Many have pleaded to #freeboosie, and their wish was granted. Lil Boosie, or “Boosie Badazz” as of 2013, was set free March 5, 2014 from an eight-year stint in the Louisiana State Penitentiary. Since his release, Boosie has been working nonstop on new music, and on Wednesday night the rapper performed at The Lyric to a full crowd.
Rap concerts are definitely a unique scene. If you allow yourself to get into it, it can be like entering an alternate reality. Heavy bass fills the air. People push, people shove; it is a invigorating experience, to say the least. There certainly was not a specific instance or quality that set Lil Boosie’s performance apart.
While Boosie spoke over tracks, his eclectic posse mobbed on stage along with the beat. The entourage was an interesting crowd, ranging from a gray-haired dreadlocked man to a shorter character named “Key” who wore a towel on his head for the entirety of the performance.
The crowd was thick as Boosie sped through his biggest hits in a somewhat bothersome manner. Songs like “Wipe Me Down” and “Zoom” that were once spread around on Razr phones as Bluetooth ringtones, and which hold fond middle school memories for many, were the highlight of an anticlimactic performance.
The performer closed with a couple of his newer, lesser known songs, which were not disappointing. His energy and crowd onstage were pacifying enough, giving the audience both a focal point and providing an entertaining example as how to act at a Lil Boosie concert.
Once Boosie had wrapped up for the night, a DJ put on a random assortment of music, cuing to concert-goers it was time to go home. The crowd slowly dwindled. What a show.
To those who would criticize his performance, it is only fair to cut Boosie a small amount of slack. His creative aesthetic has changed slightly, sometimes suggesting that he no longer has the momentum he once had. His fast-paced beats that had become synonymous with his music are not as distinct as they once were.
Boosie seems to have fallen into the same rut other rappers struggle through after being released from prison. They have a story to tell now, after all, but, unfortunately, their experience does not always translate into success.
Lil Wayne and T.I. are examples of this flawed music-producing formula where rappers try to relate life on the inside into more emotional yet catchy music. The biggest exception for Boosie is his post-jail single “On That Level” which does not carry the same Boosie-flow as around 10 years ago, but is still catchy.
“On That Level” is a jam people will listen to over and over, which for an artist trying to re-establish their name in entertainment, is precisely what Boosie needs. Now that Boosie Badazz is free once again, hopefully he can find his niche in the modern hip-hop world.
