I went into Art Attack unsure of what to expect; I was on the verge of not going because I honestly hadn’t heard of Lil Dicky ever. Of course, I knew who T-Pain was, anyone with a childhood used to lose their minds when “Kiss Kiss” came out in 2007. I, along with my two best friends, bought our tickets back in April and put the concert in the back of our minds. April came and went then May arrived. I would’ve completely forgotten about the concert had it not been for the massive screen in the middle of the Stamp food court (thanks SEE). Still, despite the feeling of not 100% not wanting to go, I mustered up some form of enthusiasm and joined my friends on the walk to The Xfinity Center to take our spots on the floor.
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1. Hip Hop Orchestra
I wasn’t aware that they were part of the lineup but I sure am glad they were. Even though my friends and I got shoved backwards from our original somewhat-ok spots and I could barely see, their energy and obvious passion made it extremely enjoyable. I am a huge fan of unconventional things and mashing up hip-hop music and orchestral instruments is pretty dope. They were great at hyping up the crowd and making sure we had a great time. I would shout out an individual performer but they were all just really incredible.
2. Lil Dicky
Before April, I didn’t know who he was at all so I wasn’t able to join in on all the singing with the now larger crowd. He was hilarious to me; you could tell he was just in it for the fun…who else throws hummus and tuna into a crowd of college students? I appreciated that he didn't take himself too seriously. Whenever he introduced his songs, he did it with some jokes which I thought were really funny. His songs were really catchy, but standing next to the speaker made me borderline deaf. The bass was so intense that I had to leave my spot a couple of times with some of my friends. Lil Dicky overall was fun entertainment and it was nice to sing the only three words I know to any of his songs, “save dat money”
3. T-Pain
This is who I paid my money to see. I honestly spent $22 to see T-Pain perform “Booty Wurk” live and I have no shame of saying that. Thankfully he performed it first, so I thought the rest of the performance was going to be spectacular. All was well for the first 10 minutes, then it happened, it being the peculiar and unnecessary singing-adlib-tangent-thing for what felt like whatever. It was fine for maybe the first 30 seconds; I thought he was hyping the crowd up for something. No. He was not. He was doing the absolute most in a time where it did not require that at all. His weird tangent sent what seemed liked hundreds of students hiking up the absurd Xfinity steps towards the doors. When that period miraculously ended, the floor seemed a little bit emptier along with everyone’s spirits. Thankfully, at some point after that, the Maryland Basketball team came on stage and did the running man with him and Lil Dicky, making everyone cheer and dance a long with them. Except for me. Call me Scrooge but the challenge that has been sweeping the nation has been too hyped up for too long. Maybe two weeks ago it was funny to see them doing it, but then everyone started doing it and it was literally everywhere. While I danced a long for a little bit, I was praying it would end soon.T-Pain resumed and sang more songs, but after a couple, my friends and I were completely over it because he started going on another tangent. We gathered our coats and began our ascent up Mount Xfinity, which was a weeks worth of workout in itself.
Final Impressions...
Overall I was not too impressed with this Art Attack. I didn't really know what to expect especially since it was my first one being a freshman. There were some fun moments and I’m glad I got to spend time with my friends, but not knowing who Lil Dicky was and T-Pain’s weird tangent moment put a damper on it. Plus, it was so incredibly hard to see with every single tall male trying to get to the front. Literally, once you thought someone couldn't get any taller, someone taller came and stood directly in your line of vision. I'm mildly tall myself, so I could only imagine how people shorter than me felt. I am still looking forward to next years because maybe Drake (lol) will come. Or maybe even Vic Mensa or Flume or anyone other than someone like Lil Dicky. I think I could've "Saved Dat Money" and let my "Booty wurk" somewhere else. Maybe another "Professional Rapper" would've done because "Bruh...", I could've listened to the "Best Love Song" ever on Spotify or something. Not to be ungrateful; There aren't a lot of places where you can see two performers for only slightly more than $20 but still, it could've been a little better.
