CONCERT REVIEW: CyHi Da Prynce & Big K.R.I.T.

The other day on Sunday, January 30th, I got the chance to check out G.O.O.D. Music's own Cyhi Da Prynce & one of Def Jam's latest roster additions, Big K.R.I.T in Greensboro at Greene Street. If you follow my Twitter account you've noticed that I've been tweeting about this shit for a good month now, so obviously I'd really been looking forward to it. I'm relatively new to all of Cyhi's music just like everyone. Never heard of him until Ye signed him, but signing with Kanye pretty much speaks for itself so I figured he wouldn't disappoint. I really fucked with his Royal Flush mixtape last year so I was eager to see how he'd be in person. As many of you may know, K.R.I.T. became one of my five favorite rappers out of nowhere. K.R.I.T. Wuz Here was my favorite tape of 2010 by a long shot so any time he's in our state, you can bet money that I'll be there.

After hours of opening acts, they finally decided to bring Cyhi out around 10:30. My first impression was like "damn....son's really short", but that's irrelevant. He took control of the crowd as soon as he stepped on the stage, something NONE of the opening acts could accomplish. He opened up with a song that everyone's familiar with by now, Kanye's "So Appalled". When I first heard his verse on this a few months back I knew that he would be a problem, and ever since then I've never really heard a wack verse from him. He also dove into another one of my favorite G.O.O.D. Friday tracks, J. Cole's Kanye's "Looking For Trouble", I always thought his verse was kind of overlooked in that song simply because of how good J. Cole's was. The rest of his set he performed a few songs off of his mixtape "Royal Flush", including Fast Lane, Hero, and Livin' Wonderful. For the most part it was a solid set, I just wish he would have performed "Can't Find Love", also off of his Royal Flush tape. After seeing this solid performance, and hearing him hold his own on tracks with rappers like J. Cole, Big Sean, Kanye West, Jay-Z, and Pusha T, I really respect him and am looking forward to whatever he has in store for us in 2011.

This was my second time seeing K.R.I.T. live within the past few months, so I pretty much knew what to expect. Him and Big Sant bring a lot of energy as soon as they come onto the stage, especially by opening up with the fast paced joint "Return of 4eva". Most of the audience was rapping along to every song, so it's showing that people are really starting to fuck with him. Both times I've seen him, he's come off as a very humble dude, he reminds you at the beginning of each set that's he's just like us. I really appreciate that, because a lot of rappers these days are trying to be way more than what they really are. He performed a lot of my favorites this time around. Those include I Got Drank, Just Touched Down, Moon & Stars, Glass House, Hometown Hero, See Me On Top, Children of the World, and Country Shit. While performing Country Shit, he even jumped in the crowd and had a little mosh pit joint going. It's always real to see artists really interacting with the people that are buying their music, and he always shows appreciation, whether it's his shows or through the music itself. He's one of my favorite acts to see live and I couldn't even fathom a complaint if I wanted to. But I would like to see him perform 'King', and 'I Ain't Shit' (my anthem) at his future shows that I will be attending. Next time he's in the Carolinas, I really encourage everyone to go and check him out, even if you never really check out his music before. You might learn something, and he's definitely worth your $10-$20. Check out a quick little clip of him performing "Glass House" down below.