I adore concerts and the whole immersive experience of it all, so I try to make it to as many as my wallet will allow me to go to. So, since VCU holds a concert right in our backyard I try to make it a priority to see it every year that I've attended. The annual homecoming concert, aka RamFest, is a huge event at VCU. Past headliners include Drake (way back in 2010), Kendrick Lamar (back in 2012), and of course a personal fave of mine, last semester's Chance the Rapper. This year brought Drake cosign recipient PartyNextDoor and hit hip hop duo Rae Sremmurd, soI knew I had to slide up in that situation.
Here's one of my favorites from the concert; check it out if you'd like some funky tunes in your life.
Anyway, I'd totally recommend JMSN. It's quality music.
And, his dance moves are absolutely incredible. They're on the level of Hotline Bling natural smoothness. I'm going to take notes.
The only criticism I had, and I have this with a lot of artists these days, is that I could tell there was a bit of lip syncing going on. But, most of the time, they would play the full songs from the speakers and rap over it. I just always thought that concept was weird to me. Like, why not play the instrumental and rap over that? But I digress. I still had loads of fun watching them perform. And, the best part of their performance, is that they had a little break in between to remind the audience to go vote...but not for Donald Trump (leading into their song Up Like Trump). Anybody who reminds people not to vote for Trump deserved to be commended.
You've probably heard of Rae Sremmurd by now, but here's a smash from their latest album that you might not have heard yet.
I dug the chill vibe of it all; it felt like an intimate small-venue type of show. But since Homecoming is usually an event that people come to get hyped at, stadium music type of stuff, I didn't think that he was the right choice to close the show out. It's kind of like a roller coaster that went up, up, up, and then just ended up leveling out. PND wasn't the adrenaline drop that people were looking for to end Ram Fest.
But, like JMSN, that doesn't take away from the fact that it's quality music. It's just for a different type of event that warrants a chiller vibe. Yet again, I'd recommend. If you like The Weeknd or Miguel you'll probably enjoy PartyNextDoor.
Overall, I thought it was a good show. It was a nice fit into the hectic week of Homecoming. I just thought that maybe a switch of the concert lineup could have done the concert well and left the audience more satisfied. But, I'm glad RamFest put me onto some dope new music that I wouldn't have otherwise found.