“Keeping it Real Rich” with the Wiz in Tampa

Wiz Khalifa (Photo-Jordan Raiff)

Wiz Khalifa

With OT Genasis, Lil Skies, and Rae Sremmurd

“Keeping it Real Rich”

 “How is it raining and sunny at the same time??” was the question that greeted fans for the “Dazed and Blazed” tour at the MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre in Tampa, FL on August 16^th.  The lineup brought Wiz Khalifa, Rae Sremmurd, Lil Skies, and OT Genasis as well as Rico Pressley who was an un-announced opener. Unfortunately for the openers, the lightning and rains that greeted fans, smoked that plan out. Despite the driving rains and lightning, the fans in attendance were ready and in the venue for a show that was nothing but straight fire.

OT Genasis (Photo-Jordan Raiff)

After the rain and lightning delay of about 10 minutes, OT Genasis hit the stage to a cloud of purple haze that hung over the pit of the amphitheatre for nearly the whole show. Performing hit songs like “CoCo” “Touchdown,” and “Cut It,” OT Genasis showcased that he knows how to get people singing and dancing along. With four studio albums under his belt, OT is not new to the scene. He definitely set the stage for how to hype the crowd up by bounding from side to side across the front of the stage, working the people up for Lil Skies during his 35-minute set.

Lil Skies (Photo-Jordan Raiff)

Opening up with his most recent single release “No Rest,” Lil Skies hit the stage at full force. Bounding across the stage while showcasing an ‘Odd Future’ shirt with an original PlayStation styled logo on it.

Lil Skies (Photo-Jordan Raiff)

With the majority of the crowd bouncing along, hands rising and lowering in unison, Lil Skies had them eating out of the palm of his hand. After the opener Lil Skies performed “Pushing through Lust” “Nowadays” “Creeping” and parts of “Welcome to the Rodeo.” It was simply amazing to hear the crowd react to his raps as he kept them going throughout the whole 40-minute set. He also interacted with the fans with simple hand gestures.

Lil Skies is another rapper to make his name off mixtapes. His major label debut ‘Life of a Dark Rose,’ released in January, opened up at number 23 on the Billboard’ 200 album chart and so far it has peaked at number 10.

(Photo-Jordan Raiff)

As cliche’ as it may sound, the skies are bright for Lil Skies. He’ll have no problem getting sky high in popularity very quickly. Females also love him as they reacted with screams as he went shirtless to end his set.

Rae Sremmurd (Photo-Jordan Raiff)

The brothers Slim Jxmmi and Swae Lee who make up Rae Sremmurd have recently released ‘SR3MM’ a three-disc album that features them working together, as well as performing separately. Opening up with “No Type” “Swang” and “Blaco Beetles,” they make this a set that would be near impossible to follow.

Rae Sremmurd (Photo-Jordan Raiff)

Coated in diamonds and tattoos, this duo personifies the true essence that is associated with hip-hop in 2018. With Slim Jimmi firing up a blunt to toast the audience towards the end of the third song, he came down to the barricades to interact with the fans.

Rae Sremmurd (Photo-Jordan Raiff)

Talking to many fans before this set, it seemed like more people at the front had seen them live before. They also knew that this was one of the best live shows on tour this summer. One of the biggest parts is their simple, yet entertaining set designs. It features a depository truck (think an armored truck) complete with bags of ‘money’ along-side the bottom, a palm tree, beach chairs, pineapples (which were thrown to the audience), and various pieces of bikinis (which also ended up tossed out.)

Rae Sremmurd (Photo-Jordan Raiff)

Topping it all off were balls and wisps of fire coming from the back of the stage. While throwing things out, they tossed out the cash bags as Swae Lee hopped down with the crowd, and even tossed out tons of two dollar bills to the fans up front, all of which sent them into a panic. Especially when Slim had enough of the Tampa humidity and heat and shed his tank top as well.

Rae Sremmurd (Photo-Jordan Raiff)

Rae Sremmurd closed out their set as the lightning came back. The rumbles and flashes had people racing undercover and they watched the skies hoping the torrential rain would hold off until after the show.

Wiz Khalifa (Photo-Jordan Raiff)

After about a 30-minute set change, it was time for Wiz Khalifa to hit the stage. With cannons of smoke blasting out, and the lights dimmed, Wiz made his entrance through an initial stamped gate after a small video package. Like a roller coaster, the anticipation built throughout the show and now was the time to hit the summit and go over the edge. Hitting the stage jamming out to “King” (his latest single), and shortly after starting the first song, Wiz sparked up a pre-rolled joint of (presumably) his custom strain of Khalifa Kush. As his opening song ended, it seemed to get him into the zone to continue on with the show.

(Photo-Jordan Raiff)

Following up with “Kid Frankie” and some serious crowd work, EVERYONE was on their feet. This led into a tribute to Jimmy Wopo with the third song “Blue Hunnids.” Gunned down earlier this year, Wopo was not only a member of Wiz Khalifa’s camp but a close personal friend. You could sense the pain between these two at paying tribute to Wopo. To see them paying tribute like this is not something easy to see, especially at a concert. Yet, after the tribute, Wiz continued on, seemingly giving it all in Wopo’s memory.

Wiz Khalifa & Hardo (Photo-Jordan Raiff)

Wiz’s ability to put on a huge show is perfect here. Unlike the other acts, he brought along a bassist and keyboarder besides his DJ. Khalifa’s show also showcased features with his backup band members and he also used specialized lighting, confetti,smoke and blunt shaped balloons. These small touches brought something extra to the show that you don’t see enough of in hip-hop. Wiz played an incredibly diverse setlist with songs like “Goin Hard” “You and Your Friends” “Work hard, Play Hard” “We Dem Boyz” “Karate” “Taylor Gang” and his biggest hit to date, “Black and Yellow.”

Wiz Khalifa (Photo-Jordan Raiff)

Despite missing the unannounced openers due to the weather, there was not a fan who could leave disappointed. This is a great tour, and if you consider yourself a fan of hip-hop and nearly any of its sub-genres, this is a tour you should be catching. The tour promoters and managers have done their best to keep prices reasonable. High quality merchandise for sale included 30 dollar t-shirts, 45 dollar long sleeve t-shirts, and 60 dollar hoodies. One thing is for certain as the “Dazed and Blazed” tour came to a conclusion in Tampa, Wiz Khalifa, Rae Sremmurd, Lil Skies, and OT Genasis, gave the fans a ton of bang for their hip-hop buck.

The tour continues on, crisscrossing the US before ending August 30^th in Phoenix, AZ.

For info go to http://www.wizkhalifa.com/tour/