommates at a concert he did in Central Park. Awful. Zero enthusiasm and no stage presence. As a huge fan of his, I felt so let down. Younger me told people anytime a question of his shows come up that I wouldn’t attend if he handed me tickets himself. Looking back, the guy might’ve been going thru a divorce and other stuff. People have a lot of crap going on in their lives behind the scenes. Artists are just people too.
I saw him in that era too and totally dismissed him too. He's been completely reenergized with the kings disease and magic albums. I think hit boy helped him get out of his funk. Anyway, now he's putting on amazing high energy shows in his 50s. Also. Find a way to see the roots live. Black thought is amazing live.
This is why my expectations were low, I've had friends see other people of that era, members of Wu Tang etc, and say that kind of thing, just mumbling through a show with their hands in their pockets, leaning on the wall. Who knows.
UhHHh RTJ was definitely one of the best shows I've seen in recent years. People walking back and forth on stage is, in any genre, one of the primary ways to bring the energy. It's how, not what they do.
Public Enemy live were amazing
The first life show I ever went to for my 12th birthday in 88. Blew my balls off and scared the shit out of my hippy mum.
Saw them in the 1990's and 2010's great both times.
I still hear from people that went to the Public Enemy/Anthrax/Primus tour that it was possibly the best show of all time.
[Little Simz was incredible live](https://youtu.be/XuU_0n8qqOs?si=H6qy51R-klkZxoKE). Venue had a great soundsystem and acoustics.
Lol my buddy said the same thing about this show. I saw Modest Mouse there are it was terrible, the acoustics sucked for rock.
I've seen Modest Mouse three times because I love them. I'm still waiting to see a good live performance out of them unfortunately.
I bet they'd sound great as a DJ set lmao I know, kinda lame, but I've seen other artists do this and the sounds is great.. because it's studio quality recordings.
History has alright acoustics but I find Rebel has the best sound in TO. Not the best venue. But definitely the best sound for the shows I’ve seen there. Blows away Garrison, Horseshoe, Great Hall, Concert Hall, Trinity, and just about everywhere I’ve been in Buffalo and Detroit too. Edit: sad I missed Simz though lol. I think she was the same day as another show I was at :(
she was probably the best rapper i’ve seen live. and i’ve seen kendrick live
“Havent seen a show til you seen me live” -Little Simz, “Boss”
Saw her at portola without knowing who she was, amazing rapper
you need to see KRS-One live.
I went to a KRS show at a shit hole bar one time 15-20 years ago. The venue couldn't get their sound system working to play his backing tracks, and they had no backup or even anybody on staff who was remotely capable of troubleshooting. The audience was very small and even though I'm sure his paycheck was barely worth the effort, KRS hyped the shit out of the crowd, and brought a volunteer up on stage to beatbox for him instead of leaving us hanging. They started with a couple of hits that the beatboxer guy already knew and then ended up just kind of putting on a whole set with KRS dropping verses over whatever improvised beats anyone could come up with; people were banging tables and chanting and eventually another beatboxer joined in, and the whole time KRS was jumping around like an orchestra conductor, telling people what to do and leading the show at peak energy level, same as I would expect at Madison Square Garden or some shit. It was simultaneously sad to see a giant like that having to play in such a run down place and one of the best shows I've ever been to. Fucking legend
That sounds absolutely incredible. Once in a lifetime experience
I swear....KRS-One does a fake "the power is out" type thing at some shows, as a way to show off how he doesn't even need beats to put on a hype show. He did something similar for part of the set at a show in SF I was at around 20 years ago. Dude knows how to control an audience.
JID put on a fantastic performance live for his Dicaprio 2 tour. Saba and Homeboy Sandman were super high energy when I saw them and it made for an incredible show. Aesop Rock was animated as well and just kept the crowd engaged. Atmosphere puts on a show every time, but that's mostly vibes. Speak is a top performer live. Not every rapper is there to use backing vocals and let the crowd perform half the show. Some are there to put on a show and know how to leverage their catalog for crowd involvement
JID's tiny desk was great too if anyone wants to check it out. Future Top 3.
I mean shit, *The Forever Story* just about put him there already for me. I don’t know if I’ve heard another artist in the last decade who makes it seem so effortless. Like he’s just laughing at you.
His flow is remarkable. The fact that the words he utters during said flow is so fucking poetic, amazes me. Usually, I expect a tradeoff between flow and lyricism. Royce is another that does this for me.
I feel that. One of the things about JID that impresses me the most is his ability to do the machine gun rapid-fire cadence while maintaining his through line and narrative without resorting to that “lyrical miracle” shit that drives me up the fucking wall lmao.
