Much of the audience of about 9,000 rapped along with Future as he performed Tony Montana at the Sprint Center on Saturday. The hit glorifies the fictional criminal played by Al Pacino in the 1983 film Scarface. Futures lively appearance served as an appropriate lead-in for the headlining performance by a real-life folk hero.
Rap star T.I. is embraced by fans as a lovable gangster. Hes issued a steady stream of hip-hop hits during the past 10 years in spite of prolific legal troubles. The time hes spent behind bars has further ingratiated T.I. with observers who place a high value on street credibility.
T.I.s 65-minute outing was a celebration of raw hip-hop overseen by the self-proclaimed King of the South. Supported by a DJ and a small crew of cohorts, T.I.s perfunctory performance was salvaged by the strength of his material. Aside from renditions of a few deep album tracks like Freak Though, his effort contained no surprises or standout moments.
Classic hits like Rubber Band Man, an exuberant ode to drug dealing, and club bangers like Ball, a study in debauchery, kept the members of the audience on their feet. A reworking of the Jay-Z and Kanye West hit (Expletive) in Paris was ill-advised. Not only does T.I. have a strong catalog of original material from which to draw, the selection invited an unflattering comparison to Jay-Z and Wests visually spectacular production at the same venue in 2011. Saturdays meager stage show was at odds with T.I.s boasts about the riches hes accumulated.
Yet T.I. is beloved in part because hes a gangster with a sensitive side. His heartfelt tributes to fallen comrades and inspirational songs about overcoming challenges have been among the highlights of his previous appearances in the Kansas City area. Unfortunately, Saturdays set list contained none of that powerful material.
T.I.s fellow Atlantan Future fared better. He performed an imposing string of thuggish hip-hop hits to which hes contributed. They included Lil Waynes Love Me and Rockos U.O.E.N.O., the song that features Rick Ross notoriously reprehensible verse about rape. B.o.B, another Atlanta-based star, offered renditions of hits that ranged from his chart-topping Nothin on You to the anthem We Still in This (Expletive (a song later reprised by T.I.). Separate sets by Sevyn Streeter and Jackie Michaels added pleasing Destinys Child-style R&B to the four-hour concert.
The positive reception accorded the impressive array of motivated artists that preceded the headliner should rightfully alarm T.I. Much of the goodwill hes accumulated during the past decade was depleted by Saturdays cursory showing.
