Entering the spring fest concert, I for sure knew that it was going to be a treat. With both performing artists having chart-topping releases, it was only right for the energy to be at a high level. Despite a small scatter of confused audience members during the two performances, the captivating sounds of both artists turned the confusion into swaying and bouncing.
With her eyes resembling glossy stop signs, Jhene Aiko came out warming up the audience by asking, “is anyone smoking in the crowd tonight?” Once she heard the upsetting reply, it was an instant connection. Aiko managed to hypnotize the crowd with new and old material, and even doing a cover to Tupac’s “Keep Yo Head Up”. She may have surprised the few who had never heard of her with such an angelic voice coming out of someone so small. The main thing I noticed was how comfortable she was with her set and how natural she made it feel. Instead of wondering what she was talking about, she made it feel as if she was singing to you and only you. Jhene Aiko definitely put on a good show and is someone I would now like to see at her own show.
After entertaining the tough crowd for about 20 minutes, YG came on stage to do his thing. He woke everyone up with the alarming instrumentation and lyrics from “Bompton.” He mainly performed songs from his My Krazy Life album, which was probably the smartest thing to do.
YG brought out all of his entourage on stage and even let one of them perform one of their records. Throughout the whole performance he would shout out the west coast and the south, in consideration of where most audience members were from. I was mainly surprised at the amount of fans he had in the building. I knew the west coast would be the majority, but he had everyone standing on chairs and holding up shirts with “400” on the back, paying respect to his crew. Near the end of the show, YG had a small intermission where he began to dance and won the crowd over completely.
In conclusion, it’s safe to say both artists showed up and showed out. Jhene Aiko waking everyone up with her warming, melodic voice, and YG being the cup of coffee to get you up and jumping. Although I was given an enormous amount of trouble from FSUB when attempting to interview YG, I was able to give him the proper salutations and thank him for showing up. Both artists definitely earned my respect after giving spectacular performances, and I’m sure they have new ears anticipating upcoming music.