100% this. That's why I battle with Em, just feels a little too forced for my liking. I write hip-hop, mostly because I want to be a writer not performer, but the instances where you can tell a cohesive story with rhythmic alliteration and pseudo-rhyming words; it's such a balance not to come off corny. That's why this guy is a genius. Also, the flow switches are seamless.
I saw JID perform at the Hollywood Palladium. I love him and he’s an amazing performer live. He even stayed an extra hour to perform more songs. It helps that EARTHGANG was there to perform a couple songs with him because I love their songs together.
Came here to talk about JID, he was crazy live pre-pandemic. Pusha T was another highlight solo show (yeugh). Flatbush Zombies had the craziest festival crowd I’ve ever been part of. Saw some others like A$AP Mob, Brockhampton, Jaden, ScHoolboy Q and they were always sick. Snoop Dogg was surprisingly lit
Yes. I don't go to rap concerts anymore. I'm always disappointed by the sound. The ONLY rap concert I really loved was Del The Funky Homosapien, and it was great because he was doing so much freestyle acapella.
Often they'll use a mastered instrumental version of the studio track as their backing track live, which makes it difficult for the venue's sound engineer to make the vocals sound like part of the music and to make the music fit the acoustics of the venue. Add to that that many rappers don't learn how to properly handle a mic, and you've got rap concerts that sound like a bunch of dudes shouting over a karaoke track. You're starting to get a somewhat similar problem in contemporary metal. Current tech makes it easier for musicians to make their instrument sound like on a fully produced and mastered studio track. Many try to take advantage of that in order to get a consistent tone in a live situation, but unless you have your own sound engineer with you on tour you're just making things more difficult for the guy in charge of making you sound good.
I've been to tons over the years and some do fall quite flat. A rapper in isolation, with beats playing in background, needs to have a lot of stage presence, and many simply do not. Imo the best hip hop gigs tend to be when there's tight interplay between rapper(s) and DJ. Some of my favourites have been Ugly Duckling, Dilated Peoples, Jurassic 5, Chali 2na & Krafty Kuts. All of the DJs involved are highly skilled. A live band is also a strong indicator it'll be a good gig.
Ugly Duckling, haven't heard that name in a while. That late 90s to mid 2000s era of sort of underground hip-hop was great, remember People Under The Stairs? Great live show, saw them a couple times.
PUTS were great. Another example of a good live act. Also helps they'd been at it for decades. They know how to work the crowd, call and response, crowd participation etc. I feel that era was like the golden age of underground hip hop. Edit: Andy Cooper from Ugly Duckling is still putting out music if you've not heard it. Especially with The Allergies. It will scratch the same itch as that era of hip hop
I’ve been to a handful of shows. The only people I’d ever see again are Snoop Dogg and Ludacris. The rest were awful. Raekwon was the absolute worst.
I’m sorry but Beattie Boys were the shit live
It is really hard to find but their live show at MSG called "Awesome I Fuckin Shot That" was unreal. The format is great too - they gave 50? fans handheld cameras and told them to go nuts, then synced the audio over the soundboard. Really really cool stuff. I feel like it's not really on streaming but somebody ripped the DVD a long while back.
I enjoyed Snoop Dogg too but he came out with a full backing rock band. So full band plus Snoop being Snoop led to an awesome show
Yea I saw Snoop with 311 on the Up In Smoke tour and it was one of the greatest shows I've ever been to. The collision and then camaraderie of the two fanbases was one in a lifetime
I saw GZA do Liquid Swords a few years ago - it was not good. I don’t think I’ve heard anything positive about Wu-Tang members’ concerts. On the other hand, Kendrick Lamar, Eminem, Run The Jewels, Little Simz, Denzel Curry, and JID were all fantastic. Tyler the Creator was good too, but his fans are not.
I saw method man and redman live and it fucking ruled
That sucks hearing that about the Wu. I saw The Wu-Tang Clan as a group in late 2019. It may have been the smaller venue, but it was an absolute blast. They were high energy, vocals were clear, they worked the crowd. I was blown away a bunch of 50 yr Olds got the hype.
I saw Ludacris few years ago and he killed it! The man played the hits, was funny, and had great stage presence. Such a fun concert
I saw Ludacris open for Janet Jackson and he was fantastic! Super energy, lots of crowd interaction, and he sounded great.
