Opening up right before Lil B came was The Outfit, TX. They did a fantastic job at hyping up the crowd with some of their tracks, and engaged in some pretty funny banter with the crowd. One part that caught me off guard was one of the members telling the crowd that they make “heterosexual music” because they “love the pussy too much” and told some dude in the crowd to stop shaking his ass. Another was a shoutout made to the act of polygamy after one of the members shouted out his four “girlfriends” in the crowd. It’s not every day you hear words like that in 2018, but it definitely kicked up an already fun opening.
Lil B took to the stage in fine time at Canton Hall, starting with a slew of his popular songs to rile the crowd up. Unlike his performance at Day For Night in Houston, where he shouted out Texas and Dallas repeatedly while miraculously forgetting the word “Houston” for the whole set, Lil B made sure to shout out Dallas at every chance he could. Shortly into the set, the crowd started jumping around with Lil B as he performed “Texas”. One of the biggest mysteries of a Lil B show is what he could even play live. Considering that his discography contains dozens of Mixtapes, some surpassing 5 hours, he’s got a lot of songs he could put out there. Performing over 30 songs, and rarely playing two songs off of the same mixtape, Lil B really showcased a good chunk of what he’s put out. Surprisingly, Lil B only played one song from his new Mixtape Platinum Flame (Shake It Like a Ho), yet it didn’t really matter as The Based God covered many of the fan favorites.
A notable part of the Based God Experience was the playing of “Birth of Rap,” and “I’m God” from 6 Kiss on the final leg of this show. I chose the word “playing” very carefully here as I would struggle to say that Lil B “performed” these songs. While waving his arms in the air and blowing kisses to the crowd, I really don’t think Lil B finished (or even started) a single bar in these two songs. Following it up with “I Love You” from God’s Father, Lil B only sung the part where he goes “doot-doo doo doo, my name’s Lil B, and I Love You”. He seemed rather particular to that part, as he continued to sing it for about five minutes after the production has ended while staying near and dear to his fans. Even after seeing Lil B at Day For Night, I really didn’t know what to expect from the Based God.
While proving to have a much more fun show in a venue setting, Lil B’s live performances seem to be just fun. If you’re looking to jump around while chanting “Ellen Degeneres” with your pals, you missed out on a great time last weekend. If you were looking for Lil B to spit bars with some of his more “serious” songs, you’re not really gonna get that. Funnily enough at over thirty songs, and a wide range of styles, a Lil B show ended up representing what listening to a Lil B mixtape feels like rather well.
