The crowd got really turned up as Soulo got into some more high-energy tracks, with his Schoolboy Q collaborations “Beat The Case” and “Hunned Stax.” He also showed some love to Kendrick Lamar, as he danced with the crowd while the DJ played the new Damn single “DNA.” Soulo then “blacked out” the lights as he performed “Huey Knew THEN,” before doing a couple more Control System throwbacks with my favourite songs off the album, “Terrorist Threats” and “ILLuminate” (although skipping my favourite verse on the latter track). He then got into his religious themes and theories, performing the second half of “God’s A Girl” (skipping the trap-like intro) followed by “Womanogamy.” These included the wordplay-heavy “INvocation,” and the high-energy single “Braille,” which was produced by Brampton’s own WondaGurl. ![]() Next, he would get the ladies hyped by teasing the hook from “Bohemian Grove,” before getting into several new songs off of DWTW. Predictable but welcomed, the second song he performed was “Track Two,” a throwback off Control System. Eventually, the hypeman got the crowd to chant the rapid-fire lyrics “raw backwards on all you rappers,” and Ab-Soul himself came out to the high-energy first track off the new album, “RAW (Backwards).”Īb-Soul performed the entire song, with the crowd keeping up that chant during the chorus as he rapped over it. Instead, Ab-Soul’s DJ came out and started spinning some trap music, and his hypeman brought out a water gun to add to the energy. British emcee Little Simz was also supposed to be opening, however it was announced the day of the show that she would be missing the rest of the YMF Tour due to injury. He also spit some cool freestyles, rapping over beats from songs by Kanye West and Kendrick Lamar, and even going accapella so the crowd could focus in on the lyricism.Īfter Nick Grant won over the crowd and got the energy levels turned up, there would be a bit of a wait for Ab-Soul. He got a great reaction from the crowd when he performed songs off his 2016 mixtape, ’88, and his 2017 debut album, Return of the Cool. The dude proved to be as sharp an emcee as they come, cut from a traditional cloth of just slaying his verses without any gimmicks. While my people at Ambrosia For Heads have been giving him a lot of coverage, this would be my first time experiencing any of his music. The first and only opener of the night would be South Carolina’s own Nick Grant, performing his very first show in Toronto. The show was just getting started shortly after I showed up. ![]() This was no longer the case, as they used a wristband system to enable alcohol consumers to stand wherever they wanted. In the past, for all-ages shows such as this one, they would barricade off a 19+ section in the back of the club, meaning you couldn’t buy a drink and be near the stage at the same time. I showed up to the Phoenix Concert Theatre about an hour after doors had opened, and was immediately pleased to see they fixed the one gripe I’ve had with the venue over the years. ![]() This is one of those shows I absolutely had to come out and see, and it’s only fitting that the day of this show also happened to mark the five-year anniversary of the release of that Control System album. There was a point when he was my favourite member of the group I’ve been a fan since he released Control Systemin 2012, but missed out on every show he’s done in Toronto due to exams and other priorities. While Ab-Soul tends to live in the shadow of fellow Black Hippy members like Kendrick and Schoolboy Q, he’s always held things down in his own lane, standing out and captivating hip-hop heads with his love for wordplay. label mate and fellow Black Hippy group member, Kendrick Lamar, who’s made headlines with his new, recently platinum-certified album, Damn (driving into town from the west end, and you can see the album cover made into a billboard along the QEW). ![]() Not even six months later, and the short attention span of the modern music fan has already turned to Ab-Soul’s T.D.E. After quietly releasing his fourth studio album, Do What Thou Wilt (DWTW) in December of last year, Ab-Soul is back on tour and has returned to Toronto for the first time since 2014! Although the new album has done well both critically and commercially, it feels like it’s flown under the radar, sharing a release date with albums from mainstream superstar J.
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