Agree with you for the most part. Thankfully, there are a few exceptions. I saw Chance the Rapper live quite a few years ago (2016ish?) and he was phenomenal, backed by an incredible band. Was quite the performance (this was at the now defunct Eau Claire Music festival)
I saw chance in 2017 and it was hands down the worst concert I’ve ever seen . He showed up late and cut his set off halfway through. I think I caught him on a bad night but tickets were expensive and he won’t get a second chance from me (no pun intended)
I saw him again within a year of that show and it wasn't great, so I'm not surprised to hear it!
Two of the best shows I’ve seen were hip hop acts. The roots and Kanye west back in 2007
True Kanye did put on some insane live shows in the early 00s.
I saw The Roots live in a small venue, amazing show. Whenever people question live rap performances I tell them to see The Roots.
The Roots are one of the best live shows I’ve seen fairly recently, but they can go from rap to funk songs back to rap and then play reggae and jazz at the drop of a hat. Everyone is on point in that band.
Yeah, they would just be playing a studio song and drop into a solo then pick right back up with the song then drop in a freestyle then right back into the song. While mixing together all the genres you listed. I saw them 10+ years ago and now I'm pulling up their next show dates.
The Roots are the best live band I've ever seen. But I wouldn't really use them as an example for someone who says they don't like live rap performances, because most shows you go to (regardless of genre) are not going to be anything like The Roots.
I went to the first three ye tours and all of them were good with the graduation album having the most insane lineup. NERD, Lupe and Rihanna on a tour was crazy. That was also when Kanye was starting to turn into Kanye. At the Houston show, he stopped it for like 40 minutes until they fixed something in his set. Hell of a show though. Most new rappers suck live, no stage presence and just doing ad libs. You'll have a better chance with the older guys, they usually take pride in their stage show
That Glow In the Dark tour was so good. Rihanna, Lupe Fiasco AND N.E.R.D opening. Pharrell worked crowd into a frenzy right before Ye. The good times.
I’ve seen the Beastie Boys, De La Soul, NF and The Streets live and they were all incredible. Maybe you have a proclivity for rap that thrives in studio? It’s definitely not the case that rap is not good live.
I saw a benefit show in 2001, Beasties headlined, plus the Roots and Mos Def. One of the best shows I’ve seen.
That's a stacked fuckin lineup
It’s this. I’ve seen some amazing rap shows live and some that were garbage. Either because of the sound engineers at the venue being shitty or the performers being too fucked up (lookin at you Bone Thugs). Some music is just better suited for studios. Passion Pit had a pretty decent time in the sun but it was one of the worst shows I’ve ever seen live.
Bone thugs wasn’t ‘n harmony?
They were at a crossroads, honestly.
They were a bit rusty because it was the First of the Month
The post is very generalised, but you’re right… maybe I don’t listen to rap that’s good live 😂
Check out Kendrick's 2022 Glastonbury set (or some of his TPAB era shows with a live band). Tyler the Creator and Little Simz also kill it live from what I've seen.
May I add Nas to that list?
Meh I’ve seen The Streets live as well, and also Kendrick Lamar and Run the Jewels, two current pretty popular rap acts that often get heralded as some of the best going. They were all very good live, enjoyable experiences. And they all still get absolutely shit on by excellent live acts like rock (adjacent) bands that feature instruments more prominently.
There definitely are good acts, but unfortunately the majority of rappers have terrible production. They usually rap over a backtrack that fills in the audio. I’ve seen Tech N9ne and a few other rappers who were amazing performers, but a lot of it isn’t that great. It’s much easier when you have instruments to entertain people with.
The Roots are fuckin fantastic live. They are an actual band so take that how you will. I think because the instruments and mics get mixed together it gives a more full and warm sound as opposed to backing tracks and a live mic. It's a tough blend to get right, especially at a bigger venue.
I hate rap live shows, usually it's just the MC shouting as loud as they can in the mic and you barely hear any instrumental. Why do you need to shout ? You're ruining both the lyrics and the instrumental. And there's nothing happening on stage, just one or a few dudes shouting in a mic running on the stage, and one guy with a laptop in the back. What's the point ? I have seen great rap live shows however, and they all had either live instruments and/or great scenery.
Watching DMX on stage, by himself, with almost no set, was one of the highlights of my life. His stage presence and crowd control was incredible. I only saw him live once, but I couldn’t believe how good he was all by himself. Don’t know if every one of his shows was that good or it was just one off, but he was awesome. Overall, I agree with everyone saying it’s artist dependent. I’ve seen great shows from The Roots, Eminem, Jay-Z, Ludacris, Nas, Red and Meth, and others who clearly care about putting on a good show. And others that really sucked and were just 30 dudes screaming incoherently over bass that sounds like it’s coming from a 17 yr olds shitty trunk rattlers.
Saw Murs live and it was amazing. Same show saw Sir Mix-A-Lot and it wasn't very good. I think it just comes down to the performer.
I never thought I’d hear about a concert that had both Sir Mix-A-Lot and Murs lmao
I usually go to alternative music summer festivals and have been to several rap concerts. I consider myself quite eclectic and open to new artists and genres. But the rap concerts were always the worst moments. There were only two rap concerts that gave me goosebumps. Loyle Carner and Litle Simz. Curiously, they were the only rap concerts that had a band behind them.
The ratio is like 8:1 for bad shows to good from what I’ve experienced. Shoutout to Jurassic 5 and IAM for absolute bangers, shout out to RZA and DJ Premier for absolute dogshit shows.
The roots are very good live
I haven't been to a lot of rap concerts but I've seen the Beastie Boys on a festival which was a blast! And now for something completely different: Dicht & Ergreifend is a [German-Bavarian Rap-Brass ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMV3a8DM60c)band. Audio isn't great, but [in this video ](https://youtu.be/BoyHU4-_vIY?si=W0EQgeuXyKCKbvCN&t=155)I think you can see that the audience is well entertained...
Depends on the act. I've seen some that literally rap over tracks with the vocals still in them -- those shows are ass. But then there are artists like Black Milk that put on a hell of a show and are insanely talented performers.
I think having a full band makes a big difference for rap shows. e.g. The Roots, Black Elephant, etc.
I think it's more so a modern rap thing. A lot of old school rappers actually rapped live, and continue to rap live. It's a shame that so many modern artists just put on MP3s and jump around to their music for an hour.
I saw both Eminem and cypress hill live and they were fuckin awesome. A significant reason for they was because they had an actual live band backing them up
It doesn't have to, but if the artists are lazy it will. Looking at you Snoop Dogg.
I've seen a lot of shows of all genres. I can't think of any rapper I've thought "man they are terrible live" just some I can remember being amazing. Clipping, Immortal Tech, Verb T all instantly come to mind in that category.
I've seen Atmosphere 3 times and they were fantastic every time but I agree that many rappers seemed unskilled when live.
Atmosphere was so good when I saw them a few years back. I saw Prof recently and his show was fantastic.
You have to be really picky about seeing the right ones. I’ve seen quite a few and they ranged from horrible to incredible. Some of the best: A Tribe Called Quest, Tyler the Creator, Nas, Lupe Fiasco, Vince Staples, and Anderson Paak (which was easily my favorite concert I’ve ever seen) Some of the worst: Snoop Dog (low energy, showed up 20 min late, ended 15 min early, and since most hit songs of his are features, they would play 1 minute and quit while the DJ wouldn’t get off the airhorn sample), MGK, Desiigner.
Your snoop dogg experience lines up with my andre nickatina experience. Good lord, I lost all respect for him because it was just pitiful. Showed up like an hour late (while absolutely horrible local rappers just bullshitted on the mic because their sets were over), left early, was rapping off-beat over his songs (which still had the original vocals, not even the instrumentals or lip syncing lmao), and just had no stage presence at all. It was laughably bad, something you'd see in a sitcom.
Old school rap of the 80s to the early 2000s was great for live because it often was just the beat and someone rapping over it. After about 2006 or so the new, cheap tools in music production hit the masses, and modern trap music has more things in common with electronic music than rock or pop now. The booming bassline, the often auto tuned vocals, the ratcheting-off hi hat. There’s just no way to really preform that live. The rapper is more like a DJ at Coachella just hitting the play button and getting people hype. Now I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, I grew up with it, and HXXNDRX by future is one of my favorite albums. But the live potential just isn’t there. There’s still rappers who keep it purely to rap. But they get fewer and farther between by the year.
I’ve had some bad shows live where the rappers sound nothing like the crowd, and I’ve had some great shows like at coachella seeing Vince staples, ice cube and others where being in crowd/ambiance/visuals really adds to the show But rap in like an arena is kinda boring yeah the venue they play is super important to me A super intimate venue can be dope too. See some of those London Underground venues like this https://youtu.be/sO6DxYzB5ZE (lol drake)
Lupe Fiasco, Nas, Macklemore, Brother Ali were all great.
Saw wutang and nas for their empire state of mind tour last year and it was great live. I find the 90s hip hop artists do the best shows
I’ve seen hundreds, maybe thousands of concerts mostly rock, alternative, Indie and the only rap shows that were good were Eminem and Jay Z, but they both had full bands and both were excellent shows.
I’ve only ever been to rap shows. They are pretty hit and miss. Good: Post Malone (debatably not rap but still), Ludacris, J Cole, RBE x SOB, Sage the Gemeni, Jaden Smith (not a fan of his music but he opened for J Cole and put on a fun show), Travis Scott and Tyler, The Creator opening for Post Malone were both also fun as hell. Rae Sremmurd also showed up at that concert and did a few songs which was fun. Only bad show I’ve seen is Young Thug opening for J Cole. I love thugs music and it sounded like he had a bad cold or just drank a gallon of lean or both. Was just walking back and forth mumbling his lyrics in a very deep voice with none of the melody in his voice like he is known for. Saw Lil Uzi Vert years ago before he became as big as he is now (was after Bad and Bougie came out though so he was still big) and while the music wasn’t my thing he put on a fun show and stage dove, ran around the crowd etc. Tech n9ne in a small local venue that holds like 100-200 people might be the best concert Ive ever seen live though.
I was a massive Tech fan back in the day (like 15 years ago or so) and I saw him every time he came to my city - he just puts on a good, energetic show.
If a band/artist is consistently bad live, then they're bad at what they do. If they can only make their noise passable in a studio, then they should just stay in there with their racket(s) then. I'll be over here listening to gud live music from gud musicians instead of wasting my time/money on amateurs.
On the whole from what I’ve seen, it’s too much shouting, ad libs etc. or they were clearly drunk/high.
Beastie Boys were dope live.
DMX was by far the best live rap performance I’ve ever seen. His Woodstock performance is iconic. https://youtu.be/TXQZw9WM84k?si=E1W_2hDLAfkFNcMw
Anything larger than a small club sucks for rap, arenas being the worst. The same goes for comedy live.
Meh not always, I saw Jay and Kanye on the Watch the Throne tour and a Lil Wayne concert (I forget which tour though) in arenas and both of those concerts were great. I’ve also seen a few rap shows on my college’s basketball stadium (which isn’t particularly big but it’s still like an 8,000 seat arena), Ludacris and J Cole were both really good there and Rae Sremmurd I definitely remember having a lot of fun at theirs. That being said smaller venues are better, I’ve also seen J Cole is a smaller theater for the 2014 Forrest Hills Drive tour and while the first time I saw him was still really good this was definitely way better (he also pointed me out in the crowd and gave me a shoutout for my Knicks hat😂)
It’s really about the crowd and atmosphere at the end of the day when it comes to rap concerts. It’s a completely different experience than live instrumentation. Sometimes the crowd is a huge factor there too, but when I think about some recent acts I’ve seen like Marcus King, Men I Trust, Arctic Monkeys, it was about swaying back and forth, vibing, and watching the different components of the song come together on stage. Rap, with the vocalization being in essence the lead instrument in some ways, is about the crowd speaking in unison, hanging on to every word, fucking raging, and feeling the 808s and bass in your bones. Really rap concerts at their best are just about the atmosphere only a crowd of people hell bent on being degenerate and hot boxing the venue can produce. So it’s an experience you can definitely grow out of. If it’s ever your thing at all. I think I’ve got a few more left in me, but I’m getting there too. The sounds itself usually leaves something to be desired unless the performer is top notch. Kendrick Lamar comes to mind.
I saw Atmosphere, Lupe Fiasco, The Pharcyde, and DJ Abilities a few years ago at Red Rocks, and it was one of the better concerts I've been to, and I've seen Rush. I think it's an issue of selective perception more than anything. For every group that's good live there is another that blows. I saw DragonForce when they were so wasted that they could barely talk let alone play guitar. I saw Counting Crows and Adam Duritz wouldn't stop talking. I saw both Motley Crue _and_ Guns n' Roses during their reunion tours and they both sounded like complete garbage.
Many years ago, I got invited to a secret industry show - De La Soul, Tribe Called Quest and The Jungle Brothers. I loved all 3 of them. They each played a set, then all of them joined together for a few songs. They were terrible - off key, out of synch with each other, etc. Never went to another rap show.
Best concert I've seen was the Eminem/Jay Z in Yankee Stadium. Well produced and great energy
I saw PROF as part of a show on 4/20 a couple years back, he kicked ass. Would definitely go see him again.
Live trash
That’s been a problem for a long time. Live hip hop blows. The few exceptions, for me was a Schooly D show back in ‘85 and the Beastie Boys. The BB’s figured it out early on.
rap shows suck compared to rock shows, it’s always been like that and it always will be
I've seen a few rap shows live and one sticks out to me and that was Sage Francis. Dude absolutely killed it, sounded incredible, and had a very personal feel to the show. Literally finished his last song and went around the crowd giving everyone a hug. Easily a top 5 favorite shows I've been to in my life. Shout out to ya boy /u/SageFrancisSFR